A.J. McCrae

@ajmccrae.com

183 Followers 240 Following

Neurodivergent author of romantic fantasy & folk horror. I like cursing characters and writing science-y magic. Appalachian witch, always spooky. 💜 she/her ajmccrae.com

My pale-skinned hand holding a pair of scissors and a white teacup with a berry design on the side.
A hummingbird clearing moth collecting nectar from a pink flower.
A stack of books including: Finding Faeries by Alexandra Rowland; The Big Book of Cryptid Trivia by Bernadette Johnson; Magic from the Hilltops & Hollers by Leah Middleton; Monsters of the Northeast by Jessica Freeburg and Natalie Fowler; Spooky Appalachia retold by S.E. Schlosser; Haunted Pennsylvania by Mark Nesbitt and Patty A. Wilson; Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards; American Monsters by Linda S. Godfrey; Spooky Pennsylvania retold by S.E. Schlosser; The Big Book of Pennsylvania Ghost Stories by Mark Nesbitt and Patty A. Wilson; and Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer.
My black cat staring very intently up at me from the floor.
My tabby cat sleeping on the bed beside me with his toe beans showing.
A closeup of dried snapdragon seed pods resembling fish-like skulls.
My cuddly tabby cat curled up with me.
A collage of nine images arranged in a 3X3 grid. The images include: a close-up silhouette of a man and woman almost kissing, blue-purple feathers, the torso of a woman clothed in a blue dress with a draped purple scarf, a white gold crown, a white astronomical clock with a blue center, the statue of a woman holding out a wreath, a man with an open blue shirt holding a sword hilt, a lightning strike through dark clouds, and the silhouette of a woman holding a sword in front of a starry night sky.
A grid of nine images including: a human skeleton half buried in the ground, a forest of bare trees, a man sharpening a wooden stake with a knife, a graveyard, a woman holding a glass of dark liquid, a woman in a white dress lying in the first, the white flowers of snow drops, a horned figure silhouette against a sky of birds, and a skull nestled in the crook of a tree branch.
A grid of nine images including: a close-up of a bearded man's nose and mouth, a table with both broken and whole pomegranates, a stone entry into a mountain temple, a closeup of a woman holding a gilded dagger, two hands raised up in a cup shape, an open book with ancient writing and drawings, a wall of human skulls, a purplish-red flower, and a dark-haired woman looking up with her shoulder toward the camera.
A collage of nine images arranged in a 3X3 grid. The images include: a close-up silhouette of a man and woman almost kissing, blue-purple feathers, the torso of a woman clothed in a blue dress with a draped purple scarf, a white gold crown, a white astronomical clock with a blue center, the statue of a woman holding out a wreath, a man with an open blue shirt holding a sword hilt, a lightning strike through dark clouds, and the silhouette of a woman holding a sword in front of a starry night sky.
My mischievous tabby cat laying on a pile of clothes in a dresser drawer.
A lightning bug sitting in my hand and glowing once quickly
My tabby cat looking up at me and probably judging while I draft this book.
A round dial thermostat with the measure marker at its max point of 88-90°F.
A basket of fidgets (pop it, tumbled stones, and more) a pair of purple headphones, a keyboard, and a tablet on my desk ready to roll for my first writing session.
A few of puffy white clouds against a very blue sky, with other clouds seemingly stretched out between them.
A deep red lily viewed from above with another underneath.
A movie poster style graphic for my Appalachia folk horror novel, What Walks These Woods, featuring eldritch gods, cursed bones, sister witches, and feral magic. they prayed for protection from the monster of the wood but forgot about the monsters back home... The image shows a dark forest with a female figure silhouette standing in front with deer antlers coming out of her head.
My Siamese tabby cat resting her head on my arm covered in a gray sweatshirt.
A stack of writing craft books focused on writing horror, short stories, and flash fiction.
My pale hand holding up a white Kobo eReader with the cover of Love's a Witch on it, which includes a man in a kilt sitting on a couch with a woman in lounge wear and bookshelves on either side of them.
A bird's eye view of a small string of pearls succulent in a terracotta pot with a stone in the center.
A baby snake plant emerging from the soil in the pot of a larger plant.
My dog's footprints in the snow, one overtop the other.
My black cat Charlie sitting on the platform of a tan carpeted cat tower.
My thyme plant in the garden with its little green leaves flourishing among the dead leaves.
A little salamander cupped in my hand, found in the leaf litter I was raking into the corner of my yard to serve as a space for smaller critters this winter.
