Recently, someone asked me if I had a place on my blog where all of my current projects were featured, and I was like, yes, it’s right over–oh dear lord that’s old. A little over a year old, actually, so here we are, back again with a current projects post, third edition! If, for some reason, you’re curious what the first and second editions looked like, they’re linked there.
As before, some of the ideas have disappeared throughout the editions as their novels are just so far from the realm of possibly being written that they can’t realistically be considered current projects. I’ve also decided to keep all finished novels on this list, as well as mark where I stand with each. And, again, I’ve also linked their Pinterest boards because I think it’s a great way to really see what the story is about, they’re all in chronological order of when they came to me, and I’ve also linked any actual writing from any of these that have appeared on the blog.
Let’s begin!
Mason & Co.: This story is going to be on my current projects list until I die. Mason is a character that I think about frequently, and that I dream about fairly often. Part of me believes that’s because he’s the most like me of all my characters, which also kind of makes him a little scary to me.
Status: I wrote the first version of his novel in December 2017, went through some really shitty stuff in the following months, and turned away from him completely for over a year. I’ve since restarted it, but just barely, and I don’t think I’m coming back to it anytime soon.
About: YA | urban fantasy | faeries | lgbtq+
Mason (20, angry, gay) has recently moved to a small (unnamed) city outside of Bangor, ME where he’s purchased an old, abandoned building that he plans to transform into a tea cafe. Dhaval (immortal, exhausted, POC) is ready to watch yet another fire elemental die, but that’s because he hasn’t met Mason yet, who is determined to survive. This is the beginning of a series of undecided length that features mostly faeries as main characters and discuss the ongoing war of humans versus faeries.
planets novel: This has gone through quite a few transformations. When I originally started working on it, it was a children’s series where all the planets were humans. It then shifted into a middle grade series where the planets were humans and had magic based on their planets. Now, it’s a young adult series with the planets as humans and a lot of them are sad because apparently that’s my MO.
Status: I am currently writing this! At the moment, it’s coming together in short stories that can be found here: Neptune, Earth, and Mercury. I plan on writing sketches for all nine of the planets (yes, Pluto is included in this), and then hopefully starting in on the actual novel next year.
About: YA | fiction | lgbtq+ | POC
This doesn’t actually have much of a plot right now. I know that all the planets are in high school together, and that they’re all friends, but much beyond that, who knows.
the Pen boys: My heart and soul right here. After Mason, the Pen boys were the first real time I delved into YA and let myself go in my writing. The first novel was 180k words, and even when I did massive edits, I only got it down to 130k, and it was a complete mess. I’ve since decided that I have to start over from scratch, which I’m no longer upset about, but that means it’s on the back burner right now.
Status: I officially have a plot for this that now makes sense. It is a five-part series that details the boys in their sophomore year-senior year, including the summers in between. I recently wrote a short story about the main character, Oliver, which is linked, and any updates on their story can be found under their tag.
About: YA | urban fantasy | magic boarding school | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
Penhallam Academy is an all-boys school that teaches its students about the kind of magic you see everyday–crystals, tarot, intuition, herbs, potions. The secret? All of this magic is actually real. It’s located in Gloucester with several trips to Rockport. There are a few family demons in there, which the boys have to go up against. And there are four boys in total: Oliver Hollands (sad, gay), James Goddard (angry, gay, POC), Harrison Eldridge (Dad, bi, POC), and Jasper Marlow (basically a Weasley twin, ace, POC).
sister witches: This is now officially a thing! It’s under the working title monsters included, which, who knows, may end up being it’s real title. I’ve had this idea floating around forever and a day, and finally decided at the end of 2018 to start actively working on it. It’s some kind of series, but don’t expect me to know how long because it’s supposed to be a trashy paperback series that goes on for a million years.
Status: COMPLETE! The first draft of the first novel is DONE, and I am very excited. You can read all about the final days of finishing this here, which includes the first chapter at the end.
