The Drylands Series

Enter the Jaguar Empire at your own peril.

Book 1 - The Butcher

Coming soon!

The Butcher. That’s what they call me. Or at least, my twin brother does. My older sister, Fire-Star, she’d call me an afterthought. She’d say the gods forgot to pay attention when I slipped out from between our mother’s legs. Just a blood-soaked shit stain wrapped in an umbilical cord that no one really wanted. Maybe that’s why she spent my whole childhood trying to kill me.

Maybe she’s finally succeeded. It certainly feels like it in here. I hate locked rooms. But I’ll get out. I always do. They take my knives, but my nails are filed sharp. They hang me from a tree. It doesn’t matter. The branch will break. I won’t stop trying. I have to get back. I have to get home. Before Fire-Star can do this to my baby sister as well.

Welcome to the Jaguar Empire 

“When people ask me which realm is my favorite, I always say the Drylands. And then people look at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am. But there isn’t any place more beautiful than the desert. 

Or more brutal. 

But I was raised with brutal. That’s all I’ve ever known.  

At least here, there’s pretty sunsets.”

  • Lady Sky-Snake

    The Butcher

    Third child of the Jaguar Empress - well fourth if you count her twin brother Balamil - with the worst case of middle-child syndrome you've ever seen. The magical powers don't help much, either. But at least she can handle a knife, right?

  • Balamil

    The Jaguar Son

    Born a few hours before his twin sister, Sky, and he'll never let her forget it. Too charming for his own good. It's probably a good thing only a daughter can inherit the empire.

  • Fire-Star

    The Fierce Uk’ak’al Ek’

    Eldest daughter of the Empress. With mom never around, Fire-Star pretty much runs things. Which is kind of a nuisance when her favorite sport is hunting and torturing her own siblings.

The Drylands Trilogy - Coming Soon

  • THE BUTCHER

    BOOK ONE

  • THE NOMAD PRINCESS

    BOOK TWO

  • THE SAND VIPER

    BOOK THREE

“I dream of the desert now. Endless, rolling dunes. Tracking squads of desert hawks to find a kill. Watching travelers pass by in the distance, safe on their broad, paved roads. I don’t take those roads. In my dreams, I walk the sands.

My headscarf, a deep purple fabric, wraps tight around my forehead, then, looping like a satin python, covers my mouth. I peer out at the world through the narrow slit, shadows within shadows, watching the winds reshape the landscape.

I sleep in rock caverns. I trade wild salt for whatever I need in the small towns I pass through. People stop sometimes and stare at the wild, desert girl. The nomad princess. The sand-viper, whose footsteps leave no trace as she winds her way through the Drylands.”