UPDATE: 2024 BRMCWC Foundations winner in women’s contemporary fiction!

What if the one person you have every reason not to trust is the one person who can make your dream come true?

Emma thinks she’s got Tom all figured out: an arrogant Mr. Perfect with the “Ridiculously Impressive Resume.” And he insulted her! She can’t get away from him fast enough, so why does it seem like he’s everywhere these days? First he’s at her church, and now he’s a consultant at her workplace. Wait, did Tom just get Emma FIRED?! Who IS this guy? 

[Anne here]. This story is me tipping my hat to writers of sparkling dialogue like Rainbow Rowell, madcap situational comedy like Sophie Kinsella, and the queen of all complex romantic heroes and heroines who famously misunderstand each other: Jane Austen. 

I wanted to write a clean (yet still truly funny) romantic comedy. One I could give my teenage nieces to read and hope it makes them laugh out loud. Skip a Beat is a completed manuscript at just over 100,000 words.

UPDATE: 2024 BRMCWC Foundations 2nd place in YA non-fiction!

In January 2022, at the request of my middle son, we welcomed a juvenile bearded dragon into the family. I was as surprised as anyone when I began seeing spiritual parallels as we learned about our dragon, Rusty, and took care of him. I collected my stories as a devotional for boys going through that awkward phase known as “middle school.”

The Bearded Dragon Devotional: Biblical Reflections for Middle School Boys is comprised of 40 narrative-style devotions with a total word count of 38,000. Topics such as anxiety, materialism, discipline, and perseverance are tackled with an often humorous but always honest approach to growing one’s faith. Despite the light-hearted approach of many of my stories, this devotional grew out of a very serious objective: to reach middle school boys when they are at a critical age, just before the later teen years when they may be very likely to question their faith or move away from it. The goal of this devotional is to help science-ey, nature-loving boys instill a habit of regularly studying and applying God’s Word in their lives.

He’s not Prince Charming, but he does work hard.

From a young age, Prince Hans of Ruenveld has done his best to tirelessly serve the interests of his father’s kingdom. He manages the various commercial industries that keep his kingdom in good standing and oversees the exports always demanded by the continental Federation, which controls Ruenveld as well as three other kingdoms.

When a trusted colleague dies and Hans’ business dealings begin to unravel, he is forced to hire a mysterious young woman to help him. As they learn together just how bad the situation actually is, she encourages him to open his eyes to other things as well, and Hans begins to learn that his world is full of more danger—and magic—than he had ever believed possible.

A completed manuscript at 100,000 words, The Mapmaker’s Daughter is the first of an intended trilogy series.

Hero or coward? You decide.

Picking up where The Mapmaker’s Daughter ends, Hans, Wren, and Tynus embark on a perilous journey across the continent into realms and peoples unknown. The adventures they experience are a welcome change from the routines of Hans’ royal life in Ruenveld, and some—but not all—of the answers to the mysteries introduced in Book One are revealed.

Being removed from his kingdom causes Hans to see his own life more clearly, even as his deepening feelings for Wren complicate their situation. When the journey ends, however, neither Hans—nor the kingdom he returns to—will ever be the same.

Currently 2/3 complete, The Servant’s Journey stands at approximately 60,000 words.