Author Interviews

Author Spotlight: Amar Shah

In today’s Author Spotlight, Sydney Dunlap chats with author Amar Shah about his middle-grade graphic novel, Wish I Was a Baller. School Library Journal gives Wish I Was a Baller a starred review and calls it “a perfect example of trying, failing, and rising again.”

Amar Shah is a multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer who has written for ESPN.com, NFL.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Slam Magazine and The Washington Post. In the 90s, Amar was a teen sports reporter and got to hang out with the Chicago Bulls during their golden era. He even landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids with Shaquille O’Neal! Learn more about Amar at amarshahwrites.com

All About the Book!

Wish I Was a Baller is part New Kid, part The Tryout, and part Dragon Hoops! Amar Shah has some story to tell! In 1995, he was a fourteen-year-old aspiring sports journalist (and basketball superfan) angling to get into an Orlando Magic team practice. He did, and it took him on the ride of his life! Wish I Was a Baller is a graphic memoir chronicling Amar’s real-life experiences as a fourteen-year-old sports journalist covering the golden era of the NBA, when he befriended Shaq and hung out with Michael Jordan and the Bulls—all while surviving high school, dealing with crushes, and friendships being tainted by jealousy.

Interview with Amar Shah!

Sydney: I was amazed at your perseverance as a fourteen-year-old aspiring reporter. To what do you attribute your ability to never give up, even in the face of such difficult odds?

Amar: There’s a reason the book is called Wish I Was a Baller. It’s named after this iconic mid-90s hip-hop track by Skee-Lo that became my personal soundtrack. I was a short brown kid with glasses who couldn’t make it on the actual basketball court, so I had to find another way into the game.

I think from an early age, I had this quiet, absurd confidence in myself. When someone told me no, I didn’t hear the end of the story…I heard a challenge. I couldn’t accept rejection as final. I always wanted to find a way in, to create a new door if one didn’t exist.

A lot of that determination also comes from my parents. They immigrated to this country without speaking English and had to build everything from scratch. I watched them face setback after setback, and never stop moving forward. They taught me that even if something doesn’t work out, you’re not done: you adapt, you grow stronger, you keep going. That mindset of believing you can do anything if you work hard and stay committed…stayed with me.

Craft

Sydney: You do such a great job maintaining a fast, exciting pace in your book. Was it difficult to craft? What were your biggest challenges in writing it?

Amar: I was really lucky to have an incredible collaborator in Rashad Doucet, my illustrator. He’s an amazing author and artist in his own right, so he really understood the graphic novel form. From day one, working with him was a joy. And I had two incredible editors, Abby McAden and Anjali Bisaria, who helped me take my original manuscript and shape it into something much tighter and stronger.

The truth is, Wish I Was a Baller didn’t start as a graphic novel. It was originally a YA memoir, over 100,000 words long, and the very first book I ever wrote. That version got me my agent, Jas Perry, and even though it got rejected by a number of publishers, we knew the story had something special. Jas had the brilliant idea of adapting it into a middle-grade graphic novel. That’s when she brought Rashad on board, and the two of us started shaping the proposal together.

The biggest challenge? Cutting. I had to take chapters I loved, stories I was deeply attached to, and just… let them go. It was painful at first, but I knew we had to honor the rhythm and form of a graphic novel. Luckily, I come from a screenwriting background, so I leaned on that experience to focus on pacing making sure every page moved the story forward.

It was also a shift going from prose to script format. But once I got into a rhythm and started getting Rashad’s feedback, it became a really fun and collaborative process. Honestly, we had a blast. I like to say we had the chemistry of Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World, just two guys geeking out over something we loved, completely in sync, and somehow making it all work.

Authenticity

Sydney: You describe the experience of the awkwardness that can be such a part of adolescence so honestly and with such authenticity. What was it like to revisit those years and share them with young readers?

Amar: To be honest, it was both a delight and a challenge to revisit those years. Writing this book felt like being an archaeologist, digging through old yearbooks, school newspapers, and the random things I’d kept from childhood. I remembered how, at that age, every feeling hits at full volume. Everything feels seismic. 

For me, those memories were like fossilized moments trapped in amber. And my job as a writer was to be like a Jurassic Park scientist, extracting the DNA from those experiences and bringing them back to life on the page.

