Storms of Future Past Series

The Storm Begins. Seeing the future: blessing or curse? For Anne Fincastle, only the number of survivors changes. Few or none. Anne knows the truth. In her heart, her mind, her bones. Only Evan Griffith believes. Can they make a difference for humanity, together? Book One of the Storms of Future Past Series. An excerpt from Dreaming the Storm: Prophets have risen up many times through the ages, claiming to have the gift of seeing the future. Whether certain ones could or not is a debate for another day. What's not debatable is the most common response by society: to condemn them as insane, with often horrific results.  The screen went blank for a second, and Anne wiped her eyes, hoping the horrible movie was over. She didn't ever want to come back to this library again.  Then she saw dots slowly lighting up and glowing, coming to life scattered around the screen. There weren't very many, not even twenty of them. Lines formed on the screen, and after a second Anne realized those were the lines of the continents. The dots were on the land.  She could see a few on each continent, and only five in all of North America.  Her fear drew back a little as her curiosity started to recover. What was she looking at? They weren't near any of the cities she knew.  "What is it?" she whispered. The lines of the continents faded in the middle, right around the Atlantic ocean, and words floated to the surface. Pale blue words.  Remaining Human Population.

The Storm Strikes Iris Rutherford's paintings scare most people. Especially the strange ones. Even in her hometown of Maple Ridge, Virginia, her own peculiar magic makes her an outsider in a town full of them. Then Iris meets Gena Wallace, the first to understand. To see the visions, joyful and nightmarish, even before Iris sees. Will they survive as Iris's nightmares come true?

The Storm Builds Etan Griffith loves his life in Chicago, far from his native Blue Ridge Mountains. Alex Collins escaped Wisconsin to a career he loves, in a city that welcomes him more than his own family. Both seek the missing piece to their puzzle. Dreams and patterns. Restless and searching. Then one snowy night sets their shared destiny in motion. An excerpt from Joining the Storm "I never wanted you to know about the dreams," Etan said. "I feel crazy enough without you confirming it." "Crazy isn't the question," Alex said, stroking Etan's hair. "Unless it's both of us. You missed me saying every word feels true." "I don't even know what the dreams are, Alex. I know I have them, but I never remember a thing. That's not exactly stable." "Well, have a drink and let me enlighten you." Etan sat up, managing to keep himself from curling up into a knot of fear again. He drained the whiskey, watching Alex do the same. "What you tell me in the middle of the night is all about how we can't stay here much longer. Something bad is going to happen, with the food supply I think, and none of the cities are going to be safe anymore. And we don't have much time to get ready before we're trapped along with everyone else who's not going to make it out."

The Storm Breaks Alex Collins and Etan Griffith thought love, hard work, and magic protected them from the end of the world. Until heartbreak struck much closer to home. Picking up the pieces brings new friends and new challenges. Threats unseen and unexpected. Will the power of family bring them all through, together? An excerpt from Fighting the Storm: Etan didn't have to look at Alex to know he was biting his tongue, dying to say something. He could feel how tense Alex's leg was against his own, could just about hear his agitation. "What are you wanting to say, Alex?" "I don't want to be an asshole, but if we have to set you up as a prophet, that's what we need to do. I hated what happened in Maple Ridge and everywhere else. But we can't have gone through so much hell to get here and let everything fall apart again. If people will follow the Great Prophet Etan and that lets us survive, then that's who you need to be." Etan did groan then, closing his eyes for a second. Not only because this was what he'd been afraid of. Because the words and the ideas sounded true. They felt true, no matter how much he might dislike them. "I don't know if I can agree to that, not right now. I have no idea how to do anyof this, much less create a new religion. I'm scared to death of making a hard situation worse."

Follow the Storm From dreams of the end. To surviving the reality. Life and death decisions. Choices made only by fate. Follow four generations and the families they find through nightmares and heartbreak, love and magic. Includes Dreaming the Storm, Joining the Storm, Into the Storm, and Fighting the Storm. Dreaming the Storm The Storm Begins Seeing the future: blessing or curse? For Anne Fincastle, only the number of survivors changes. Few or none. Anne knows the truth. In her heart, her mind, her bones. Only Evan Griffith believes. Can they make a difference for humanity, together? Joining the Storm The Storm Builds Etan Griffith loves his life in Chicago, far from his native Blue Ridge Mountains. Alex Collins escaped Wisconsin to a career he loves, in a city that welcomes him more than his own family. Both seek the missing piece to their puzzle. Dreams and patterns. Restless and searching. Then one snowy night sets their shared destiny in motion. Into the Storm The Storm Strikes Iris Rutherford's paintings scare most people. Especially the strange ones. Even in her hometown of Maple Ridge, Virginia, her own peculiar magic makes her an outsider in a town full of them. Then Iris meets Gena Wallace, the first to understand. To see the visions, joyful and nightmarish, even before Iris sees. Will they survive as Iris's nightmares come true? Fighting the Storm The Storm Breaks Alex Collins and Etan Griffith thought love, hard work, and magic protected them from the end of the world. Until heartbreak struck much closer to home. Picking up the pieces brings new friends and new challenges. Threats unseen and unexpected. Will the power of family bring them all through, together?

