Welcome to Tiger Mountain

If you’re someone whose imagination is fired up when you’re reading a book, generating a technicolor movie in your head as the story unfolds, welcome to the club. I have a very specific vision of Wynter’s home on Tiger Mountain (from book 4 onward of the Wynter Wild series), a vision that was always in mind as I wrote the scenes set there.

But of course, everyone’s imagination generates a different image. So these are just the plans and pictures that match my personal vision. If you don’t easily form images in your head, this might help you orient yourself in Wynter’s home.

First up, here’s a high-angle shot of the entire property looking over the front wall:

NEW RELEASE

Emerald Fall is out now! This full-length novel takes place between the Wynter Wild sequels Sometimes Love and Twelve Days of Jessemas.

Read in Kindle Unlimited and ebook. Also in paperback (English).

ENGLISH

FRANÇAIS

DEUTSCH

Some choices soothe the soul. Others haunt the heart.
As autumn settles over Seattle, new memories are made in the warmth and chaos of the Aviary, Wynter’s shared student house.
Then an impossible request forces her and her brothers to each make a painful decision. When the price is too high, staying emerald is easier said than done.

Listen to Wynter’s new song Emerald here.

Emerald Fall: Start reading…

The latest book in the Wynter Wild series is Emerald Fall, available in Kindle Unlimited, ebook and paperback, as well as French and German. Click the buttons to read… or read the first three chapters here.

ENGLISH

FRANÇAIS

DEUTSCH

1 Her Profile

September 2016

As a pearly-white SUV pulled into the pick-up bay, Jesse surreptitiously sniffed his armpit. He always felt gross after a plane flight. Flying made him nervous. Nerves made him sweat.

Sorrel gave him a little wave through the tinted windshield and he hopped in, registering that his new girlfriend drove a BMW that put his Caprice to shame. He leaned over to kiss her and buckled up.

He hadn’t seen Sorrel in five weeks. Prior to that, he’d spent only three days with her—mostly in the van with the band as they drove two long stints from the Las Vegas gig to Salt Lake City, and from there to Denver. Then she’d flown back to Seattle to start her new job. Their relationship had been long-distance. Finally, that was about to change.

“Nice car.”

“My parents bought it for me when I moved to Washington.”

“You drove a brand-new BMW as a student?”

“It’s ten years old now.”

Huh. The exterior was flawless, the interior spotless. Jesse made a mental note to get his car detailed before Sorrel laid eyes on it.

“How old is your car?” she asked.

“It’s a twenty-five-year-old Chevy wagon. A classic,” he added defensively.

“Can’t wait to meet it. We’ll pick it up with your other stuff from Tiger Mountain later.”

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world!” He stroked the leather upholstery. “Well… I might trade it for this.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I could fit three drum kits in the back.”

COMING SOON: Cover & title reveal

The next story in the Wynter Wild series is coming soon! Emerald Fall takes place during the months between Sometimes Love and Twelve Days of Jessemas.

To read excerpts, join my private Facebook group (where spoilers abound): Blue Bunker

Three new releases

I’ve published three books in the last couple of months – one sequel-prequel, one series-sequel, and one anthology. They’re all available as ebooks and in Kindle Unlimited. Audiobook is currently US only. Here’s the rundown and all the links:

Soul Survivor

…is the third short story in the Fairn Boys series, which follows Wynter’s brothers when they were little (15 years before they met her).

For 12-year-old Caleb, structure is survival. Home life is ruled by his volatile father, Harry, whose drinking fuels unpredictable violence and bouts of emotional cruelty against his three sons. Amid the chaos, Caleb struggles to maintain his identity and integrity while keeping his brothers safe.

Harry’s plans for a glorious Halloween bonfire could be the highlight of the year. But as the pyre rises, so does the threat to everything the brothers hold dear.

ENGLISH

DEUTSCH

FRANÇAIS

Sometimes Love

…is a novella sequel to the Wynter Wild series, directly following #11 Echoes.

Sometimes love… isn’t love at all

Wynter has flown halfway around the world care for the sister she barely knows. Seven-year-old Asha is hungry for connection, and Wynter throws herself into a crash course on becoming a dependable guardian to this sweet little girl who still believes in fairies.

But Asha’s fantasies aren’t as harmless as they seem. Her stories don’t line up. She’s keeping secrets. She’s telling lies. Wynter’s growing unease might be paranoia… or it might signal real danger.

With her brothers an ocean away, Wynter must rely on instinct alone. To keep Asha safe, she’ll have to trust the one person she swore she never would… and walk into the kind of trouble she’s spent her life avoiding.

