About my first novel: When Whales Fly
“When Whales Fly” is set in present-day Humboldt County and tells of a young girl named Aloe (11) who is desperate to earn back her father’s love. What she wants gradually shifts and starts to change when grandpa’s neighbors introduce her to a pair of big-eyed Boston Terriers, a mysterious scrap metal sculpture, and a new fear of muffins (hello matcha and raisin, or the pièce de résistance: beet and quinoa) during her stay at his home on the edge of a redwood forest.
This story is told through the eyes of Aloe who is desperate to escape her mother’s irrational choices and believes she has the perfect plan to make her father fight for custody to live with him and his new family in Miami. This idea is reinforced when her mom dumps her at grandpa’s house to go on a road trip with her new online boyfriend. Finding comfort and a new sense of found family with grandpa, the dogs, and the intriguing neighbors, Aloe is conflicted about whether she really wants to live with her father but is forced to make a decision when her mom decides they are moving to Arizona to be with the new boyfriend.
Aloe concocts an impulsive plan, hoping to stage a joyful reunion where her parents apologize for ignoring her and promise she can live where she is happiest. However, her adventure may or may not have an encounter with a forest ghost who leaves behind a strange gift. Then she finds out that her grandpa has a worsening health condition that she is convinced is all her fault. When the crisis with grandpa happens, will she be able to save him? In the aftermath, will it be possible to convince her mom to listen to what she wants for once in her life? This story is about trying to make sense of situations when others are in control and learning the meaning of bittersweet. Aloe finally realizes what the mysterious sculpture next door represents and sees her family from a different perspective. However, she never compromises on her taste in muffins.
Writing in Progress: Songbirds of the Baobab Tree
The story is set in Kenya at an elephant sanctuary called Remembrance. The main character, Millicent Obani, has a lot to hide. The random songs she hears in her head. The real reason she wears a headwrap. And what’s with all the mascara? Then there’s the looming horror of an arranged marriage to a powerful chief with a hidden agenda. Millicent has a temporary job managing the website and social media at Remembrance and her first experience at the sanctuary is a telepathic connection with an orphaned baby elephant named Azalee. Afraid that “talking to elephants” will be one more thing that marks her as strange, Millicent keeps this to herself. She also avoids telling anyone about her impending marriage because she’s hoping the chief will lose interest, but is mainly afraid of ruining the developing friendship between herself and Jonathan, the keeper who rescued Azalee near the ancient Gede ruins. As she becomes immersed in the compassionate world of saving elephants, she knows that she has found a place that feels like home—a place to be herself and make a difference. If only for a short while. Yet Millicent’s arrival at Remembrance coincides with a new danger that she is unknowingly responsible for, and she experiences a traumatic event that opens her ability to understand her connection with Azalee. The ancient Baobab Prophecy of how to save the African elephants will depend on her ability to share her gift and trust her instincts. Songbirds of the Baobab Tree revolves around the choices girls and women of all backgrounds make to save themselves and the place they call home. It explores the idea of “what if” we could share thoughts and memories with animals and have the power to protect vulnerable communities and habitats.