My Siamese tabby cat laying on the dog bed half wrapped in a blanket and with one leg stretched out.
Me, holding a gray fox skull with its jaws open in front of a filled bookshelf.
A crow looking to the right while perched in a tree that's lost its leaves.
A large red and gold jester mask, a dark brown and gold upper half face Incognito: Masks in the Serene Republic.
Screenshot of the Word app with the text "GRAVEYARD" in the middle of the document.
One of my tabby cats with his eyes closed and paw stretched out in pure unbothered sleep.
Me holding up Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan in front of a packed bookshelf of other fantasy and sci-fi titles.
Woolly bear caterpillar crawling over dried grass.
My black cat leaning against a windowsill looking out, surrounded by white curtains.
Multiple buckets overflowing with the green hulls of black walnuts.
A zoomed out view of a pothos plant with roots exposed in a clear glass jar filled with water.
A white bucket full of the round green hulls of black walnuts.
A basket of green tomatoes and two small bell peppers, and a smaller plastic container with jalapeño peppers and chili peppers.
A fern with its fuzzy roots sticking out of a basket, sitting on a fireplace mantle with books in the background.
She stopped walking and stilled, allowing her clothes to hide the rise and fall of her chest. The near dark enveloped her with a weighted silence, the wood inhabitants quiet. Her sister remained quiet. Too quiet.
One of my tabby cats staring at me with a disappointed expression.
A stack of books next to a plant. The books include: Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal, Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings, Asunder by Kerstin Hall, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock, But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo, Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino, Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis, A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley, Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney, and The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen.
My dog staring into the camera with a blanket wrapped around his head and body
Kat started to pull the phone from her ear when she felt a feather-light touch on her cheek. She jumped and her hand flew up involuntarily. It should have launched the phone deep into the brush. Except another touch followed with more pressure, smooth and cold, and her phone remained attached to her hand. She held it to at eye level and squinted in the dark. Where the screen had been, mushrooms emerged, their caps glowing the same color as the pieces of the phone not yet consumed. A vine stretched out of the charging port and snaked toward her, rubbing against her face. Kat batted it away only to find it had already wrapped around her neck. She ripped at it, breaking through one stand only for another to take its place. A scream rose in her throat but nothing more than strangled breaths escaped her mouth.
A laptop case covered with a stupid amount of nerdy and geeky stickers about writing, spooky stuff, and more.
A snapdragon flower bloom in sunset colors from pale yellow to pale pink.
One of my tabby cats looking down at me with pure judgment for my attempts to photograph him in what I thought would be a cute pose.
The back of a silver laptop with a holographic skull sticker in the center that reads "Everything is fine"
A partial view of my fireplace mantle with my fall TBR, featuring horror and paranormal books, as well as a goat skull, ghost figurine, and metal dragon sculpture. The books include: House of Hunger, Starling House, Comfort Me With Apples, Foul Days, Our Hideous Progeny, Flyaway, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, The Death of Jane Lawrence, Blood on the Tongue, and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
Me, holding up the paperback of The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino in front of a bookshelf. The cover features a feminine figure wearing armor with a sword cutting across.
Me, holding up my Kobo in front of bookshelves with a copy of Save the Cat! Writes Horror by Jamie Nash on the screen. The cover features a black cat dangling from a rope.
Three pumpkin-shaped casserole dishes, two orange and one white, sitting on a blanket.
My Siamese tabby cat laying in a beige hammock of a cat tower while yawning.
A copy of Saint Death's Herald by C. S. E. Clooney, featuring a bright yellow cover with the side view silhouette of a woman with colorful hair filled with the book title and various creatures.
Two small green tomatoes next to two yellow flowers, growing amidst a very bushy tomato plant.
A collage of moody images from Unsplash and Pexels featuring skulls and other bones, forests, weapons, luggage, scrolls, and travel gear. In the center is the silhouette of a forestscape with "A.J. McCrae" written overtop and a witch hat on the "J".