The Story (so far)

Set once again in the fictional Appalachian town of Radiant, Virginia, this novel follows the emotional aftermath of a gas station shooting—not just the incident itself, but the tangled web of blame, healing, and quiet courage that follows.

The story unfolds during a brutal winter, when snow covers the tracks people leave but can’t erase them. Eight years after Jojo’s death, Radiant faces another tragedy. When Matthew—Andy’s sponsor and a pillar of the recovery community—is shot, the violence exposes not just what happened that night, but the fractured families and hidden cruelties that made it possible.

Benji, a teenage boy raised by his grandfather Pawpaw Joe, carries guilt for what he witnessed even though he didn’t pull the trigger. Cody, the shooter, comes from Radiant’s “perfect family”—his father the town dentist, his mother Savannah trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage.

As the community reels, the story moves through multiple perspectives: Lizzie, now thirteen, navigating adolescence with Matthew’s dog Apollo as her anchor. Andy, trying to stay sober and steady while his sponsor fights for his life. Mitzi, learning to live openly as a queer woman while falling for Angeline, a Black middle school guidance counselor. And Pawpaw Joe and Savannah, two guardians now reckoning with how the boys in their care ended up here.

One Way Home asks: How do we move forward when violence keeps finding us? How do small towns survive when tragedy becomes routine? What does it mean to choose hope—and love—when the past refuses to stay quiet? And who is responsible when the danger comes from inside the houses that look the safest?

The Characters

Lizzie Collins – Thirteen years old, daughter of Andy and Alice. Navigating adolescence and trauma with Apollo, Matthew’s dog, as her primary confidante while the adult world fractures around her.

Andy Collins – Lizzie’s father, eighteen-plus years sober, facing his hardest test yet when his sponsor Matthew is shot. Takes Matthew’s dog Apollo home temporarily and tries to hold steady for everyone who depends on him.

Alice Collins – Lizzie’s mother, Andy’s partner, still working as a physician assistant. Parenting a teenager while her family weathers another tragedy.

Mitzi (now Melissa) Knox – Returned to Radiant as a social worker after college. Learning to live openly as a queer woman in her hometown while falling in love with Angeline, a Black middle school guidance counselor, and serving the community that once failed her.

Matthew Knox – Andy’s sponsor and Ezra and Melissa’s uncle. When he’s shot in the gas station incident, his hospitalization sends ripples through the recovery community.

Apollo – Matthew’s dog, temporarily living with Andy’s family while Matthew is hospitalized. He becomes Lizzie’s unexpected anchor.

Benji Ray – A thirteen-year-old boy raised by his grandfather, carrying guilt for a violent incident he witnessed but didn’t cause. Trying to find his way forward while living with what he knows.

Pawpaw Joe – Benji’s grandfather, raising his grandson and navigating the aftermath of violence that his family is connected to.

Cody Springer – A teenage boy from Radiant’s “perfect family” whose violence exposes the cruelty that privilege can hide.

Savannah Springer– Cody’s mother, much younger than her emotionally abusive husband (the town dentist). Trapped in a marriage that looks perfect from the outside while grappling with what her son has become.

Where This Fits In The Radiant Universe

Book 1: A Hundred Ways to Say I Love You (87,000 words) – Alice’s unexpected pregnancy, Andy’s early recovery, Lizzie’s birth

Book 2: A Thousand Ways to Say I’m Sorry (97,000 words) – Jojo’s overdose death, Ruby’s grief, Ezra’s trial (5 years later, Lizzie is 5)

Book 3: One Way home – Gas station shooting, Matthew hospitalized, Lizzie at 13 (8 years after Book 2)

Each book stands alone. Together, they trace how recovery, violence, and grace evolve across time in one small Appalachian town.

Themes I’m Exploring

• Gun violence and its aftermath in rural communities
• Adolescence and the transition from innocence to awareness (Lizzie’s coming-of-age)
• Long-term recovery and how sobriety is tested by proximity to trauma (Andy 18+ years sober)
• The evolution of survival (Ezra and Mitzi, both grown now, using their pain to serve others)
• Queer identity and chosen family in small-town Appalachia
• What it means to live openly and love freely in places that don’t always make room for you
• Interracial queer romance in the rural South
• How small towns absorb repeated tragedy—or break under the weight
• How violence emerges from “respectable” families, not just marginalized ones
• The masks families wear and what festers behind them
• Emotional abuse and its long-term consequences
• Guilt, complicity, and the difference between witnessing and causing harm

Why I’m Writing This

Radiant isn’t just a setting—it’s a character. A town that survives by holding its people close, even when those people hurt each other. After two books exploring addiction, overdose, and grief, I wanted to ask: What comes next? How do the survivors carry forward? What does it look like when Lizzie, who was five and full of light in Book 2, becomes thirteen and aware of how fragile everything is?

This is still a rough draft—big, messy, finding its shape. But the bones are there. The characters are alive. And I’m learning what this story wants to be.

About This Book

One Way Home is my third novel set in this fictional Appalachian town. While I’m currently querying A Thousand Ways to Say I’m Sorry and have a complete manuscript for A Hundred Ways to Say I Love You, this project represents where my work is headed: continuing to build a literary universe where recovery is hard-won, violence is never simple, and grace arrives in unexpected forms.

I’m now in revision for Book 3 while querying Book 2—not because I’m avoiding revision, but because these characters and this town won’t leave me alone. Radiant has more stories to tell, and I’m here for all of them.