The Swirling Storm
A YA eco-fiction novel · Currently querying agents
The Swirling Storm is a ~79,000-word YA dystopian novel with thriller elements about a girl fighting to protect her family and community in post-apocalyptic Quebec. This novel is for readers who love the warm, community-under-threat intimacy of Louise Penny’s Three Pines paired with the banter in Erik J. Brown’s All That’s Left in the World. It balances high stakes and themes of loss with a warm community where people find joy in pancake breakfasts, shared customs, jokes, and their pets.
All Storm wanted to do was feed her family. With her father’s murder and mother’s disappearance, hunting is now her responsibility. But after she bags a rabbit, she sees a hooded figure in the clearing – and it sees her. For the first time, Storm wonders if she’ll make it back to her brothers and her Pod, a collaborative community, at all.
But while she gets away unscathed, she soon realizes that it’s far from over. Soon, livestock vanish without a trace, an intruder breaks in to her neighbor’s home, and Storm survives a second attempt on her life. Storm and her best friend Jayce investigate and they uncover a horrible truth that connects back to her father’s murder and mother’s disappearance. Storm finds herself in a race against an unknown enemy who seeks to destroy her family, her community, and their future survival.
Want to follow along? I share updates, excerpts, and behind-the-scenes thoughts on Substack.