Fiction-wise, I’ve been creating worlds since I was a child. Scripts of suspense, romantic comedies, musicals about the fall of Troy…I’ve done them all. There’s even some bad poetry (very whiny) in my desk drawer. These days, I’m working on my first novel, an urban fantasy. My work in the world of children’s literature can be found at www.jennikaye.com.
In the non-fiction realm, I’ve worked for the Key West Citizen, Huntington Beach Independent, Newport Beach/Costa Mesa Daily Pilot and the San Diego Union-Tribune, among others. I’ve interviewed police officers, firefighters, garage mechanics, homeless people, inventors, knife salesmen, politicians, novelists, and the odd celebrity or dozen.
Plays
Where the Red Fern Burns
Selected as a semi-finalist for Heartland Theatre’s 2020 Ten Minute Play Festival, this short play deals with the aftermath of grief. When an estranged couple meets at a campsite during an annual meteor shower, will their memories bring them together or push them farther apart.
A woman kills a man in her dreams over and over again.
Freelance Journalism
Note: This is a selection of freelance articles, not a complete list.“Two Refrigerators, Two Continents,” Rise-Up Magazine, August 1-7, 2008
“Would you like a beer?” my father asked my new husband and me on a warm Indian day. “It’s American.” The question took us by surprise. American beer was not something I expected my father to offer us at his farm north of New Delhi. Then again, I hadn’t expected the German chocolate cake with candles that had been waiting for us when we arrived – exhausted from the 24 hours it had taken us to travel from California to India the day after our wedding….
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“Body of language,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24, 2008
One by one, the faces disappear behind green, blue, orange and yellow masks. Then the masks disappear, the bulbous cheeks, long noses and furrowed brows obscured by hats held in hands. Music starts, a tune from the film Chocolat. One by one, the hats come down. The 13 students in Jerry Hager’s Theatre Mime class at Grossmont College transform themselves without a word. The youthful become old, the bold turn meek, the shy swagger with confidence….
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“Couple enjoys a classic love affair,” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 17, 2008
When Shari and Sam Murao park their twin 1963 Ford Falcon Futuras at the eighth annual Cajon Classic Cruise in June, it will be more than the debut showing of two beautiful classic cars. It will be an expression of love fully realized. “That car means the earth to me. It’s been the dream car of mine since high school,” Shari Murao, 49, said of her hardback coupe, which is being restored….
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“Community’s love of horses lives on,” San Diego Union-Tribune, March 14, 2008
The two-lane country road that once led into Bonita may now be a four-lane city street, but horseback riders still mosey along its roadside trails. Yellow equestrian crossing signs dot the area. The traffic signal at Central Avenue and Bonita Road has two crosswalk buttons, one of which is at horse height. The steady creep of city life into this once-rural unincorporated community – bordered by state Highway 54 on the north, Telegraph Canyon on the south, Madre Grande mountain in the east and Interstate 805 to the west – hasn’t diminished its residents’ passion for horses….
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Feature-Length Scripts
Romancing Sam
Samantha Amaya has a wonderful job, fabulous friends and a cat who loves her. She also has a meddling Indian father who’s decided it’s time for her to get married. When he announces at a wedding that she is to be married in the next year, Sam’s life turns upside down in this full-length romantic comedy script.
Television Spec Scripts
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Dreamlife of Angel
Written in the summer between Season 2 and Season 3, this spec script has Buffy facing some of her greatest fears through the influence of a dreamcatcher.
X-Files: Psychic
My first spec. Mulder and Scully investigate a rash of dead psychics in the Boston area in this episode, which also has Scully wondering about the reasons for her own hunches.
Books
Still Working on It