Writer
Writer of moody, atmospheric books—Romance, Upmarket Women’s Fiction
& Children’s Middle Grade Fantasy Fiction—with a literary edge.
I grew up on Nora Roberts, devouring book after book as I worked at The Bookworm, a local used bookstore. And I like to think my Romance novels are like a literary Nora Roberts—I take that feel-good small town, that happily ever after, and put a literary twist on it with a focus on atmosphere, voice, and style.
But I’m also an actress with a love of cracking open a character’s psyche, and spilling it out onto the stage for an audience to see; I do the same on the page with my Upmarket Women’s Fiction. I like to write non-romances for the romantics—books with elements of a romance novel, but instead of that happily ever after, I expose the darker side of love. These books are fast and edgy with a dose of psychological suspense.
And my biggest role in life?—Momma. When my daughter, Scarlett, was 4, she turned to me and said, “Momma, don’t be sad, but I’m not from here; I’m from Magic Land.” I believed her. And still do. And so I’ve created Magic Land on the page. My first book—Magic Land, Quest for the Dragon Stones, Fire Stone—is a work of Children’s Middle Grade Fantasy Fiction and will be going to the 2025 Big Sur Children’s Writers Workshop before we begin shopping it to editors. Magic Land is my love letter to my child.
I’m a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing Long Fiction program at the University of San Francisco, and I was mentored by authors Joshua Mohr (Some Things That Meant The World To Me), Nina Schuyler (AFTERWORD), and Lewis Buzbee (Steinbeck’s Ghost). I live in Seattle, Washington, with my husband and two children. And I am represented by Elizabeth Kracht with Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency.
My Romance, HOME’S HARBOR, is currently on submission.
Books
Moody, atmospheric books, with a literary edge
HOME’S HARBOR (80K) is a contemporary romance set in an inn on an island outside of Seattle. The setting becomes a character (à la Nights in Rodanthe) underscoring the tensions between characters, while Vajda’s deft world building has created a charming, idyllic, small town (inspired by Louise Penny’s Three Pines) that emphasizes the simpler things in life—a walk on a rocky beach at low tide, a freshly baked croissant, and a creamy cappuccino.
Aila Buchanan never imagined herself an innkeeper, or a “spinster”—alone. No, she imagined herself a ballerina, twirling through her days and nights at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. But after a devastating accident killed her parents, she left her pointe shoes behind and returned home to run the family inn and take care of her younger sisters, Freya and Cameron. Ten years later, she’s drowning in repairs when an indefinite guest checks in—Will Walton. Will is charming and handsome, and stirs latent desires. But Aila doesn’t know that Will Walton is actually William Harrison III, of Harrison Enterprises, the East Coast company trying to buy up her family’s inn, knock it down, and resurrect a luxury hotel atop its ruins. Will has been sent to Harbor Island to charm and manipulate Aila into selling, but when a bomb cyclone threatens Inn Buchanan, Will finds himself caught between family expectations and duty, and a woman, an inn, and an island he might just be falling for.
Home’s Harbor is a stand-alone novel with series potential, and is currently out on submission.
Meet Madison (Maddy) Lee McMillan—a Chicago actor cast as Ophelia in Hamlet, with emotions too large for her skin; with each new role she inhabits, these emotions abate. But Maddy has played Ophelia for one full run and two extensions, and the lines between character and reality have blurred. She spots her ex-love, Grayson, in the audience on closing night and memories flood. They have sex. And when she wakes the next morning, she wants to keep him. There, in Chicago. Chain him to the bed and lock him in her room. Give him food and water and sex and breath so that he’ll never have to leave. But he does leave—back to Marquette, Michigan, to be with his new fiancé, Olive. Maddened, Maddy sets off on a mission to stalk and destroy them. But once Maddy returns to her hometown of Marquette, once she becomes close to getting everything she thought she ever wanted, she quickly realizes that she hasn’t done her research for what may become the most important role of her life.
MAGIC LAND, QUEST FOR THE DRAGON STONES, FIRE STONE (6K) is a work of Children’s Middle Grade Fantasy Fiction that bursts with magic. Dragon Masters meets The Secret Mermaid, MAGIC LAND brings us a young ADHD heroine whose imagination gets her into trouble in real life, but in Magic Land, she is the prophesied child who will save all magical creatures.
Scarlett Phoebe Starr believes in magic. Mermaids. Unicorns. Fairies. Dragons. She is different from her friends. Always distracted. Always lost in her imagination. But that’s okay. Because Scarlett has a secret—Scarlett is from Magic Land. Or is meant to be there. She can’t quite explain it. But when the dragon from her neighbor’s apple tree springs to life and taps on her bedroom window one night, Scarlett isn’t surprised. In fact, Scarlett is a dragon rider, and Moonlight, her dragon. She hops on Moonlights back and is flown to Magic Land, a land she has only ever seen in her dreams.
But Haxa, an evil wizard, has stolen one of the five Dragon Stones, the stones responsible for all dragon magic, and has cast a forever night over Magic Land. Scarlett and Moonlight must go on a quest to find the lost dragon stone and save Magic Land. And as Scarlett is faced with dangerous magical creatures, she finds that the very things she’s scolded for in real life—her impulsivity and imagination—might just be the very things that save her.
Magic Land, Quest for the Dragon Stones, Fire Stone will be at the 2025 Big Sur Children’s Writers Workshop before going out on submission in early 2025.
Screenplays
Snowed-In, a holiday romance:
Lost in a blizzard, city girl Sam finds herself in a magical Christmas village, learning that there’s more to life than what she planned.
Sam has it all—a wonderful job, the perfect boyfriend, soon-to-be fiancé, and a dynamic apartment in the city—and yet, something is missing. On her way to her boyfriend’s cabin for Christmas, she finds herself lost in a blizzard, snowed-in with a hunky stranger, in a magical Christmas village that challenges what she thought she wanted in life and who she thought she was.
Snowed-In is available to option or purchase. Please contact me for more details.
A Christmas Match, a holiday romance:
A thirty-year-old fourth generation matchmaker has made hundreds of love connections, but can’t seem to find love herself. This holiday season she may just find her perfect match.
Lacy Jennings finds love for everyone else. Usually filled with holiday cheer, this Christmas feels different. The lights on Michigan Avenue don’t spark happiness anymore, the barren trees, once a stunning picture of a snow-kissed wonderland now appears leaden and droopy. She’s taken over Chicago—has a thriving business in the Gold Coast, a stunning condominium, great friends, great family… so what’s missing?
Then a new client walks into her office, a handsome, quirky, charismatic man and Lacy feels something ignite. But Lacy doesn’t date her clients, so she distracts herself with another man. Will Lacy follow in her ancestors’ footsteps, pick the wrong man, and wind up alone? Or will Lacy finally give in, and follow her heart. Either way, she’s on a mission: finding love for the holidays.
A Christmas Match is available to option or purchase. Please contact me for more details.