Sold into prostitution by her parents when she was five years old, SHIH learns how to maneuver her way in a cruel, demanding world long before the norm. She realizes how to use her wits to her advantage and becomes an information broker until her promotion to Madame of the flower boat brothels. Her cleverness captures the interest of pirate captain YOUYI, who proposes marriage under one condition: Shih will work exclusively for him. Shih counteracts with her own offer: significant control over Youyi’s fleet, crew, and power provided she could triple the pirates’ coffers in a year.

After they marry, Shih and Youyi together must outsmart Youyi’s long-time enemy, TIGER GENERAL HUANG, who grows more dangerous by the day as he forges new alliances with emperors also seeking to end piracy.

Part adventure story, part off beat love story, follow Shih as she rises against seemingly impossible odds to triumph and create her own take on a happy ending in an increasingly hostile world.

follow Ari Pippin and her nemesis / rival / on-and-off friend, Cavan, as they adventure across different dimensions, galaxies, dreams, and past and future lives. The structure is non-linear, meaning that it skips back and forth in time. It’s almost like time travel is involved, hmmMMMMM.

originally written as part of my 2020 Master’s Thesis in Creative Writing at East Carolina University, “Glass Kingdom” is a collection of short stories, from literary to speculative fiction. An overarching theme is universal fragility, whether it is in a persecuted prisoner or an emperor with a God complex. My characters represent my hope for the strength of humanity and good, even when their kingdoms, personal and worldly, shatter.

collection of short stories, beginning with “but i love you”