The Storm Rises Dr. Sandy Hughes faces several more hours of an endless shift in a Chicago emergency room. Wrangling baby docs, residents, and med students. All doing their best to help people yanked out of ordinary life and thrust into medical nightmares. Then a mysterious boy yanks Sandy out of her own ordinary life. Forever. Can Sandy figure out his warning before it's too late? A Prequel to the Storms of Future Past Series An excerpt from Sensing the Storm: "It's you," Ricky said to Dr. Tahara, his high voice rough and breaking. "You're the one who can help me." Ricky blinked again. His eyes still had that jumpy movement, but his face and his vitals remained calm. When his gaze met Sandy's, she felt a jolt of recognition that made no sense to her at all. "You know, too," Ricky said, raising his head toward Sandy. "Okay, Ricky," Sandy said. "I'm Dr. Hughes, and I've known Dr. Tahara for years. How can we help you?" Ricky closed his eyes, long, curling lashes overlapping before he blinked them open again. "You can't help me. I have to help you."

The Discovery of Destiny  Laura Michaelson knows the expected course of her life. The right education. The right guy. The bright future.  None of it fits quite as well as it used to.  Connor Griffith's path detoured for work he loves. Now pressure to get back on track builds to uncomfortable levels.  Resisting the proper choices grows tougher every day.  The instant Laura and Connor meet, their lives and plans dissolve into chaos.  Will they find their true joy, and their true way forward, together?    An excerpt from Storms of the Heart: One glance, and everything changed.  Connor turned away to check out the big red brick high school and stopped. He was surprised and a little embarrassed to realize his jaw had actually dropped, but that didn't change the effect.  An absolutely gorgeous woman walked toward them, with a smile brighter than the leaves on all those autumn trees.  She was around his age, and moved with all the strength and confidence he'd ever seen from women in the city and more.  The early evening sun seemed to start a fire all its own in her curly blonde hair, caught back in a bouncy ponytail that struck Connor as a real shame.  He wanted to see her hair loose and falling around her shoulders, shifting with every move of her body.  Every breath.  He shook his head, not sure where on earth such thoughts could be coming from inside his normally calm and pretty much orderly mind.  But no one had ever struck him so deep and hard on first sight.

The Race for a Snowy Rescue Walt Colley loves nothing more than watching a good snowstorm settle in. Except for the chance to help people as best he knows how. Then one of the kids he takes under his wing goes missing at the worst time, sending Walt out into the night. Can he bring everyone home safe and keep himself out of trouble at the same time?   A Storms of Future Past Story Also available in the collection Facing Down Extraordinary   An excerpt from The Best Kind of Teacher: A Bad Night for a Friend to Go Missing Harry breathed in deep, then blew out loud enough that Walt held the phone away from his ear. "You be careful out there, Walt. This snow might not be as bad as they predicted just yet, but with all the rain lately there's likely to be black ice. We don't want two of you skidding out." "I got my own four-wheel drive, and chains if I need 'em. Do me a favor and hold off on sending any more plows out for a bit if you can. I'd hate for them to cover over the very tracks we might need if he did go off the road. I'm heading out right now." Silly as Jimmy could be, Walt had never known him to be a careless driver in any kind of weather. But like anyone just barely nineteen, he didn't hardly have enough behind-the-wheel experience to tell for sure.

The Oddest of Jobs More than the usual number of unusual people call Maple Ridge home. Carol Sanderson and her boyfriend Sid Rutherford work for the most eccentric of them all. They know to expect anything when decorating the most mysterious house in town. Except for what they discover on a snowy December night. A Storms of Future Past Story   Originally published in Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem: Crime in the Countryside Also available in the collection Shadows Mountain Deep   An excerpt from Adventures in Winter Driving: Watching Out for the Wrong Trouble "What's got you spooked?" Sid said. "You're watching the trees like something's going to jump out after us." Carol shoved him with a playful elbow. "It's not what might jump out of the trees. It's the trees themselves. Some of those old pines are huge, you know? They'd be tough to clear if even one of them fell." Sid looked more closely, shaking his head. Like most kids who grew up in Maple Ridge, they'd both spent time working either at the Maple Barn or out in the ring of trees that kept it supplied. Understanding what kept a tree healthy and in good shape was pretty much hardwired by the time they graduated high school. "They've stood there a long time, haven't they?" he said. "Good thing it's not supposed to snow too much tonight."