Of course, it came with vulnerability and a bit of embarrassment. I mean, being 14 or 15 in high school, when you’re still a kid surrounded by what feel like adults, is awkward by definition. Even though the book is set in the 90s and packed with references today’s kids might not get, their parents probably will. But the emotional core is timeless: first crushes, friendships and fallouts, the search for identity, and figuring out where you belong.

Yes, I had these surreal moments with Shaq, MJ, and Kobe during the golden era of the NBA, but what I experienced daily at school is what most kids go through. That’s the part I think young readers will connect with: finding your voice, your passion, your people.

Those years shaped everything that came after. They launched my career in journalism and storytelling. And if sharing that helps even one reader feel seen, less alone, or more inspired to chase something they love, then it was absolutely worth the trip back.

Publishing Journey

Sydney: How did you decide to get into publishing books for young readers? Please share a bit about your journey.

Amar: I think I always knew I wanted to write for young readers, even when I was a young reader myself. I’ve wanted to be a writer since fourth or fifth grade. In fourth grade, my teacher read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge to us, and I was hooked. I completely connected with Peter, the narrator. I had a younger brother too, so I felt like those books were speaking directly to me.

By fifth grade, I was writing my own short stories. I even wrote my first novella, which was some kind of mashup between Field of DreamsDie Hard, and every action or sports movie I loved at the time. In sixth grade, I kept writing and eventually fell in love with journalism. But I always felt that the ages between 10 and 17 were the most emotionally alive years of my life. That window of time is where everything feels massive and defining, and I think that’s why I kept coming back to it in my writing.

I spent years as a journalist, writing for places like ESPN, the NFL, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. I was always writing. But it took me a long time to find the discipline to write a book. Like a lot of people, I started and stopped several times throughout my twenties and thirties. Then my son was born in 2015, and something shifted. I wanted to stop just dreaming about writing a book and actually do it.

I started writing Wish I Was a Baller in 2016, though the idea first came to me back in 2011 after Shaq retired. It became my pandemic project, or maybe my midlife crisis. Instead of buying a fancy car, I wrote a book. I worked on it with my agent, Jas Perry, and we eventually submitted it to Scholastic, where an editor named Matt Ringler loved the voice and gave me a shot at another project.

That led to the Play the Game series. Scholastic asked me to try out for a sports series. I wrote a few sample chapters, and they offered me a three-book deal. I loved it, because it gave me a chance to revisit one of the most meaningful and painful moments of my youth…getting cut from the basketball team. I channeled that experience into Raam’s story, and writing it felt both cathartic and authentic. My kids were also around the same age as the characters, so I had a built-in focus group.

Eventually, the original version of Baller evolved into a graphic novel, and I couldn’t be more grateful for how it all came together. Writing for young readers means everything to me. That age group is where future writers and readers are shaped. They are looking for stories that make them feel seen and understood. I’m incredibly lucky to get to tell those stories and go on that journey with them.

Graphic Novels Vs. Prose

Sydney: Now that you’ve written books in two such different formats, what can you tell your fellow writers about the differences in process between the two? And which took longer to write?

Amar: That’s such a great question. I think I was lucky in the sense that I had never written a middle grade book until I wrote one. I had never written a graphic novel either, but I dove in. If you’re willing to learn the foundations, you can figure it out. I’m not saying follow a formula or chase tropes, but I do think it’s important to study the form. I read a bunch of middle grade novels. I read graphic novel scripts. You have to understand how a thing is built before you can build your own version.

Graphic novels don’t have a strict format the way screenplays do, but my screenwriting background helped a lot. In screenwriting, every page is roughly a minute of screen time. That taught me to treat each page like something needed to happen. The pacing had to be tight. In a graphic novel, you don’t get the luxury of long internal reflection or poetic description. You’re working with panels, dialogue, and movement. It has to be visual. It has to move. The energy is kinetic.

Middle grade prose, on the other hand, gives you more room to breathe. You can let your characters contemplate. You can let a moment linger. You can be quiet. But no matter what you’re writing, the sentences have to carry momentum. They have to move the reader forward.

Writing a novel is a solo journey. It’s just you and the page. You’re living in that world and shaping it alone. Writing a graphic novel is a collaboration. It’s more like making a movie. You’re the screenwriter, but there’s also the illustrator, the editor, the letterer. It’s creative back and forth, more like a DJ and an MC working together.

