A Debut Y.A. thriller
in the querying trenches
Eight girls.
One secret that won’t let go.
Two lives that will never be the same.
spared
by
r.m. lavender
An artistic introvert saves her longtime tormentor at a deadly cost, then must conspire with her to cover it up.
A thriller for young adult readers
SPARED explores a sharp enemies-to-friends arc and a fraught shared-secret reckoning—all in the unforgiving wild.
With a friend like her, who needs enemies?
The Story . . .
An artistic introvert who saves the life of her arch nemesis at a deadly cost, then must cover it up with the girl she saved.
Mae lives for painting, but she’s still reeling from Jessica’s latest cruelty. She can’t take another minute of abuse, but the chance to paint high mountain scenes among girls of different backgrounds on Foxmoor’s Junior Bio trip is too good to pass up—if she can survive a week trapped with Jessica and her minions.
When a small plane crashes into their camp, killing a classmate and both teachers, and wrecking the bus, their divide only deepens. Mae helps the injured pilot, while something about him unsettles Jessica. Sneaking back to the wreckage alone, she finds a gun and a stash of cash—and takes them. As factions form around Jessica’s drinking and need for control, Mae wrestles with past trauma triggered by the chaos and her growing entanglement with the pilot. When she overhears him threaten Jessica and finds him holding her at knifepoint, her past floods back, driving her to stop his assault—leaving the pilot dead.
Mae’s shock doubles when Jessica pulls her into a trembling hug and insists they hide everything, or Mae could face a murder charge. Mae can’t disagree. But once home, police scrutiny strains their fragile alliance, and Mae discovers how much Jessica is still willing to hide. Now Mae must decide whether to hold Jessica’s secret or betray herself.
About R.M. Lavender
A career in teaching, artmaking, writing, and parenting his daughter led Lavender to write stories about distinct, strong female protagonists who face rising complications in pursuit of driving needs. Characters’ past experiences condition their motivations, their decision making, and, ultimately, their growth and change.
Developing compelling fiction and screenwriting projects is in some ways much like the work of painting and sculpture—but with words invoking millions of mind’s eye images instead of singular ones made to invite multiple interpretations. “Painting with words” is a kind of collaboration—one that creates immersive reader experiences crafted simultaneously between the writer and reader.
Lavender was briefly represented by Michael Hamilburg until his passing, has earned finalist awards in three creative writing competitions, including one sponsored by the SCBWI, and was a semi- or quarter-finalist in four others. Also a realist painter, Lavender studied and practices the oil-on-panel techniques that were in use from the Renaissance through the 19th century, many of them originally developed by Leonardo da Vinci and shared with his apprentices in his Treatise on Painting. Lavender has also published several journal articles on art education and contributed a chapter to Garb: A Fashion and Culture Reader.
determination | Mae
Her hands sticky on the wheel, Mae swings into the farthest-out parking space at school as her dashboard clock ticks down another minute she doesn’t have. The front tire of her dad’s old pick-up rides up the curb, then flops back down, hard, making the load of stage scenery from his last play clatter loudly in the rear. Heat shoots straight up her spine at the cringey arrival, but luckily it looks like no one’s around to notice. They’re all gathered over by the school’s small bus, helping Mrs. Rooney and Ms. Strand cram in duffel bags and supply boxes.
When it comes to her Fall Bio Wilderness Trip, Mrs. Rooney doesn’t put up with delays. She’d told the class to get there by eight sharp or miss the trip, and she meant it. Calling to the others to hurry along, she heads for the driver’s seat and starts the engine.
As Mae sets eyes on Foxmoor School for Girls again, after her … time away, a storm of butterflies circles inside her. Sure, the place is as beautiful as ever, but the idea of facing a group of staring juniors, not so much. They’ll all be wondering if that nutcase Mae Reynolds really thinks she can handle this trip.
But they don’t have a clue what she can handle by now. Including a week of camping with a bunch of girls who think ‘wilderness’ is what happens when the gardener doesn’t show up. Especially with all eight of them piled into one tent. That’s crazy.
Gritting her teeth, she yanks her bags out of the back of the truck, then pulls on the vintage velvet coat she’d restyled for herself. Wearing something she loves usually helps on a tough day.
Except this time. Forget butterflies, now there’s a whole flock of geese swirling and diving inside her. The last time she saw these girls, at the end of summer school, that snake in lip gloss, Jessica, and her bitch-clique had just wrecked Mae’s final presentation in European History. They pushed every button I’d kept un-pushed for years. She ended up sprawled on the playing field, where Ms. Strand found her and called the Psych Emergency Team to come pick her up.
After that shitshow, Mae skipped the whole first week of school, then went on home study, for the one month it’s allowed. Still, it got her this far.
… Cont’d Read sample chapters
Other Projects
Other Projects
Outlined or In-Progress
Several YA stories focusing on finding identity and agency, with high stakes and sustained tension, including:
Hunted. A YA thriller featuring SPARED’s main character, Mae and Jessica, as they try to outrun and stop the killer who’s after them.
Shades of Indigo. A YA thriller with high tension, including Foxmoor School for Girls’ new girl, Indigo, and SPAREDs’ main characters, Mae and Jessica.
A novel for the adult fiction market.
The Golden Boy. A Pacific Northwest timber-man loses his young son in a river accident, and finds his only solace in carving large wooden figures. When he is ‘discovered’ by a vacationing art dealer who draws him into the New York art world, his inspiration is nearly destroyed by the trappings of his remarkable success. Ultimately, he's forced to choose between two very different worlds.
Screenplays
Latude. Based on the true story of a pre-revolutionary French man wrongly imprisoned for 27 years, this historical drama includes two prison escapes—one of which historians have called “the most daring in history”—and features a remarkably noble-hearted woman whose tireless determination aids Latude’s struggle for freedom.
No Turning Back. A contemporary suspense-drama about a group of teen girls stuck in the wilderness after a cataclysmic event kills their teachers, leaving two antagonists to confront nature, overcome the clash of a lifetime, and liberate themselves emotionally. (The inspiration for the YA novel, Sudden Sisters.)
The Golden Boy. A contemporary drama with threads of romance about a timber-town folk artist who’s discovered by a vacationing art dealer, only to become a New York art world sensation. When the source of his inspiration is all but destroyed by his own success, he must face his wrenching past, and choose between newfound fame and true love.
Awards and honors
Semi-Finalist, William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, 2012, No Turning Back - Novel
Third Place, 5th Annual IndieProducer Screenwriting Competition, 2007, The Golden Boy - Original Screenplay
Finalist, SCBWI Kimberly Colen Memorial Grant, 2006, No Turning Back - Novel
Semi-Finalist, William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, 2006, No Turning Back - Novel
Quarter-Finalist, 11th Annual Writers Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition, 2004, Latude - Adaptation Screenplay
Finalist, 1st Annual IndieProducer Screenwriting Competition, 2002, No Turning Back - Original Screenplay
Quarter-Finalist, Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting Competition, 2002, No Turning Back - Original Screenplay
Finalist, Malcom-Vincent Screenwriting Contest, 1992, Latude - Adaptation Screenplay
Contact R.M. Lavender
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