My
Story:
Unpredictable
Endings
After a career as a technical writer, in 2018 DS dove into fiction writing, learning all she could from YouTube and books on the craft. A New Jersey native, she moved to the Washington DC area in 2021. She's a current member of the Reston Writers' Review in northern Virginia.
Her favorite authors are Carl Hiassen and Janet Evanovich, appreciating their quick-paced stories and colorful characters. While she takes the art of writing seriously, she aims to write stories that entertain, tickle, and surprise her readers.
In July 2020, her debut novel, Antigenesis, was named a Finalist of the National Indie Excellence Awards for political thriller. In May 2021, Johnnie Finds a Dead Body (first book of the Johnnie series) was a finalist in the NIEA comedy category.
When she isn't writing, she enjoys running, painting, crafting, watching way too many hours of YouTube, and entertaining her sometimes ornery, yet always lovable Maine Coon cat Tiger.
Works by DS
Antigenesis, published in November 2019, is a bizarre tale about a global pandemic where women over 50 survive. Conceived before the Covid-19 pandemic, it eerily resembles the actual events from
2020. With disease spread by dogs,
international assassins, and an idiot
President. What could go wrong?
EVERYTHING!
Available on Kindle Unlimited.
For lighter fare, read Planet of the Creeps, a modern twist on a Cinderella story set in current day New York City. Cindy is trying to find love online.
But the men are mostly creeps.
Will she find true love, with Lance, a
CEO of the online dating app, Smitten?
Or will he turn out to be the creepiest
of all?
Available on Kindle Unlimited.
Shower of Lies AUDIOBOOK AVAILABLE ON AUDIBLE
Planning the bridal shower from hell…
At twenty-three, Jenna lives alone in a shabby low-rent apartment in suburban New Jersey, navigating student loan debt, a new career, a dysfunctional mother, and a failing long-distance romance.
The morning after Valentine’s Day, her best friend Raven calls, gleefully announcing her engagement, and begs Jenna to plan the bridal shower. But Raven insists the party must happen in two weeks, revealing a secret about an upcoming surgery. A self-described geek, Jenna hasn’t the first clue how to arrange a large party, but feels compelled to accept the challenge to help her sick friend.
Organizing the complicated event soon takes a toll on Jenna's job, her relationships and her health. To add insult to injury, she must coordinate every aspect of the party with the groom’s demanding mother. All the while, she notices Raven isn’t behaving like the childhood ‘sister’ she grew up with. Why was Raven marrying Jack (an incompetent used car salesman, stoner and overall complete jerk) so quickly?
When Jenna's rust-bucket car finally dies, she hopes to get a good discount at Jack’s family dealership. While there, she bumps into an IRS accountant who later reveals the awful truth: Jack and his parents are criminals in business with the Philadelphia mob.
Can Jenna save her friend from marrying the wrong guy?
Or will she only find more secrets and lies?
On AMAZON tinyurl.com/y4vvj2q7
The Johnnie Series
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Book One - Johnnie Finds a Dead Body (2021 NIEA Finalist for Comedy!)
Johnnie Crosswell, former Marine, now maintenance worker for the National Park Service on St. John, has daily challenges. Mainly struggling years later with the lingering effects of traumatic brain injury.
Still, he enjoys the simple things in life. Reading, fishing, and giving treats to his wild iguana friend, Stumpy.
But his peaceful life takes a strange turn when he arrives pre-dawn to Hawksnest Beach and finds a dead body in the surf. Before the police arrive, Johnnie innocently takes a Bugs Bunny key chain off the deceased. Days later, a sinister man dressed in black comes around, suspiciously asking about the dead man's belongings. Johnnie and his sidekick, Cud (a homeless recluse and former billionaire), hatch their own scheme to investigate.
With a police chief who hates him, being framed for two murders, and a hitman on his trail, can Johnnie learn from his mistakes, accept help from his friends, and do the right thing? Or will a cheesy-puff crazed reptile ruin everything?
Book Two - Johnnie the Pirate King
Johnnie and Stumpy take to the high seas! In book 2, Johnnie might be falling for Greta, the sweet new librarian. She encourages him to write his pirate story, but he knows almost nothing about pirates. A mysterious abandoned yacht runs to ground in Hawksnest bay. When Johnnie wins the boat at a public auction, he decides to take a two-week vacation to local islands to learn pirate lore, hoping to impress Greta.
Things take a turn at his first port, when he wakes to find a stowaway. A jolly man named Mo is hiding from the authorities after jumping from a cruise ship. Johnnie decides to help him. Not long after, modern day pirates are on their trail, forcing the trio to sail into a raging storm to escape.
Will Johnnie and Stumpy get home alive?
Will Johnnie forget the Goddess and pursue Greta?
Pick up your copy to find the answers!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954794002
Book Three - Johnnie in Miami
Has Cudlow gone insane? Johnnie takes Cud to his own therapist in Miami, hoping to get his friend back. With a new complicated love life, dealing with his past, and Merv trying to kidnap Stumpy, can Johnnie stay the course and keep Cud from becoming institutionalized? Or will he lose his best friend forever to the realm of the whispering cookie people?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KDQXTTG
Book Four - Johnnie & the Tempest (Available for Preorder on Amazon, Release February 16, 2024)
Johnnie has a new, less than ideal roommate. Cudlow, his ex-billionaire friend, is sleeping on his sofa and driving him crazy by constantly singing and drinking all the milk.
Matters get worse when Cud claims to see a ghost. Johnnie wonders if Cud is losing his mind again, but becomes a believer when they both have the exact same dream in which Cud’s mom warns them of a deadly storm coming their way.
Meanwhile, a mystical meteorologist at the local television station is adamant that the forecast is nothing but sunny. While Johnnie investigates the truth about the storm, he learns profound secrets that cause him to lose faith in humanity.
He's left with two choices. Leave the deceitful world behind and live on the beach as a recluse? Or risk complete humiliation to warn the island's residents to seek shelter?
Get In Touch
dspwhitaker at gmail.com
@ds_whitaker