Writer
Writer of spicy, contemporary romance 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, and my romances are spicy and fast-paced, as they expose the complexities of intimacy within the human condition.
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 am a submissions assessor for She Writes Press. And I am represented by Elizabeth Kracht with Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency.
My Contemporary Romance, INN TO YOU, is currently on submission to editors.
Books
On submission to editors now!
Spicy, contemporary romances with a literary edge
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.
INN TO YOU is a stand-alone novel with series potential, and is currently out on submission to editors.
FILL ME UP (90K), is a spicy, contemporary romance set in the theatre world of Chicago and the wild wilderness of Northern Michigan. Fans of Ali Hazelwood will love Vajda’s ability to expose a character’s secret heart, while readers of Tessa Bailey will gobble up the spicy spice!
Maddy is a Chicago actor playing Ophelia in Hamlet at Steppenwolf, when she spots her ex-love (THE love), Grayson, in the audience on closing night. Memories flood—how they crawled into each other’s skin and made a home there; how she postponed her dream of Broadway because he promised to move with her; how when the time came to do so, he didn’t, but dumped her instead; how every man who came after had to contend with the ghost of Grayson—but when he finds her in the dressing room after curtain call, her resolve shatters. They have sex—once, twice, three times—and when she wakes the next morning, she wants to keep him. There, in Chicago. Believes that this is why he is here. That he knows it is his turn to compromise now. But then he leaves her half-naked on her doorstep, and drives back to Northern Michigan to be with his new fiancé, Olive. Maddened, Maddy sets off on a mission to stalk and destroy them. But once she returns to Northern Michigan, she finds that her love for Grayson is still all consuming, and that the truths she once told herself regarding the end of their relationship, might actually be fiction. But when it comes time to choose between Grayson and her career (once again), she must decide how much of one’s self is too much to sacrifice for love.
FILL ME UP is a stand-alone novel with series potential, and will be on submission to editors soon!
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.