About: YA(ish) | urban fantasy | WITCHES | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
Imagine the most ridiculous novel ever, and then I give you this: three witches, who live in the heart of Salem, accidentally summon a demon. It is supposed to be the most obnoxious, lighthearted, and silly thing ever, and if you don’t laugh at least once, I’m gonna be really sad. Our witches–(Henley: HWIC, gay, POC; Margot: loves bees, straight, POC; Adelaide: Aesthetic, straight, POC)–have kind of fallen in love with their very tall, very dorky, very scowly demon (Theodore: can turn into a cat, gay, Irish), so they’ve decided to extend his year contract. Unfortunately, Henley’s sister shows up determined to not only steal their demon, but all of their magic, so the four of them must band together to defeat her. This is so dumb, I love it.
Saintsverse: I was going to put this gorgeous aesthetically pleasing picture of a cathedral covered in mist with black birds flying all about, but then you’d think there were crows (or ravens) (or vultures) in the Saintsverse, and I can’t have that happening because NO DON’T WORRY there are no birds. Instead, cats. Real cats, mythical cats, and cars named after cats. That’s not what this is about, but these moody stripes of grey certainly have the right aesthetic for this world. Saintsverse is my main universe, something I will be working on for the rest of eternity, and something that is going to make this particular entry longer to explain.
Status: Alright, buckle up. First, we have King of Saints, which is complete. Like, complete complete. It’s been written, edited by a few of my writing peers, and edited several times by me until it actually resembles a solid story now. A very old version of the first chapter can be found here, and all updates on the universe at large can be found under its tag. The second book in the first duology is also complete, but doesn’t have a title yet.
Then, we’ve got The Wolf King. Post-Saints duology, we have Saints at sea, which takes a few characters from the original duology and drops them into the ocean with a gang of pirates. The first novel in this is complete, and I am actively writing the second one right now. A short story version of the first chapter can be found here under Massachusetts’s Emerging Writers: A Fiction Anthology. The story of publishing A Boy and the Ocean can be found here.
Finally, The Bastard King. Post-Saints at sea duology, we’re with all new characters (that we’ve met previously, just not actual Saints) on a different island for a (probably) trilogy. This hasn’t been started yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar it’s happening.
About: YA | high fantasy | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
The first duology, beginning with King of Saints, follows a ragtag group of misfits who smuggle people out of their city that the church is targeting. Those with magic are not tolerated in the city, and thus persecuted. The Saints are trying to avoid an all-out war with the church, but, as with all persecutions, it’s inevitable.
The second duology, beginning with The Wolf King, follows another ragtag group of misfits, but this time, they’re sailing the high seas. There’s a plot afoot to kill off the last of the Ash children and to incite a war between several different islands, and Julian Mallory, captain of the Wolf, is smack in the middle of it.
The final trilogy, beginning with The Bastard King, follows recently crowned King Qadir and his three closest allies. His city has always referred to the four as the bastards, and now the name has stuck. The plot of this is still forming, so I don’t want to say anything yet, but it’s got similar vibes to ASOIAF and LOTR.
the weight of us: These boys will break your heart. This was originally inspired by a fanfiction I wrote years ago, and I thought about that story so many times that I decided to make it an actual thing. Of course, as always happens, it’s taken on a life of its own and become something else entirely.
Status: COMPLETE! This was started in June 2018 and finished in April 2019. The mad dash to the end can be found here, which includes the first chapter.
About: Adult | contemporary | romance | lgbtq+
Will (23) and Émilien (23) have been friends since they were six and bonded over Harry Potter. Now, as adults, they’re trying to navigate a world that sways between love and loss. There’s a lot of French, a lot of books, and lot of quiet, soft moments.
the ones we left behind: For some reason, I’m always in this headspace of I HAVE ONE NOVEL EXACTLY THAT HAS NO MAGIC. When, in reality, I have, like, four? This is a novel that came to me in literally the middle of nowhere. My dad and I were hiking down a mountain when we stumbled across a field that had an abandoned trailer in it, and I turned to him with these big eyes, and he just sighed and said, “You’re gonna write about this, aren’t you?” There are no abandoned trailers in this novel maybe, but there is a lot of hiking.