In terms of time, the prose version took longer, simply because I was figuring out the story from scratch. But writing a graphic novel requires precision. You have a smaller canvas, so every moment has to count. One isn’t easier than the other, just different. And I learned so much doing both.

Takeaways

Sydney: What do you hope readers take away from these stories?

Amar: With everything I write, I want to give readers a sense of hope. I want them to feel inspired, understood, and less alone. Sure, you hope to pass along some wisdom, but more than anything, I want young readers to take away something that helps make the world feel a little more manageable. Life can be tough, but there’s something powerful inside you. You can persevere. You can thrive.

That’s the beauty of storytelling. The things that feel the most personal, the moments you think only you have experienced, often turn out to be the most universal. When you share your story…honestly, vulnerably…you create connection. You let others know they’re not the only ones going through something hard. That’s powerful.

I don’t think of my books as pep talks or coach’s speeches. I think of them as quiet offerings, reminders that you can bounce back. That you can mess up and grow. That you can go after what you want and still be a good person.

I hope readers walk away from these stories feeling like they’ve found a piece of themselves. I want them to develop their own version of the Mamba mentality. I want them to know that it’s okay to make mistakes. You’ll learn. You’ll get better. And you’ll be okay.

Writing

Sydney: Where and when do you prefer to write?

Amar: I’d love to tell you I have a disciplined early morning routine where I wake up at 5 a.m., sip coffee, and crank out a thousand words before sunrise. Or that I stay up until 3 a.m. writing with lo-fi beats in the background. But the truth is, I write when I write.

I write in the margins of my day. I might be in the school pickup line, sweating in the car while it’s 95 degrees outside, and I’ll pull up the Notes app and start typing. I might jot something down right after I get home, while the thought is still fresh. I believe every writer needs a second brain whether that’s your phone, a notepad, or a scrap of paper to catch the ideas when they come.

At home, I like to move around. Sometimes I write on the porch. Sometimes at the kitchen table. I write wherever I feel that sense of flow. And when that flow hits, when you’re fully locked in, it’s the best feeling in the world.

I also write to music. Always. I’ll put on the Lord of the Rings Shire theme on loop if I want something soothing. But I might also need Eminem to fire me up. Or Tupac. Or Ravi Shankar. Or 90s Bollywood songs. Or sad Boyz II Men ballads if I’m in that kind of mood. Music helps get me into the right emotional space, and now I’ve even got a record player going. I only just figured out how to use one a couple of years ago, but it’s become a part of the process.

So no, I don’t have a perfect system. But I write wherever I am, whenever I can, and I try to make sure music is always playing nearby.

Experiences

Sydney: What have been some of your favorite experiences since becoming a published author?

Amar: I’ve had so many incredible moments since becoming a published author. One of the best was when my kids had their Scholastic Book Fair at school, and my book was on the shelves. That was a full-circle, bucket list moment. They got to show their classmates and teachers that their dad’s book was part of the fair. As a kid, there’s nothing more magical than a Scholastic Book Fair, so to be part of that as a parent was huge.

Another unforgettable moment was walking into a bookstore, seeing my book on the shelf, and then being asked by a staff member to sign it. They put one of those “signed by the author” stickers on the cover. That never gets old.

But honestly, the most meaningful experiences have come from connecting with readers. School visits have been incredible. Getting to talk to students, hear their questions, and remind them that their stories matter. When a kid says they want to become a writer or a journalist after reading my book, or when a parent emails to say the story helped their child feel seen, that’s the real reward. That’s the thing that sticks with me.

Sure, it’s cool when someone at Costco says, “Hey, aren’t you the author?” But even if no one recognizes me, just knowing the books are out there in the world, being read, being shared that’s the dream.

And getting to meet other authors, swap stories, learn from each other that’s been a gift too. I still love seeing my name in print, and every time I spot my book in a library, or see that it’s checked out, it’s a little jolt of joy.

Inspiration

Amar: What are some current books that have influenced you as a kidlit writer?

Amar: Lately, I’ve been really inspired by so many incredible books by writers I’m lucky to call friends. Jerry Craft, Ali Terese, Christina Soontornvat. Their work continues to push the boundaries of what kidlit can be, and it’s exciting to be part of that same space.

