My Current WIPs

“No Western Saints” (first draft in progress)

Mercedes, a retired bandit in her seventies, is drawn back into danger when a tenderfoot school teacher from back east arrives in town. Caught against unexpected opposition, Mercedes must question the price of progress as she’s pulled back into her old outlaw habits to protect her community.

“Mercedes and the Mule” (editing final draft)

Old and gray, retired bandit Mercedes Lopez lives a quiet, law-abiding life in Montana with her wagons and mules, until an old partner brings news that the fortune she stole and lost two decades ago has been uncovered. Mercedes rides south to retrieve the gold but enemies from her past rise to make the journey a trial. When life threatening injuries add to the difficulty, she must draw on sixty years' experience of survival outside the law to reclaim her fortune.

“The Quiet Ride” (first draft in progress)

Set against the rugged, hardscrabble landscape of the Sonoran borderlands, this story follows Sheriff Tennessee Merlow on the track of a missing child as the mystery takes him into dangerous meetings with old enemies.