The Fruit of Our Thorns:

A Collection

Roses are full of contradictions: petals and thorns, delicacy and danger, passion and purity. The rose is complex, enduring - and, above all, resilient. Protected by its thorns and supported by strong roots, the rose flourishes in gardens and wild mountainsides alike.

THE FRUIT OF OUR THORNS celebrates girls and women, who, like the rose, are full of seeming paradoxes. They are fierce, sweet, wild, and gentle. They can be cruel, and they can be kind. They can fall in love with boys or girls or not at all, defy goddesses and outwit kings...but also make mistakes, suffer, and grieve. Join them in this collection of tales, and remember what the poet Rumi knew to be true:

The rose’s truest essence lives in the thorn

What's Inside?

The Chinchilla Affair

Based (very loosely) on an actual incident from my own high school years, this is a story about two girls who follow a chinchilla into the forest in the dead of night and find more than they bargained for.

The Rose Garden

Set in war-torn Ireland, this story follows Cait Kelly as she finds refuge with the beautiful yet secretive lady of Primrose Cottage.

Ember

This story is set in the same universe as my next WIP. When strange power outages on the East coast separate two sisters from their family, they set out on their own in search of answers.

Wind and Rain

Inspired by the folk ballad "Twa Sisters," this story is a ghost's retelling of her own tragic murder.

The Flower of Kastania

Set in a small Greek village during the Nazi occupation, this story was inspired by my grandmother's experiences during the war and blended with the massacre of Distomo, which has been identified as one of the most heinous crimes of WWII.

Empress

This is a short but impactful flash fiction piece about a child empress and her struggle to take ownership of her life.

True Love Scars

This flash fiction piece is a LGBTQ retelling of the legend of Tam Lin.

The Spider and the Honeybee

This retelling of the Greek myth of Arachne is told from the perspective of her sister, an original character dreamed up by yours truly.

A Queen Born

This one is a gender-bent, dystopian retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche.

A Queen Crowned

Set in the same universe as A Queen Born, this is a fairly straightforward (but nonetheless charming) retelling of a Greek folk tale called "What's the Fastest Thing in the World?"

A Queen Betrothed

This story is also set in the same universe, but it started out its life as a LotR fanfiction one-shot about Lothiriel and Eomer's first meeting. A reluctant prince pays court to an eccentric but beautiful princess.

Blossoms

One of my favorites from the collection, this is a Grimm-inspired fairy tale about a tom-boy princess and her very ladylike lady-in-waiting.