Publications

THE TROUBLE WITH MANDY

The following is a short synopsis of my novel:

An injured eaglet, a prospecting grandmother, a silver mine, a ghost town, and a cave-in — then a night with her injured friend Lance — and a skeleton? Whose body is that buried beneath the rubble? Something sinister is lurking outside the cave and Mandy must find a way to get both her and Lance back to safety!

It was the beginning of their summer vacation, and Mandy Johnson and her best friend, Lance Running Wolf, find an injured eaglet on the road leading to the campground at White Lake. As its only injury is a broken wing, Dr. Logan suggests the two friends care for it themselves. Mandy is delighted as she sensed, from the moment she looked into its golden eyes, she had formed a bond with the young bird.

It was decided that once the eaglet was healed to take it to the aeries on the north side of the lake to set it free. The diversion of nurturing the injured bird is exciting, but does little to alleviate Mandy’s concerns. She worries about her grandmother who spends most of her time exploring the mountains searching for deserted ghost towns and artifacts for her museum.

Grandma returns home unexpectedly from one of her excursions. She has found the ghost town of Cougar Flats, as well as the infamous Silvertip Mine. Mandy overhears Grandma telling Mom that the reason she came home early was because something had frightened Gus and Daisy, her two mules. But before Mandy can talk to Grandma about her trip, things take an unexpected turn.

After getting grounded, and though she realizes she is disobeying her mother Mandy suggests to Lance that they take the eaglet to the aerie on their own. She coerces him into “borrowing” Max, Lance’s older brother Jared’s horse, even though they know that Max is off limits. After a long hike and cumbersome climb, they make it to the top of the cliff and the eaglet is released.

An unwise decision causes a drastic turn of events, and puts their lives in danger. Through the entire ordeal, Mandy finds the courage to survive extraordinary odds, and she realizes that the outcome of her actions could have been devastating, and the ordeal their families had to go through when she and Lance failed to return home was horrific. It was a hard lesson to learn and one she would never forget.

ORDER A COPY OF THE TROUBLE WITH MANDY HERE.