From the author of House of Salt and Sorrows comes the breathtaking fairy tale retelling readers have been waiting for

When death calls, she must answer.

Hazel has always known she was different from her siblings. A thirteenth child, she was promised at birth to Merrick, the god of death.

Under his care, Hazel learns the art – and magic – of healing. Word of her extraordinary gift spreads throughout the kingdom. But all gifts come with a price. When Death claims a soul for himself, it is Hazel who must end their suffering… permanently.

Soon, destiny brings her to the royal court where she meets Leopold, an infuriatingly alluring prince with a disdain for everything and everyone. Here, Hazel faces her biggest dilemma yet: to carry out her duties or follow the urges of her own heart. Can she go against the will of Death himself to save someone who is marked to die?

The Thirteenth Child is due for release 26th September! You can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org

Five Things I’d like Readers to Know About Me

by Erin A. Craig

I used to bring Micky Dolenz his guitar for tuning

Before becoming an author, I was a production stage manager for a number of theatre, dance, and opera companies around the US. I’m an INFJ/Enneagram Type 3 which basically boils down to being super organized, with a fondness for schedules and color coordination that borders on obsession. Combining that with my love of live theatre, stage management was the perfect job for me! When I was starting out in my career, I was the lowly assistant for Goodspeed Musical’s production of ‘Pippin” and part of my pre-show checklist was delivering Charlemagne’s guitar up to the loft for Micky to tune. With a mischievous grin, he’d always ask if I had any requests but never once would play me “Daydream Believer!”

(Like most spooky writers) I read Stephen King at far too young an age

I sneaky checked out ‘SALEM’S LOT from the library when I was 12 and am still convinced there might be vampires floating outside my windows on any given stormy night!

I write 98% of my first drafts by hand

I like sketching out the bare bones of each story on paper and then, as I type it up, I add in more layers of details and emotions, fleshing out the world and characters so that by the time I’m looking at a Word doc, I’ve already got a second draft. I go through A LOT of notebooks and pens!

I’m pretty mostly almost certain that I’ve seen (the effects of) a ghost

While working in one of the big chorus dressing rooms at the Orpheum Theatre, in Memphis, TN, I watched as an entire clothing rack of armored breastplates began to sway, as if someone had walked down the line of them, running their hands over the costumes as they went. There was no AC, no drafts, and no one else in the room with me. Later on, one of the stagehands told me about Mary, the little ghost who haunts the theatre. Even thinking about it now gives me the best goosebumps!

I really, really, really love writing retellings

I blame it on the moment I stumbled across Robin McKinley’s BEAUTY. I grew up devouring fairytales and it was the first time I’d seen one as an entire book, not just a little three-page story. It felt magical to see Beauty’s inner thoughts and dilemmas and watch her claim agency within the familiar tale. Stage managing operas gave me an appreciation for taking a well-known story and flipping it on its head by changing the location or time period. Getting to do that now with books myself is such an honor and delight.

The Thirteenth Child is due for release 26th September! You can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org

#1 New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig has always loved telling stories.

After getting her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, in Theatre Design and Production, she stage managed tragic operas with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky.

An avid reader, decent quilter, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, brass figurines, and sparkly shoes, Erin makes her home in West Michigan with her husband and daughter.