Formed of Clay: novella - a novella of ancient Egypt

Olivia needs to escape the abusive same-sex relationship she finds herself in. When her father suffers a stroke and requires 24-hour care, she recognizes an opportunity to start fresh.

The problem is that she must return to a childhood home full of memories that drove her away in the first place, and that sent her brother spiralling into addiction.

What secrets lie at the family homestead that Olivia wants to bury? In order to avoid her own self-destruction, Olivia must find a way to resolve her mother's suicide, her brother's addiction, and her father's need to be understood-- even if it means she must delve into the darkest parts of her own psyche.

Relapse is about more than drug addiction.
 

"Sometimes I think about angels, and I'm not talking about those man-made, Plaster of Paris knockoffs either "

J has spent too many years living a life of debauchery that has more to do with his own sense of self-loathing than physical addiction, and he has returned to his small hometown to restart his life.

He doesn't need rehab. He's well clean of the hard stuff, the soft stuff, and the things in between that enabled him to bury the fact that he isn't clearly sure just what he is. His gay friend Molly has her opinion. His controlling mother who fills her home with pictures and statues of angels has hers. The gang of drunken thugs who send him to the Emergency Room after an ugly beating certainly has an opinion.

A chance meeting with a charismatic nurse promises a much needed respite until the addict next door puts J on a renewed path of self destruction that threatens to re-ignite all the fears he's spent years trying to manage: his sobriety, his identity, his fragile sense of self.

When his health is endangered, everything J depends on for sanity slips out of his grasp and the very real threat of relapse becomes one that is more psychologically complex than mere drug dependence.

Anomaly is a literary fiction - come - psychological thriller from a Canadian author about addiction and recovery in the seamy world of self discovery and acceptance. It's ultimately about prejudice and bias. It's about labels and fulfillment. More than that, it's about finding a way to make peace with yourself when no one else, not even yourself, understands you.