A glimpse at the ideas I have stashed away for future projects. Some are brainstorms, others have beat sheets, and others still are scrapped drafts in need of an overhaul.

Fruit of Ruin

Scrapped after 17 chapters. I love my characters, but they need a more engaging plot to navigate. 18th century Bavarian priest Father Matthias has his understanding of faith stretched by a liminal being in his parish. Rather than a fall from grace, this is a love story—one the church simply can’t hold. (M/F and M/M)

He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin; proverbs 13:3.

Beneath Us Only Soil

Hades and Persephone. Need I say more? In this Underworld, there is no fire or screaming souls. It’s a chthonic haven for the caretakers of the dead. Hades is haunted by his memories as a mortal child and the Titanomachy that destroyed the Golden Age of Man from which he’d been adopted. Persephone is not the abducted damsel, but a woman coming into her darker power. Suffering her own grief, she demands the Underworld let her in—and the ground opens beneath her. (M/F)

The Weight of Seawater

Icarus and Triton. A retelling that begins where the myth ended—the fall. Someone was beneath Icarus when he plummeted from the sky, and did the unthinkable—caught him. Triton interferes with cosmic order when he saves the mortal from his fated death. Intent on saving the man, he endures a grueling period as his caretaker as Icarus recovers from his injuries. Their relationship deepens into something more and Triton must decide what he’s willing to risk for a mortal love. (M/M)

Untitled Iphis and Ianthe Retelling

Iphis and Ianthe, but not with Ovid’s ending. This is a reclamation of the sapphic romance. Iphis has spent her life living as a man. She enjoys the labor and camaraderie, but has never considered herself a man. Only a woman that does manly things. Desperate to secure the family’s future, she’s engaged to the wealthy Ianthe, her childhood friend. Iphis must reconcile her love of Ianthe, the secret she’s kept, and what could be lost on the path to authentic happiness. (F/F)

Untitled Cozy Fantasy, Swamp

Otter is a salesperson, a rather bad salesperson. Worse still is the poetry they scribble into a pocketbook. Unfortunately, they find themselves stranded at a strange inn, sat atop stilts on an even stranger swamp. Cozy, intimate, quirky guests, and found family. (NB/F)

Untitled Polish/Jewish Folktale