This weekend I was lucky enough that horror powerhouse Stephen Graham Jones visited my area and did a book event and signing. He's best known for The Only Good Indians, I Was a Teenage Slasher, and Buffalo Hunter Hunter, among others. He's won the Bram Stoker four times, three Shirley Jackson awards, the August Derelth Award (British Fantasy Awards, Horror category), a Locus Award, and been nominated for so many others that I can't even list them all. Basically, in this golden era of horror, he's a big deal. But he's also not a one-genre author, some of his backlist also includes literary.

The event started with a discussion of Jones's new book, a combo of two: The Babysitter Lives and Killer on the Road. This included selected readings and sources of inspiration. Lets just say if you hate spiders, The Babysitter Lives won't be for you.

Then there was a short Q&A, and I'll admit it was mostly the fans in the audience phrasing their praise as questions. One question asked Jones how his heritage (Blackfeet) played into his writing. His answer was interesting. While white authors and readers default to assuming any non-described character is white, he defaults to Blackfeet. But when he calls it out in his writing, (white) people get reverent where the same story sans character identification was criticized. He didn't like that double standard and prefers to be thought of as an author, no identifiers added.

Last was a book signing. Every ticket included a copy of The Babysitter Lives/Killer on the Road for Jones to sign and he would sign 4 brought from home, so I had him sign Buffalo Hunter Hunter. (Review for that coming soon!) The line took about 2 hours so I was very glad I'd gone with friends. He was super kind, we talked about other Kates, and then it was over. For having to sign books for two hours, he stayed chipper (would I have the same stamina if I am lucky enough to book tour someday? Who knows.)

I highly recommend reading Jones if you love horror, write horror, or even if you are interested in the fantasy elements (Buffalo Hunter Hunter has a vampire, others have zombies, etc.) If you're squeamish, his books are probably best enjoyed from a distance.


Have you gone to author meet and greets or signings? What about those events works and what doesn't work? Let's chat in the comments!

The Belladonna trilogy by Adalyn Grace includes Belladonna (2022), Foxglove (2023), and Wisteria (2024). There is a forthcoming holiday novella titled Holly due in 2025. The series is upper YA (dare I suggest new adult) secondary world romantasy. The technology era is something like early Victorian maybe, it's hard to pinpoint, but it's pre-electricity and pre-car, but felt post industrial revolution. 

In this series, Signa is an orphaned heiress, who has a strange ability. She can elude death, and see him, but only when she's on the brink of it herself. She can also see ghosts. She's been unlucky with caregivers, who often died, but at nineteen, she's sent to live with more distant relatives, the Hawthorns. The daughter around Signa's age, Blythe, is struggling with a mysterious illness. The son is trying to wrangle the family gentleman's club from their father, their father excessively parties to numb the recent loss of his wife. Signa is determined to solve Blythe's illness with the help of her nemesis (Death) and the family's stable manager. And let's not forget this is a romantasy!

In subsequent books we see other eternal figures like Fate, who becomes a major player in Foxglove and Wisteria, the latter of which is from a different POV than Signa (but I won't spoil who). There is another romance in that book, while Belladonna and Foxglove focus on Signa's romance. 

I adored Signa's romance. Her chemistry with both Death and the stable manager were incredibly written. I tend to be skeptical of enemies to lovers recently, but this one was different and very well done. I was rabid for book 2 by the end of book 1. And the covers and art! To die for. Major shout out to my bestie, a librarian by trade, who sent me this book for Christmas. She nailed it.

You'll enjoy this series if you enjoy enemies to lovers, Death as a character, gothic mysteries, and low-to-medium spice. This series is not for you if you're looking for high spice, if you don't enjoy Death as a character, and if you want to focus more on world building and magic systems in your fantasy.

Well, it's been a minute (or a few months!) The day job got a little insane, my private life got jam packed, and this website fell by the wayside. Consider the cobwebs cleared!

Here's what's new: 

• A new Publications and Awards page, including links to buy my work.
• A freshly reformatted podcast page for easier viewing
  

I owe you a TON of book reviews, including the Belladonna trilogy by Adalyn Grace, the latest Emily Wilde, the latest Lady Astronauts of Mars, the latest Hunger Games, a cute romantasy for lovers of Divine Rivals, and even horror!

Stay tuned!