Vanessa writes… A lot.
I can’t say I’m any good at it (that’s for you to judge); I just love doing it. So there. But please hit me up if any of the below sounds remotely interesting. I’ll share my writing with anyone on the condition that you give me at least one bit of constructive criticism.
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Marked is a mashup of Christmas romance and horror that’s still in progress. I’ve written 90 pages but not the right 90 pages so here we are. I’m letting this one breathe so my subconscious can find the real story (right now, it all feels a little too didactic). I can tell it’s close - like a word on the tip of my tongue but it needs some air.
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Good Killing is a short story (soon-to-be-script), in which a grieving mom goes back in time to kill the man who murdered her son. Needless to say, it doesn’t turn out the way she expects. If you like emo sci-fi and meditations on parenthood and sacrifice, this one will slay you.
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Set in 17th century Maryland, my feature Mistress Brent tells the story of two sisters driven apart when one’s reckless affair leads her to make history as America’s first female lawyer, forcing the other to quietly orchestrate their family’s survival from the shadows. I use modern, self-aware narration and sexual candor to interrogate how women — then and now — fight for agency amidst patriarchy. I treat the past as unstable and alive, and question how a story (and whose, anyway?) comes to be remembered as “history.” If you love period pieces but hate tropes, this one is for you.
Mistress Brent received an 8 from the Black List and was a quaterfinalist in the 2026 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition.
I’ve also reconfigured the feature script as 26 short episodes for a microdrama. Stay tuned for more on that front!
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In my pilot Otis, a motorsport drama loosely framed around The Odyssey, a Scottish driver breaks free from the isolation of his success on a modern Homeric journey through the final races of his world title push. I’ve also got a comedic version because sometimes laughter is the best way to the dramz. And yes, I realize there’s no way Liberty Media is going to let me make this show but an F1 fangirl can dream…
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In my pilot Just the Tip, a young Federal Trade Commission lawyer pursues a 1990’s pyramid scheme at all costs. This legal drama is set in the very weird world of multi-level marketing, where I was a lawyer (and my Dad worked!) for some time. If you know, you know.
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Reserve Light is my relationship drama and the reason I started writing. Heck, it’s my life’s calling, if I’m being honest (and I try to be). In the pilot, an LA mom flirts with a stranger, triggering parallel realities where her marriage hangs in the balance as she pursues or avoids a passionate and reckless affair. I’ve written the first season (8 episodes) and have unpolished drafts for the second. Yep, I know this isn’t really “how it’s done” but telling this story is a compulsion. I saw it in my head for years before I started writing and it continues to show up in weird moments throughout almost every day of my life. I feel this one in my bones. This one is me.
Reserve Light was a quarterfinalist in the 2024 WeScreenplay TV Pilot Lab.
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Two years before the show is set to do the same, I wrote a spec episode of Reacher based on the Lee Child novel Gone Tomorrow. It remains to be seen who did a better job, but I’ll tell you this - my Reacher goes to a Trojans game, bags a MILF, finally lets a woman be on top, and is this close to giving up his hunky hobo ways until Neagley calls him back to New York and he takes the subway ride from Hell. This was pure fun. I didn’t get an interview for the fellowship I wrote this for but who cares? It was wicked fun to write!