Wren Faire

1990. Years after the mysterious disappearance of her best friend at summer camp, Renata, a 19-year-old, straight-edge, punk girl with OCD—and three friends, including her chill boyfriend, Troy—sneak into a Renaissance faire on a whim. Offered apprenticeships by some Knights in the Crows Nest Pub, the friends soon find themselves trapped in The Realm.

Maybe Renata shouldn’t have obeyed Brainbug, her naggy inner voice that bullied her into going to the Faire. And maybe she hadn’t really glimpsed her missing friend by the mud wrestling pit. Or had she? Worth checking out. Before she knows it, Renata is separated from her friends and transformed into “Lady Wren,” a Lady-in-Waiting with a kick-ass wardrobe, glow-in-the-dark eyes and a trusty Handmaiden. 

Determined to solve the mystery of her missing childhood friend, and in search of Troy and the others, Renata travels to a nightmarish land of trippy ale, hybrid animals, mute, toga-clad studs, and worst of all: His Majesty. Her OCD strangely gone MIA, Renata must—without Brainbug’s input—journey to the dreaded Labyrinth, into the Minotaur’s lair, to find her friends and get the hell out of the Realm.

Wren Faire is a speculative, genre-defying thriller of adventure, friendship and survival in the intoxicating grip of exploitative power. The story also shines light on the unique challenges and gifts of OCD—in a time when neurodiversity was much misunderstood. 

Read an excerpt in Maudlin House: “H-I-D-I-N-G”