ENGLISH

DEUTSCH

FRANÇAIS

Seasons of Hope

…is an anthology of the three Fairn Boys stories, in paperback for the first time.

Caleb, Indio, and Jesse’s mom left the boys at their estranged father’s home… and never came back.

Living with dad is hard. Caleb grows up too fast as he attempts to take charge, Indio struggles with guilt and resentment, while little Jesse is in danger of losing his natural optimism.

Summer… Christmas… Halloween: three seasons for three brothers clinging to hope.

ENGLISH

DEUTSCH

FRANÇAIS

Naming a very long series

When I started writing the Wynter Wild books in 2017, a stream-of-consciousness half-a-million-word jumble of ideas and scenes covering several years of Wynter’s life, and written out of order, I knew early on that it would be a long series. So the necessity of naming the books in some sort of coherent manner was an issue I dealt with early on.

I wanted titles that played on a single theme, but I hadn’t decided what that theme would be. I jotted down endless ideas using themes from the story – not only music, but also “threads” (a recurring theme relating to broken or frayed threads, and of course braiding of hair and bracelets), lines from classic folk songs, matching words relating to family, and more.

Having decided on music, I brainstormed phrases and then matched them up with the relevant books. The later titles weren’t finalized until the earlier ones were already published, since those plots weren’t fully developed yet, but I had a list to select from.

Here’s my reasoning for each title – and a trip down memory lane for those readers who have stuck with the series to the end. Book title links take you to pages on the Wynter Wild Wiki, which includes spoilers.

Update: Expanding Wynter’s World

If you’re new to Wynter Wild’s world, here are a few things to do and read about the series:

Wynter goes from runaway to rockstar – that’s only half the story, but it’s the fun half! Listen to the songs she and her brothers and Xay have recorded (debut album Bloodlines on streaming and music platforms):

WYNTER WILD SONGS

Watch and listen to all the lyric videos on YouTube:

LYRIC VIDEOS

Download the free Song Book (lyrics are also in the books):

SONG BOOK

RECUEIL DE CHANSONS

LIEDERBUCH

Maps to orientate you in Wynter’s world:

WYNTER WILD MAPS

The Wynter Wild series is available in ebook, Kindle Unlimited, audiobook, and paperback. Start with Little Sister Song. Click to reach your local Amazon store (English language):

LITTLE SISTER SONG

FREE short stories when you sign up to my newsletter WildWord:

Fairn Boys story (when Wynter’s brothers were little): Waiting For Her

Wynter Wild prequel (When Wynter lived in the ashram): Floating Away

The entire series is also available in French and German (ebook, Kindle Unlimited, paperback):

Éditions françaises

Une histoire gratuite quand tu t’inscris à ma newsletter WildWord: En attendant elle

Deutsche Ausgaben

Eine kostenlose Story, wenn du dich für meinen Newsletter WildWord anmeldest: Warten auf sie

Book trailer and shorts for Little Sister Song:

TRAILER & SHORTS

Bonus material for the series (57 pages) in my store:

BONUS MATERIAL

Follow my Facebook page for regular posts and to meet other readers:

FACEBOOK

Doorways Part 3: Tiger Mountain House

This is the third in my Doorways series, looking at homes and locations mentioned in the Wynter Wild series. See also:

Part 1

Part 2

The family moves to a ramshackle farmhouse on Tiger Mountain after Caleb gets custody of Wynter. The house has a modern extension out the back and the famous stone tower. Other than the first two images here, the rest are AI-generated images of various rooms in the house to give you an idea of what it might be like to live there. There are some spoilers here.

Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 2: Childhood

In my previous post I showed pictures of the various homes lived in by the family in the Wynter Wild series. In this post I’ll take a look at the two houses they visit for nostalgia’s sake in Montana, along with the Montana homes the children grew up in even before then. These homes are presented in reverse order (most recent first) and are AI generated.

Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 1: Locations

While writing the Wynter Wild series I would often “drive” through cities and suburbs on Google Maps to get a feel for how a place looks, even if those descriptions don’t end up in my writing. I live in suburban Melbourne, which has many suburbs with their own distinctive and very Australian flavor. So it’s fascinating to me to compare American locations with Australian, as well as with each other. I looked for houses the right size and price (using Zillow estimates for the year in question, where possible), and in the right location. This helped me enormously in visualizing my scenes. Zillow also sometimes has photos of the interiors (when they’ve recently been on the market).

I’ve used AI to recreate the houses that Wynter and her brothers have lived in, based on my research of real locations. Here they are, listed in the order they appear in the books, not the order they were lived in. (This post is an update of an earlier post where I used photos of real houses.)