Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave has been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best Juvenile fiction category!

These awards honor the best in mystery fiction, and I’m honored that my ghoulish girl’s cemetery shenanigans have landed her in such great fictional company. The winner will be announced in the spring.

(I wonder if this will give me street cred with crows.)

Mystery has also made it on to the preliminary ballot for the Horror Writers Association’s 2025 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel. Thank you to the horror readers and writers who helped her get there. Here’s a worm for you. 🪱

If you’re new around here, you should know that Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave is the first book in a duology. The second and final book will hit indie bookstores and libraries in the fall. What’s that? You want to know what the cover looks like? OKAY!

In Mystery James Returns from the Grave, spring break takes a terrifying turn when Mystery suspects a ghost has entered Garcia Graves & Funeral Home…and refuses to leave.

Spring break was supposed to be a time for relaxation, but for Mystery James, it quickly turns into a series of spine-chilling adventures. After a burial at Garcia Graves & Funeral Home, Mystery begins to suspect the ghost of one of Ellis Town's most eccentric residents may be lingering in her home...or worse, haunting it.

With her trusty arachnid companion, Coffin by her side, Mystery must contend with creepy mortuary salesmen, a sinister presence creeping through her Tía Lucy's home, and changing friendship dynamics, all while uncovering clues that lead her deeper into an increasingly complex—and personal—mystery.

Soon, the Olde Ellis Town Cemetery becomes the backdrop for a showdown between the past and the present, where Mystery must confront her deepest fears and uncover the truth behind the supernatural events that have plagued her since childhood.

If your bones are rattling and your spirit is screaming “More Mystery James!”—do me a favor and run to your library or favorite indie bookstore and tell them. Early requests show publishers, booksellers, and libraries how excited readers are for a book.

You can also add book two to your TBR on Goodreads and Storygraph.

Huh? You want to talk about Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave in person?

I’ll be at Thrillerdelphia, a new-ish indie bookstore near you!

Fellow children’s horror author Laura Parnum (The Haunting of Bellington Cottage) will join me for a haunting conversation about the book, and Anthony of Thrillerdelphia will host a hands-on mini workshop on ghost hunting, showing how real-world ghost hunting apps and tools work, how investigators use them, and letting attendees try them out around the shop.

And I’m bringing worms… 🪱

Join us Saturday, February 7 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. ET at Thrillerdelphia, where the frigid weather won’t be the only cause of chills.

That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves and your communities, creeps. Don’t let evil think that it has a chance to put down roots.

Now, how about a devilish story for the road? This episode of the Uncanny podcast is actually scary. Really—this story unnerved me to my core.