"Fiction writers are strange beasts. They are, like all writers, observers first and foremost. Everything that happens to and around them is potential material for a story, and they look at it that way."
- Terry Brooks

"If you trust your story, it will tell itself."
- Peter S. Beagle

I'm a full-time journalist and first-time novelist. Fanfiction is what I do when the "serious business" writing gets to be a little too much for me.

Let's see, what else... I spend a fair amount of my free time gaming. Team Fortress 2, Portal 1 and 2, the Final Fantasy series, Phoenix Wright, Pokemon, Spore, Super Mario World and Bioshock all have a special place in my heart, filed somewhere between "shameless recluse" and "don't make any sudden movements."

I love conventions, whether they're for anime, gaming or just celebrating nerdiness. Plus they're an excuse to go on road trips with my awesome friends.

I collect books. Not because I'm some kind of literary snob, but because I just plain can't stop reading. Put a book in front of me, and I can almost guarantee within ten minutes I'll be hunched over it like Gollum. Try and take it away from me, and the similarities get even stronger. I might even go for your fingers.

If I had a choice, I don't think I'd ever be inside. I love the outdoors and spend as much time outside as I can.

I'm the proud "mother" of two ridiculous Great Danes and a pair of cats that may or may not be planning to kill me in my sleep. Luckily, I'm fairly sure they'll go for my husband first, so at least I'll have some warning.

Don't take me too seriously.

I am a little squirrely.

Consider yourself warned.

My first professionally-published short story, "The Keeper of the Trees," will be included in "Holiday Magick," an anthology being released by Spencer Hill Press in May 2013. I have another short story, "Reunion," coming out in a second Spencer Hill Press anthology, "Doorways to Extra Time," which will be published sometime in late 2013.

For more short stories, you can check out my Tumblr at everythingsbetterwithtea dot tumblr dot com. I tend to occasionally toss short stories there. They're all archived with the tag "short story," so a simple search should turn them up.

Just in case it isn't clear (what with this being FANfiction and all), I own nothing in regards to the stories posted here. All proper nouns (characters, names, locations, etc) are copyright their respective owners.