After many years of revisions and editing, my debut novel Freakshow Summer will finally be available July 2022. Published by Artemesia Publishing out of Tijeras, New Mexico, this middle school/young adult novel focuses on such themes as acceptance, family, and friendship. Artemesia Publishing picked up Freakshow Summer in May of 2021, but I had been working on it off and on for nearly eight years. Ian Bristow will be doing the cover art as well as chapter illustrations within the novel. I am really excited to see his work, but you can check out his other projects here and here. Once I am able, I will have some artwork published on the webpage. To give readers an idea of the plot, below is one of several blurbs that will be used to promote the novel, which is set in 1938.

“In a world of freaks, thirteen-year-old Manny Dobra longs to find his place. Orphaned at a young age, he is raised by the sideshow performers of Oliver Neil’s Marvelous Carnival. But even his deceased fortune-telling mother couldn’t have predicted the bully who can’t stand Manny, Oliver falling in love with the bully’s mother, or the return of the Oldies—a group that intends on destroying carnivals. But with help from his friends Nickel, Margot and Penny, Manny begins to traverse the tricky road of life, finding his footing in a world of human curiosities, both the beautiful and the ugly.”

I will also be working on a teacher’s guide as well as an audio version of the novel, both of which will be available on this website. The teacher’s guide will be a free downloadable PDF and will have chapter summaries, vocabulary, review questions, project assignments, and cross-curricular materials if teachers wish to incorporate the novel into their lessons. I am hoping to be the narrator for the audio version. Once I have the first chapter read, I will provide the audio and print sample here on the webpage as well.

As we get closer to the date of release, I will be providing more information and links.