Of course, Judy Blume will always be my favorite children’s author. Her voice, her honesty, the way she captured what it feels like to be young. That stuck with me from the beginning and still shapes how I write today.

And if we’re talking all-time favorite writer, that would be F. Scott Fitzgerald. Most people don’t know this, but he actually wrote a great middle grade series of short stories. There’s a lyrical quality to his work that I’ve always admired, even when writing for a younger audience.

Advice

Sydney: What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Amar: Read. Read. Read. And then listen. Really listen.

The beauty of language is something you have to learn to appreciate whether it’s a Bob Dylan lyric, a Tupac rhyme, or a Keats poem. Let words move you. Let them linger. That’s how you grow as a writer.

And most of all, learn to love revising. The real writing lives in the red lines. First drafts are important, but it’s what you do after that makes the difference.

Upcoming Projects

Sydney: Can you give us some insights into what you’ll be working on next?

Amar: I’ve got a few different projects cooking right now, all in various stages. I’m revising a YA fantasy that I’ve been working on for a while, and I’m also drafting my first adult novel, which has been a whole new creative challenge.

On the middle grade side, I’m collaborating again with Rashad on a new graphic novel, which I’m really excited about. And hopefully, there’s another sports-themed middle grade book on the horizon too.

I’ve learned I can only write one book at a time, so I’m just taking it project by project but definitely keeping busy.

Lightning Round!

Coffee or tea?

Amar: Coffee, without a doubt. I can’t start my day without my Nespresso machine and at least two cups. Ever since I turned 40, I’ve become a bit of a coffee snob. I take my caffeine very seriously now.

Sunrise or sunset?

Sunset, by far. I love this question because I’m not sure if you mean the natural kind or the Richard Linklater films and honestly, both mean a lot to me. Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are two of my absolute favorite movies. Before Sunset, in particular, is one of my all-time favorites. That walk through Paris with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy? Perfect.

Favorite place to travel:

I’m a total credit card points fiend, so if anyone ever needs tips on how to rack up travel rewards, I’m your guy. We’ve been lucky to travel a lot as a family over the last few years. I’m always happy at the beach, but I had an amazing time in both Italy and Paris. I’d go back to either in a heartbeat.

Favorite dessert:

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with this dessert from Costco. it’s called Island Way Sorbet. They serve the sorbet inside real fruit shells, like mango, red berry, grapefruit, and pomegranate. The mango one comes in an orange rind. It’s ridiculously good and has definitely become my midnight guilty pleasure.

Superpower:

Tenacity. It really is a superpower. Not giving up, pushing forward, staying stubborn in the best way. Call it what you want, but to me, it’s about believing in something and making it happen.

Music?

This one’s almost impossible. I love music as much as I love sports. My taste is all over the map from 90s hip-hop, Bollywood, jazz, rock, Sinatra, Dylan, Pac, The Killers, Vampire Weekend. It really depends on the mood, but I can find something I love in just about every genre.

Favorite book from childhood:

From early childhood, it would have to be Clown Around by Joanna Cole. My mom used to read it to me, and I loved it so much I’ve held on to a copy all these years. As I got older, Judy Blume was a huge influence, of course. But there was also a lesser-known baseball series called The Iron Mask by Robert Montgomery. That one definitely helped inspire my own Play the Game series.

Thanks again, Amar! It was so much fun to learn about you, your writing journey, and your amazing novel! Learn more about Amar on his website and follow him on Instagram.

 

Interview with Katie Hafner, author of THE LOST WOMEN OF SCIENCE

From the popular Lost Women of Science podcast, this empowering collection recognizes ten trailblazing female scientists whose lives and works have been lost to history…until now. Here, author Katie Hafner discusses the book’s background, (fantastic!) visuals, and upcoming plans for the series!

Book cover of THE LOST WOMEN OF SCIENCE

THE LOST WOMEN OF SCIENCE started as a podcast (and an incredible, award-winning one at that). What challenges were there turning the podcast into a book, and how did you solve them?

Our mission is to encourage women and girls to be inspired by what female scientists have achieved and to follow in their footsteps and choose science as a career. Our podcasts are more or less aimed at an adult audience, so producing a book based on the podcast seemed like a great way to fulfill our mission. We had done all the research, so it was a matter of retelling those stories in a way that would inspire younger readers. It also meant adding lots of pictures, diagrams and experiments to keep their attention and show how much fun science is. The challenge was getting the tone of the writing and the illustrations just right. We found a great illustrator, Karyn Lee, to design the book.

