J Schlenker

Semi-Finalist in the 2018 William Faulkner - William Wisdom Writing ContestIt's 1968. Alice, a white nurse at an old-folks' home, makes friends with the establishment's oldest and only African-American resident, Sally. Alice shares a special bond with Sally, a bond she only divulges to her husband. Alice gains Sally's trust and records her life and all the struggles she faced as a black person born into slavery.Decades later, Michelle moves into her grandmother's house. She finds her grandmother's journals stored away in the attic, where they have lain untouched for forty years. A picture falls out. It is of an African-American woman and her grandmother. It is inscribed: My ancestor, Sally Ann Barnes, 1858 to 1969.Michelle devours the contents of the journals. They end abruptly. Michelle makes it her mission to find out more about Sally. The quest brings up more questions than answers. Just when she thinks she has come to a dead end, she uncovers the most startling fact of all.Inspired by the life of Sally Ann Barnes 1858 to 1969

In the glimmering world of Hollywood, Carter Hudson shines as a beacon of stardom, yet within her, a storm of regret rages. As Halloween 2010 marks her forty-ninth year, the echoes of a fateful night thirty-three years prior-her sixteenth birthday-ceaselessly haunt her. Abandoned by her confidant, Arthur Burke, Carter seeks solace within the sanctuary of The Woodlands, but a mysterious stranger lurks in the shadows, observing her every move with an intensity that unsettles her. With the guidance of a compassionate nurse, Carter embarks on a journey of self-discovery, driven by a desire to reclaim her Native American heritage and confront the ghosts of her past. As she delves deeper into the recesses of her soul, she unearths secrets intertwined with the enigmatic stranger. In The Water Spider, Carter confronts the specters of her history, navigating a labyrinth of buried truths and unexpected revelations. A stirring testament to the resilience of the human spirit, it is a tale where the turbulent currents of the past collide with the promise of redemption. Will Carter find the strength to face her inner demons and emerge from the ashes, or will the relentless tide of her history engulf her?

After living in conflict about following her heart versus staying in her comfort zone for three years following her divorce, Isa Muir announces to the shock of family and colleagues she is quitting her job as elementary school librarian and buying a one way ticket to France. She is drawn to a centuries-old inn on the outskirts of Paris. She never expects her stay there will lead to a ghost, reincarnation, and love, not with a Frenchman, but a Scotsman named Daniel. The innkeeper, Claire, calls it destiny.

At eighteen, Alice escapes the grip of her clinging mother and leaves Queens with a Columbia law student and four others to live primitively in rural West Virginia. Called back home by her ailing mother, she seeks answers to why her father disappeared. Her mother takes the secret to her grave. Alice is ready to move on until a visit from a plainclothes detective and cryptic messages from fortune cookies appear.

What if all animals got along? Miss Ethel Peacock, who lives at a nature preserve, has the brilliant idea of starting a school for all animals. She musters up her courage to take her idea to Mr. Densworth Lion, principal at Cub Academy, who thinks the idea is preposterous. He roars, "Animals have a pecking order. Getting along isn't in an animal's nature." Ethel is disheartened until her friend, Luce Pigeon, tells her about a tiger, hyena, orangutan and polar bear who live together in the tunnels under the city after escaping from the zoo, and about the badger who helps them. The two set out to meet the animals. What Ethel finds when they arrive is beyond her imagination. Animals with distinct personalities are working together but barely surviving. She and Luce must help them escape their underground prison. The night of the escape is chaotic. The animals scatter amid the blare of police sirens. What happens next motivates Ethel even more to open the school. Her plan gets a big boost when the owls, keepers of the sacred knowledge of the forest, give Ethel their blessing. But, the owls are hiding something about the nature preserve that could change everything.