PEAKS ISLAND: a full-length novel
A Wattpad featured story September 2017
Allison is spending the summer on picturesque Peaks Island, Maine where she is the caretaker for her Aunt Meredith's exquisite beach house. While her intention is to hide-away in the small caretaker's cottage and write her first novel, she begins a relationship with a sweet ferry operator named Kevin. Kevin's rugged New England manner appeals to Allison just as a remote culture appeals to an anthropologist. Allison has grown to love the easy lifestyle and the natural beauty of the rocky coastal island. Things change when a handsome, confident New Englander named Greg Marshall inquires about renting the house. She finds herself completely flustered by his looks and smooth manner. Yet as her attraction for him grows, her life on Peak's Island begins to fall apart. First Allison almost drowns at their private beach. Then her personal journal goes missing and she begins receiving threatening texts. She senses she's being watched and a series of coincidences seem to confirm that she, in fact, may be in danger. Peaks Island is a romantic and humorous love story with a hint of suspense.
A Wattpad featured story September 2017
Allison is spending the summer on picturesque Peaks Island, Maine where she is the caretaker for her Aunt Meredith's exquisite beach house. While her intention is to hide-away in the small caretaker's cottage and write her first novel, she begins a relationship with a sweet ferry operator named Kevin. Kevin's rugged New England manner appeals to Allison just as a remote culture appeals to an anthropologist. Allison has grown to love the easy lifestyle and the natural beauty of the rocky coastal island. Things change when a handsome, confident New Englander named Greg Marshall inquires about renting the house. She finds herself completely flustered by his looks and smooth manner. Yet as her attraction for him grows, her life on Peak's Island begins to fall apart. First Allison almost drowns at their private beach. Then her personal journal goes missing and she begins receiving threatening texts. She senses she's being watched and a series of coincidences seem to confirm that she, in fact, may be in danger. Peaks Island is a romantic and humorous love story with a hint of suspense.
IF THERE ARE ANY HEAVENS, a full length novel
If There are Any Heavens is the story of Rose Miller, a WWII widow living in Oregon in 1943. Grief stricken, Rose walks through her life, a ghost of her former self. She is a locally renowned gardener and despite her despair, she continues with her small business creating floral arrangements for local events. She is stirred when handsome art professor Ed O'Neil, commissions her to design the flowers for his mother's funeral. After a few coincidental meetings, his intense attraction to her becomes known. When he makes an advance towards her, Rose accepts and they begin a love affair. While her feelings are intensely passionate, it's not long before Rose begins to realize that their arrangement is morally corrupt and deceitful. Rose breaks things off with Ed but as his love letters pour in she finds herself wanting him again. When tragedy strikes, Rose turns to Ed and he is unwilling or unable to help her.
If There are Any Heavens is the story of Rose Miller, a WWII widow living in Oregon in 1943. Grief stricken, Rose walks through her life, a ghost of her former self. She is a locally renowned gardener and despite her despair, she continues with her small business creating floral arrangements for local events. She is stirred when handsome art professor Ed O'Neil, commissions her to design the flowers for his mother's funeral. After a few coincidental meetings, his intense attraction to her becomes known. When he makes an advance towards her, Rose accepts and they begin a love affair. While her feelings are intensely passionate, it's not long before Rose begins to realize that their arrangement is morally corrupt and deceitful. Rose breaks things off with Ed but as his love letters pour in she finds herself wanting him again. When tragedy strikes, Rose turns to Ed and he is unwilling or unable to help her.
THE INFIDEL, a dystopian novella
"Make no mistake. Women, you will sacrifice your life to save your species!" In this futuristic dystopian novella, society is divided into two factions: humans and altmen. Altmen are genetically engineered warriors. Altmen are bred for strength and they possess intellectual superiority, making them keen warriors. Their superior intelligence allows them insight, empathy, and compassion. Despite their enlightenment they have been enslaved by the government. The males warriors are forbidden beyond the war zones. The Altmen women are hidden from society. To preserve the bloodline of the warriors and maintain the military might, contact between the Altmen and humans is forbidden by the government. Any human woman caught associating with an Altman is brutally executed.