I love the inclusion of visual materials in the book, from pictures to historical records to timelines to illustrations. How did you and the Lost Women of Science team decide what to include for each subject?

That was not very difficult because each scientist profiled in the book does a different kind of science, so there were lots of materials to pick from, both archival and contemporary. We wanted to include photographs of our scientists, where possible, as well as illustrations that explained the science. For example, for Eunice Newton Foote, who is known now as the Mother of Climate Science, we include an experiment she did, demonstrating that the more carbon dioxide in the air, the hotter that air gets when exposed to the sun. Remember, Eunice was doing this in the mid-1800s in her home laboratory. So, there’s a neat drawing by our illustrator Karyn Lee showing thermometers in glass jars.

The Lost Women of Science Initiative is an educational nonprofit (The Lost Women of Science Initiative), which aims to “inspire girls and young women to pursue education and careers in STEM,” along with education about these remarkable scientists. Was that part of the vision from the start of the project, and how have you seen it flourish?

Yes, that is our vision and that is where the book fits in. We’ve also gone to schools to do presentations about the Lost Women of Science and we are working on creating a resource center that gathers all the materials that we have collected in our research – diaries, photos, scientific papers, letters – in one digital archive so that everyone can have access to them.

You’ve written a variety of mediums throughout your career: articles, podcasts, memoir, fiction, and nonfiction like THE LOST WOMEN OF SCIENCE. Is there a particular style you prefer working in, and do any of these other genres inform how you approach a book like this one?

I’m a journalist through and through, so no matter what I’m working on, I do quite a bit of research and fact-checking. So that’s my guiding principle.

Then there’s the storytelling part. Children and adults alike need to be hooked on a good story. If you tell that story in words that young people can understand, and explain the science in simple English, you’ll find your audience. So that was in the back of my mind when we were working on the text. I’ve been writing about technology and science for years and what you always have to remember is that your readers are often starting out from a very low knowledge base when it comes to a particular subject, so you cannot assume anything. My experience as a journalist helped with that.

The book is listed as a new series, which is exciting to see! What is next for you and the Lost Women of Science team?

The series will consist of three volumes altogether. We’re already hard at work on the second, which will be out in early 2027. Like the first one, this will include women we’ve profiled on the podcast. The book will present their stories, along with lots of illustrations and experiments for kids in middle school. A quick preview: the second book will include a Victorian astronomer who chased eclipses around the world at the turn of the twentieth century, an intrepid paleontologist from California who founded two museums and has many fossils named after her, and the first Black female doctor in America.

About Katie Hafner:

Photo of Katie Hafner.

Katie Hafner was on staff at The New York Times for ten years, where she remains a frequent contributor, writing on healthcare and technology. She has also worked at Newsweek and BusinessWeek, and has written for The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Wired, The New Republic, The Huffington Post, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She is the author of five previous works of nonfiction covering a diverse range of topics, including the origins of the Internet, computer hackers, German reunification, and the pianist Glenn Gould.

Interview with Horror Author Ally Russell

Something strange is in the air today and we couldn’t be more excited! Author Ally Russell is here to chat about her new book, MYSTERY JAMES DIGS HER OWN GRAVE. With spooky twists and a hero who’s not afraid to face the unknown, this mystery is sure to give readers plenty of chills and thrills. 

Lisa: Welcome to the Mixed Up Files! Please tell us about your new book.

Ally: MYSTERY JAMES DIGS HER OWN GRAVE is the story of a 13-year-old girl who was abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home by her adoptive aunt. Mystery can smell ghosts, and she suffers from sleep paralysis! At Garcia Graves & Funeral Home, Mystery and her Tia Lucy handle the funeral arrangements for Lady Ellis, the town’s wealthy matriarch. However, when a priceless family heirloom goes missing, Tia Lucy is accused of graverobbing. It’s up to Mystery and her best friend Garrett to track down the real culprit, but in order to do so, they have to battle a vampiric ghost.

Lisa: How did you come up with the idea?

