About Jenny

Drawing on her communications experience with engineering, safety, and cybersecurity companies, Jenny creates contemporary thrillers and mysteries for teens and adults. Raised in Ohio with Kentucky roots, she splits her time between Pittsburgh and Florida’s Gulf Coast. She’s active in the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime and the Rt. 19 Writers group in Pittsburgh.

Lots of exciting news lately!

my new YA Book - Print and Kindle available now on Amazon

FIREPROOF? My Debut Novel - available on Amazon

When Junior Health & Safety Officer Maryanne Danner lands her first big assignment—inspecting a remote Utah incineration facility—she faces DEA drug contraband, a Cartel gang, and a plant manager who woos her with desert tours and sizzling steaks. But date night’s cancelled when thugs overrun the site. As fires rage, Maryanne tosses her company rulebook and fights like hell to save the crew. Fast-paced, fun, and loaded with eccentric characters, FIREPROOF? depicts a young woman doggedly determined to protect others, while struggling with student loans, unfortunate explosions, and (maybe) a love story for the ages. Available now on Amazon .

Also introducing, SURGEPROOF? Misadventures of a Health & Safety Officer. This novella is a prequel to FIREPROOF? and follows Maryanne as she investigates a workplace fatality along with Senior Legal Counsel Lee Carter. Once you read this one, you’ll understand how two very different women become such good friends.

The story was originally titled Workplace rules for a Fire-Breathing Dragon — and was an Honorable mention in the Black Orchid Novella contest, see below.

Black Orchid Novella Award

My novella Workplace Rules for a Fire-Breathing Dragon was one of four stories that received an Honorable Mention in the contest, organized by Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and the Wolfe Pack.

A huge thank you to Jane Cleland, Writer and Educator Extraordinaire. Jane spoke at a spring meeting of the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime and encouraged people to enter. So glad I did!

Killer Nashville News

My YA manuscript, The DNA of a Solitary Bee, was selected as a ‘Top Pick’ in the Clayton competition. Very exciting.

Bouchercon 2024 - Nashville!

I’m very happy to report that my short story, “Ruby’s Rodeo Tailors and Western Wear Emporium,” was selected for inclusion in Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024! The book is stuffed full of great crime and mystery stories from an impressive lineup of short story writers (including the amazing editor, Heather Graham), now available on Amazon .

I decided that Ruby needed a logo for her shop. In honor of my fictitious seamstress, there was a very special jacket on Thursday night for the anthology signing.

Check out the FLGC SinC Anthology!!

I live near the sunny, salty Gulf Coast in the winter months and love my Sisters in Crime. Check out our ‘deadly’ stories—we’ve got everything from designer bags to orange groves! My story, “A Long-Term Plan,” was chosen as the first chapter! Available now on Amazon: FLGC SinC - Paradise is Deadly

Coming in 2026

a 2-Part

ya Series

Summer and a Solitary Bee, A YA mystery

When a hit-and-run accident puts a trailer park teen in a coma, her brilliant ex-friend, Shay, grudgingly takes over the hurt girl’s project for a prestigious national science contest. But to produce work good enough for the D.C. competition, Shay needs help from a rich teen whose actions led to the accident. His cash, computers, and connections help in ways she never imagined, but the question hanging over their long hours of work that summer—Who hit Summer?  

The DNA of a Solitary Bee, a YA Mystery

When a DNA test leads a brilliant, abandoned teen to her father, she’s whisked to a new life in Chicago where a science-focused family embraces her as their own. Confused one day in the new city, Shay turns down the wrong alley and witnesses a murder. Desperate, she promises the killer a future favor in exchange for her life, but soon learns what he wants will destroy her new family. With echoes of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale, she races to discover the madman’s identity and stop him, using science and street smarts, as the due date looms.