"Make no mistake. Women, you will sacrifice your life to save your species!" In this futuristic dystopian novella, society is divided into two factions: humans and altmen. Altmen are genetically engineered warriors. Altmen are bred for strength and they possess intellectual superiority, making them keen warriors. Their superior intelligence allows them insight, empathy, and compassion. Despite their enlightenment they have been enslaved by the government. The males warriors are forbidden beyond the war zones. The Altmen women are hidden from society. To preserve the bloodline of the warriors and maintain the military might, contact between the Altmen and humans is forbidden by the government. Any human woman caught associating with an Altman is brutally executed.
Plays and Scripts
IF THERE ARE ANY HEAVENS - Full Length Play
Competition winner / scene selected: Hillsboro Artists Regional Theater's Promising Playwrights, October 18, 2014; Staged Reading May 29, 2015, Hipbone Studios - 7:30 p.m.
LOVE IS ENOUGH, a full length play
Winner of the 2014 Portland Civic Theater's Guild Fertile Ground Selection
It’s the 1960s: LBJ, Vietnam, women libbers — and Gladys is trapped in her role as a typical housewife. Her life revolves around the needs of her husband, Mike, and her son, Joey. But Gladys has a dream: she dreams of writing romance novels. She dreams of a world inhabited by a lovely young woman — perhaps named Jill Brentwood or Rachel Winters — who studies fashion design in Paris where she happens to meet a handsome stranger whose deep brown eyes look directly into her heart. His name could be Daniel O’Connor, Tom Griffin, or…perhaps…Marcos Van Dirk! The fantastic world of Gladys’ imagination collides with her stifling reality when Marcos suddenly comes to life and she is forced to choose between being a housewife and her romantic dreams. The comedy Love is Enough is written by Portland playwright Donna Barrow-Green and directed by Chrisse Roccaro. The cast includes Emily Sahler as Gladys; Brian Allard as her husband, Mike; Bryce Earhart as their son, Joey; and Gilberto Martin Del Campo as the dreamy hero, Marcos Van Dirk. Love is Enough is produced by the Portland Civic Theatre Guild, whose mission is to serve and support the Portland theatre community. Please join us at 10am for coffee before the reading.
FORTUNE COOKIES, a one act office romance
Fertile Ground Festival 2013, Portland Oregon; Part Time Playhouse 2013, Portland, Oregon
Playwright Artist's Statement
What I love about most theater is the layers of illusion. The illusion that action is a normal, recognizable conversation. The illusion that people become sutured in and out of dramatic reality, an experience that is both symbiotic and symbolic. I’m inspired by the co-creation of a play. The writer providing the context, the director interpreting it, the actors breathing life into it, technical experts adding sensory dimensions, and of course, the audience as participants. Plays are powerful in their unique ability to address life’s questions while engaging one’s whole self.
My plays situate women in gendered paradigms. Often I use historical contexts to strengthen conflict or I place characters within traditional literary conventions such as female protagonist of a love story. I introduce unsettling themes while maintaining a comedic connection with the audience. I have often heard audience members question the reliability of my protagonist. If something is off, it must be her. In that way, I see a deepening complicity in the specter of prescribed norms. Just as in real life.
The playwrights who have inspired me most are among the greats: Paula Vogel, Eugene O’Neil, Lynn Nottage. Their seemingly effortless skill in constructing a story, an uncanny reality, is mind blowing. First and foremost, they create a place. And within that world, injustice is illuminated. Carefully and skillfully. No one accused, but all culpable. In this, there is possibility for human transformation. When a playwright connects with the audience, the universal is distilled into the personal. I believe in the power of this. I suppose, I am just as captivated by theater’s dimensions of reality as I am by its layers of illusion.
2014 If There Are Any Heavens, Winner Promising Playwrights competition: Hillsboro Artists Regional Theater.
2014 Love Is Enough, Winner Fertile Ground Competition: Portland Civic Theater Guild / directed by Chrisse Riccaro
2013 Fortune Cookies, Scene Selected, Part-Time Playhouse Productions.
2013 Fortune Cookies, Staged Reading. Produced by PDX Playwrights, Fertile Ground Festival / directed by Megan Sweigert
2001 Love Is Enough, Staged Reading, Playwrights Center of San Francisco/ directed by Susan Nichols
1999 The Retroflector, Staged Reading, Playwrights Center of San Francisco / directed by Susan Nichols
1998 This Evening Spent & Destiny, The Game Show, LaVal's Pizza-Berkeley / directed by Susan Nichols
1998 Bicycle Built for Two, Staged Reading, Playwrights Center of San Francisco/ directed by Laura Smith