Ally: The idea of Mystery James began with a problem I was having in one of my old apartments. Sometimes I would catch a whiff of what I can only explain as a tangy, electrical smell. I’m certain it was coming from a USB charger, but one day, my very creepy brain whispered…what if it’s a ghost? That thought gave me goosebumps, and the thought turned into scribbles about a kid who could smell ghosts. From there, Mystery’s world of Ellis Town was born.

Lisa: Did you base any characters on people you know? If yes, spill the beans!

Ally: Ha! I’m sure there are bits and pieces of real folks in each of the characters, but the one that sticks out the most is the character Eliza Ellis. Eliza, is based on one of my dear childhood friends, Kimberlee. Kim is warm, kind, protective, and welcoming. Some of my best childhood memories—from laughter to scares—include Kim (who is also a fellow spooky girl). I wanted Mystery to have a good friend like that. I would also like to mention that Kim’s mom once told me that I reminded her of Wednesday Addams. It was the highest compliment to my 11-year-old brain, and I suppose it was inspo for Mystery.

Lisa: How much of your real-life experiences play a role in the stories you tell?

Ally: I wish I could experience more creepy moment, but alas…I’m a scaredy cat. But I think that’s why I write stories about girls who are brave. I wasn’t a brave kid. I don’t think I’m a brave adult. So, my books tend to feature girls who battle things I find frightening—from cryptids to spirits.

Lisa: What books did you like to read when you were a kid? Do those books influence your writing?

Ally: I was a big fan of the usual suspects: Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Dark Thirty. I also remember enjoying Paul Zindel’s horror books, like Rats. My absolute favorite was Tales for the Midnight Hour by JB Stamper.

I don’t remember many of the finer details about these books, but I do remember how they made me feel. They scared me, but I also felt safe while reading them because if they ever became too much, I could simply close the book. I think these books influence my approach to horror for upper middle grade. I want to give young readers the thrills and chills they’re asking for, but I also want them to feel safe—like a roller coaster ride.

Lisa: Do you have a favorite chapter? If yes, why?

Ally: Oh, that’s a tough question. I had a really great time building this world. I love every scene inside the cemetery, especially when Mystery meets Baron for the first time. I love every interaction between Mystery and Eliza. But I guess chapter eight is one of my favorites. At Lady Ellis’s funeral we get to see a bigger cast of characters, and the Winstons are some of my favorite supporting characters. Shh…I just finished revisions for the second book in the Mystery James duology, and I snuck in a scene with the Winstons.

Lisa: What was the hardest part about writing this book?

Ally: Avoiding the traditional “rules” of the supernatural. Baron is a vampiric ghost, and it was tempting to ground him in either the physical or the spiritual world, but I had to keep reminding myself that this is a work of fiction, and I can make up my own rules about the supernatural.

Lisa: Why did you choose to write children’s books?

Ally: Because in most cases, a love of reading and books begins in childhood, and horror was the genre that turned me into a reader. Right now, we live in a scary world, and I want to write children’s horror books that are fun and engaging so that young people don’t develop an aversion to reading, art, and critical thinking.

Lisa: What is your writing process? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Ally: I used to think I was a pantser. I thought the right words would just come to me as I sat there with a blank screen, but it never happened. Then in 2020, I finally learned that I am a plotter. All books begin with a detailed synopsis. Of course, some things will change as I write, but the synopsis acts like a road map and keeps me on track and motivated to write. I can always tell when the synopsis isn’t working because the writing becomes a bit of a slog.

Lisa: What advice would you give 12-year-old Ally?

Ally: I would tell her to save every idea. I would tell her to always make writing a priority, even when she’s tired from all the stressful and nonsensical adult stuff that she has to do. And I would tell her to always make time for reading.

Lisa: Thank you so much for stopping by The Mixed Up Files, I loved chatting with you. To all our readers, be sure to add MYSTERY JAMES DIGS HER OWN GRAVE to your Goodreads list and pick up a copy at your favorite indie or check out at your local library.  

Author Bio:

Ally is the author of It Came from the Trees and the Mystery James series. She grew up on a steady diet of Halloween parties, horror films, Unsolved Mysteries, and Goosebumps books. She has always loved scary stories, and got her MFA from Simmons University and, eventually, a job working in children’s publishing. She hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Ally lives with her husband and her two black cats, Nox and Fury. She’s afraid of the woods, the dark, and heights.

For more information about Ally, please visit her website and follow her on Bluesky or Instagram.

Happy Reading!