EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK! New chapter from my upcoming novel!

Not sure where this is, but it's awesome!So, Evie fans, I've decided to post the first chapter of my WIP (Work In Progress). 

For those of you who may or may not know, I am continuing on with Evie and Nomia from my short story, MERMAIDS ARE NOT NICE, which was featured in the anthology DIVE: A QUARTET OF MERFOLK TALES. I am currently expanding the short into a full-length novel.

The completed novel will pick up exactly where I left off in the short and continue on from there. For those of you who have never read the short, here's a disclaimer: Evie swears like a sailor. There, you've been warned. She has a potty-mouth, but I'm sure she'll grow on you anyway.

Enjoy, dear reader... Oh, and comments, suggestions, favorite parts? All feedback is welcome and encouraged!


Teeth.A sea of teeth.Everywhere I looked my vision was filled with sharp, pointed teeth, filed to precision, filed by years of eating flesh. There was no sound. There was only seawater and it filled every cavity I owned.God, I hate seawater. What the hell do we need the ocean for anyway? It’s not like we can drink the damn stuff. Fucking useless liquid. Oh, I know, where would the cute, little dolphins live? Who gives a shit? And, fuck those damn dolphins. They sure as hell weren’t saving my drowning ass. There were teeth everywhere and enormous rubber duckies. They were coming for me. Large, looming, and yellow, bobbing around, leering at me while something else, something infinitely more sinister darted about. Sliding in and out of the rubber duckies, flashing those vicious, unforgiving teeth at me. But I am wearing an apron and I left a cake somewhere…And then, the duckies parted. Long claws crushed the rubber and the duckies started to deflate as if they were melting, all the bright yellow colors dissolving into the water leaving only her with her wretched dark scales.I saw her and she wasn’t alone. All their mouths opened simultaneously and I just knew they would devour me—all of me, including my soul. “I told you, Evie. This isn’t over and you have something we want…your daughter.”All the air escaped my lungs in a giant whoosh! Panic-fueled adrenaline jolted through my body like shit through a goose and I sat upright.The clock ticked a steady cadence slicing through the silence. Each movement of the second hand sounded thick and deliberate, almost menacing in its regularity. The only other noise was the foul-sounding, flatulent boom of Paddy’s snores.That mountain of a man was so sexy.I wiped the sweat from my brow and sighed heavily.It was just a dream and I was back in my bedroom. The streetlight filtered through the curtains that were blowing gently towards our bed.It’s fucking March. Why is the damn window open?Paddy and his damn fresh air.I threw back the coverlet and got out of bed. The floor was freezing on my bare feet and the air was just as frigid. Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my hands up and down my arms vigorously and padded softly towards the open window.I never made it to the window.Without any warning, I found myself staring at the ceiling and pain bloomed from the back of my skull all the way down my spine to the backs of my ankles. “What the hell?” Patrick roared from the bed above me.“I slipped,” I muttered. I slipped?My feet were wet. Why the fuck were my feet wet? With a groan I rolled onto my stomach and glanced at the floor below the open window.Wet footprints gleamed in the streetlight.A stiffening chill replaced the pain in my spine. My pulse, which had only calmed itself seconds before, quickened as my gaze darted from the floor beneath the open window to the baby monitor on the bureau nearby. The white speaker-like object was on its side and the cord looked frayed as if someone had been chewing on it. It swung, useless in the gentle breeze that flowed into the arctic room.Oh, god no.I grabbed a fistful of the comforter from the bed above me and attempted to haul myself to my feet. I knew the blood was reversing itself in my veins.Hold, the fuck on, Evie…“Bloody hell, woman! Evie, darling, why am I awake at this ungodly hour and why are you on the floor? And why the hell is the window open? It’s March, love. I know you like fresh air, from time to…”“Paddy,” I whispered as my vision drifted in and out of focus. “Shut the fuck up.”“That’s not very lady-like. It’s three a.m. and I have…”“The baby monitor is trashed,” I said with all the strength I could muster. I couldn’t hold back any longer. The blood surged in the wrong direction and I was losing consciousness. I was going to pass out. The last words I uttered before the hardwood floor raced up towards my sleep-swollen face were: “Our baby is gone. That soggy bitch took Savannah…”