The Wild Ride

(Or: How I Accidentally Became a Writer)

So here I am, doggy-paddling my way toward becoming a debut author. If you're here because you're thinking about taking the plunge yourself, or you just want to watch me try not to drown, then grab a life jacket and follow along. I promise to share all the messy, magnificent details.

It all started in 2019, back when we could still share armrests with strangers. My husband and I were in Tofino, this gorgeous little beach town on the Canadian coast, and I was having a total nature moment. Here's the thing: I love the ocean... from a very safe distance. Like, me-on-the-beach-with-a-good-book distance. The ocean and I have an understanding—I admire it from afar, and it doesn't try to pull me into its mysterious depths.

But standing there, watching those waves crash, my brain went straight to its happy place: What if? What if there are aliens down there? What if there's an entire advanced civilization having tea parties on the ocean floor? Next thing I know, I was mentally outlining an entire sci-fi fantasy trilogy. (Yes, I'm that person.)

See, I'm terrified of the ocean but completely obsessed with it. Shark Week? I'm there. And something about all that unexplored mystery makes my brain go absolutely feral. So naturally, I decided to write a book that would drag readers away from their cozy, predictable land-lives and plunge them straight into the deep, most impossibly mysterious parts of the ocean.

Because apparently, I like to write about my fears. Therapeutic? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely.

From Hot Mess to Published: Progress Tracker:

So what's the story?

The Undoing turned Earth into a radioactive wasteland. Vander Huxley has spent his whole life suffocating in the underground tunnels of Sector 5 until he trades his lungs for gills and drops to Incipio, humanity's last hope beneath the waves.

The underwater city gleams like everything the tunnels weren't. Paradise. Until he learns the catch: those shiny new gills demand oxygen every seventy-two hours or they suffocate. To make things worse, there are whispers that the Chancellor is covering up failing power grids that keep the oxygen pods running.

But Vander's drowning in his own problems—his addiction and the Lifeblood Calling that will decide his future. Then his twin brother vanishes during his apprenticeship, leaving behind broken equipment and impossible questions. The clock starts ticking. Without processed air, Asher will suffocate in days.

To find his brother, Vander must venture past the safety of the bubble city into waters where humans are lowest on the food chain. Where coral mazes hide cities older than memory. Where a pink-haired warrior with electric-teal eyes and lightning in her veins makes him question everything he thought he knew about survival, power, and what it means to be human.

Some boundaries weren't meant to be crossed. Some depths weren't meant to be explored. And there's a shadow lurking that can drown them all.