Status: In limbo? I’ve started this, and I pull it out every once in a while to work on it, but I haven’t gotten very far, and my current plan is to actually hike the trail they do before I write that part of it. But it is kind of actively happening!
About: YA | fiction | hiking | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
Four boys and one girl set out on the most cliché adventure–the summer before senior year of college, they want to have one last hurrah together, so they decide to hike the Presidential Traverse through the White Mountains in NH, but little do they know, danger awaits in the mountains. Characters include Luca Morello (deaf, gay), Greyson Norwood (angry rich boy, gay), Olivia Norwood (fabulous, lesbian), Cooper MacMillan (privileged rich boy, photographer, straight, POC), and Jonathan Powell (quiet and sad, straight).
the gatekeeper: This story started as a single flame: I want to write about Charon, gatekeeper to hell. Much like how my high fantasy series (it’s not on here) came about with only I want to write about dragons, I woke up one morning and knew this was going to come together based on that idea alone. And it’s slowly starting to, bit by bit, until some days, it’s all I can think about.
Status: I am currently writing short stories for this, like planets novel, and they are again character sketches: Charon, Persephone, and Hermes. I have plans to write short stories with these characters, as well: Icarus, maybe Helios, and probably one of the twins, Hypnos or Thanatos.
About: YA | high fantasy | Greek myths retelling | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
Charon (sad, quiet, gay), gatekeeper of the underworld, normally lives a very solitary life. His brothers, Thanatos (angry, quiet, gay, god of death) and Hypnos (flamboyant, straight, god of sleep), are normally the only visitors he gets on the grey shores of hell, but when Icarus (adorable, naive, gay, POC, flew too close to the sun AKA HELIOS WHO HE THOUGHT HE LOVED BUT BROKE HIS HEART) shows up dead in the underworld, Charon’s life turns on its head.
space thieves: And rounding out the party is my first ever space story. How is this my first? I don’t even understand. My love for space knows no bounds, but nothing has ever felt right. Even the planets, they take place on earth with no fancy stuff. I do have an astronaut in another story (not listed here), but he’s one of many, and I’m nowhere near writing that, so THIS is very exciting.
Status: This came about via a short story that I wrote and that is now available here under America’s Emerging Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers: Northeast Edition. While I am not actively writing this, it won’t leave me alone, and I feel like I might be venturing near it soon.
About: YA | SPACE fantasy | lgbtq+ | POC/diverse
When Soraya (angry, ace, POC) was little, all she wanted to do was belong. Orphaned at a young age, she yearned for friends, for community, and for a sense of ah yes I’m here now. She finds it through Ilyas (soft, gay, POC) at the orphanage, Veda (fierce af, lesbian, POC) and Dejan (dumbass, straight, POC) in primary school, and through space and the stars at the Academy. This is a trilogy, and each book delves into a different part of Soraya’s life. The first details her journey through schooling at the Academy and learning to become a pilot. The second picks up right after she’s snuck aboard Apollo, a spacecraft destined to go interstellar and find a new home for the human race, and details her journey through space and eventually to their new planet. And the third finds Soraya leaving her new planet with Ilyas secretly stowed away on her journey to go back to Earth and bring the remaining people to their new home.
And that’s a wrap! Of 9 serious ideas that I’m currently entrenched in, I’ve written 5 novels that will actually see the light of day, 2 that will not, and 7 short stories as pre-writing. I’m actively working on a lot of these, and I sometimes update here on the blog where I’m at with different ones, so if you’ve made it this far and are still interested, keep a weather eye on the horizon.
Mary and the Words 
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