Welcome from Rita

Welcome to my website! I hope you will discover enough about my novels to try them. You’ll find there’s a unique story, a bit of modern history, or a unique character or two behind each book.

As an author, the question I am asked most regularly is where did you come up with the idea for your first book? The answer is “in a recurring dream.” Yes, seriously. I keep a notepad and pen by my bedside! To date, I have published seven books ranging from fantasy fiction for young adults to adult thrillers, as well as a non-fiction novella.

School for the Dead (2014) is my debut fantasy novel about a special school for exceptional children who are dead. A Thread of Crimson (2016) is my first adult thriller introducing the gutsy, strong, and likeable Josie Adams. Josie is an FBI special agent who solves the mystery of her sister's finance's horrific, perplexing murder mired in family secrets. Redemption, (2018) the second in the fantasy series of A School for the Dead, tells how a blind teen girl is used by her cruel mother as a decoy for kidnapping innocent children and how a few clever dead kids saved them.

Beginning with Thread, I began to focus on the psychology behind the killer. My second thriller is Duplicity (2022), the story of a disturbed mother's evil betrayal, another of the Josie Adams FBI series. My third adult book is a psychological thriller: Fifteen: My Name is Midnight (2020). Fifteen was born from stories about the growing number of child brides in the United States.

My sixth book, An Appalachian Love Story (2021), is an FBI thriller introducing new agents—rookies who stumble into a case with personal implications. It is based on the complicated history of a love story between a coal baron's son and a coal miner's daughter. Written during the pandemic when there was ample time for research into my own family history, the plot is shrouded in the lives of coal mining families in the Appalachian region. The crime, the passion, the love that was born of a distinct culture and era highlight the book. Where did that story come from? From my mom, Agatha, who was truly a coal miner’s daughter. My Grandpop was one of many young kids who worked the mines of Arkansas during one of our nation’s most trying times. And of course, I splashed that colorful legacy with murder, abduction, and the pull of family ties, all common themes in all my books.

And finally, I recently transitioned into the realm of non-fiction (2023) with Moving Toward the Light, a true story about the friendship between a young, incarcerated woman determined to turn her life around and her older pen pal, a woman who shared some early life experiences. Authentic letters document their history.

To read more about the books choose from the book cover selections at the top of this page.

All my works stand alone; however, some of the main characters make cameo appearances within each series that are sure to raise an eyebrow or bring a smile of recognition to a reader.

If you have questions, or an idea for another book, please send me a message. I appreciate hearing from readers, fans, and those new to my writing.

Cheers!

Rita