Stories

Book cover featuring a desert night with an adobe house and an ominous person at the window inside and a giant saguaro cactus in the yard.
 SoWest: Love Kills Anthology
[Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths]

DOUBLE OR NOTHING (SHORT STORY)
Gwen & Dillon are fraternal twins, so different they can't help but give each other shit. They're still ride or die. Gwen has returned to a calm civilian life, spending her days flipping veggie burgers, while avoiding anything to do with her brother's new PI business. But Dillon's impulsiveness and ability to attract trouble from a violent stalker do not bode well for Gwen's anxiety levels or her plan to stay out of it.

Savor 24 crime, thriller, mystery and suspense stories in the SoWest: Love Kills Anthology.

Available in ebook or paperback at Amazon.

Crow Alley from "Double or Nothing" 
When I was choosing my Arizona-based setting for the short story, which was required for the anthology collection, I was incredibly inspired by the crows and ravens of Nate Benington, a Tempe street artist known as Sour. 

My Top 10 Fave Siblings in Literature

[First published at Got Fiction? in Sept 2021.]
Sibling relationships are complicated. We love them, sometimes we hate them. They know our secrets, our baggage, how to get under our skin, and will call us out on our shenanigans. But they’re also there when we need an ear, a hug, or backup.
 
Gwen and Dillon, the main characters in my debut short story, are loosely inspired by those lovable bickering brother detectives, Rick and AJ Simon, from the 80s TV show Simon & Simon. Dialogue is my favorite thing to write, and banter is my favorite thing to read. So, two bantering siblings who are opposites in many ways, but who are ride or die, is totally my jam.
 
I thought it might be fun to talk about favorite siblings in literature. I’ll share some of mine, and then I hope you’ll share some of yours.

  • Peter, Paige, and Jason Fox (Foxtrot by Bill Amend) [Comic Strips]
I adore this comic strip, my all time fave. Nerd humor and good-natured sibling/family humor at its finest. Always a guaranteed laugh.

  • Jane and Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) [Classic, Literary, Romance]
I love watching the two older Miss Bennets deal with their foolish younger sisters.  Controversial take: Lydia gets a bad rap. But also, bonus, Darcy and Georgiana are super sweet sibs.

  • Sookie and Jason Stackhouse (The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris) [Urban Fantasy]
My favorite fangbanger mind-reader and her adorable himbo brother surrounded by vampires, shifters, and fairies. I love vampire stories.

  • Frank and Joe Hardy (The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon) [YA Mystery]
Rick and AJ Simon were probably conceived of as a grown-up 80s version of the Hardy Boys. As a kid, I read a lot of Hardy Boys Mysteries when I could not get my hands on Nancy Drew or Trixie Belden. And I watched a lot of Simon & Simon because it took another 15+ years for Veronica Mars to show up.

  • Ada, Bianca, and Catarina von Hasenberg (The Consortium Rebellion Series by Jessie Mihalik [SciFi Romance]
I love these very different sisters who each have space adventures and fall in love in their own books. They have four interesting brothers too, but Ada, Bianca, and Catarina kick way more butt.
 
Oh, but I have to have some twins on here, right?

  • Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield (The Sweet Valley High Series by Francine Pascal) [YA 80s-90s Contemporary]
I lived and breathed these books in middle grade and high school. I knew I was Elizabeth, or maybe Enid (Elizabeth’s best friend), but I really wanted to be Jessica.

  • Fred And George Weasley (The Harry Potter Series) [Middlegrade/Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy]
Such fun loving, memorable twins that brought in some important humor and heart to Harry Potter. They unashamedly embraced their creative prankster nature and made a living out of it. Respect.

  • Cersei and Jaime Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin) [Epic Dark Fantasy]
This one is a little bit of a cheat since I only watched the series and did not pick up the books but how can I not mention these two fascinating incestuous twins? They wreck a lot of havoc in Westeros but are definitely ‘ride or die’.

  • Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa (Star Wars created by George Lucas, and written by so many others, including The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn) [Space Opera, SciFi]
Probably my favorite set of separated-at-birth twins, although He-Man and She-Ra are tough competition. They originated in a movie, but there is a ton of literature featuring them both. Along with Leia and Han’s no-longer-canon twins, Jacen and Jaina Solo. The force is strong with them all.

  • Tia and Tony (Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key) [SciFi]
Another cheat. I never read the book. But I loved the Disney movies as a kid and the first one was faithfully adapted from a book. Tia and Tony had all the alien powers I wanted, telepathy and telekinesis. I REALLY wanted these powers!
  
What about you? Who are your favorite siblings or twins in literature?
​Send me a message via email or social media and let me know.
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