HUZZAH! Once Upon a Midnight Dreary is a HOLT Medallion Finalist!

There are some moments in an author’s life that call for coffee. There are others that call for brownies, wine, and a fire pit.

This one called for all three.

I’m absolutely thrilled to share that Once Upon a Midnight Dreary has finaled in the Speculative Fiction category of the HOLT Medallion!

HUZZAH!

And yes, that is absolutely the correct amount of drama for this announcement.

If you’ve been around here for more than five minutes, you probably know I love a good gothic romance. Give me a crumbling manor, a brooding hero, a determined heroine, a restless ghost, dark secrets, emotional damage, and just enough magic to make everyone’s life complicated, and I am a very happy writer.

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary gave me all of that.

This book took me to Ravenfell Manor, where Victoria Ravenwood inherits a house with far too many secrets, Gabriel Allward is far more than he appears, and the past refuses to stay buried. It’s a story about curses, hauntings, grief, love, truth, and the kind of devotion that can reach through darkness and say, No. You don’t get to keep him.

So seeing this book recognized as a HOLT Medallion finalist means the world to me.

Of course, I handled the news with tremendous dignity and restraint.

By which I mean: I immediately declared “HUZZAH!” and began planning the appropriate celebration.

The celebration menu?

Brownies. Wine. A fire pit.

And, because the universe has a sense of humor, the wine I happened to be drinking was called Do Epic Sh*t. Which felt wildly appropriate.

Because honestly? Writing books is epic sh*t. Finishing books is epic sh*t. Publishing books is epic sh*t. Putting your heart on the page, sending it into the world, and hoping it finds the readers who need it? Definitely epic sh*t.

And when one of those books gets recognized by an award like the HOLT Medallion, you absolutely get to sit by the fire with a brownie and a glass of wine and let yourself enjoy the moment.

As authors, we spend so much time looking ahead.

The next deadline. The next draft. The next launch.  The next newsletter. The next ad. The next book waiting impatiently in the wings, tapping its foot and asking why we haven’t written it yet.

But sometimes, we need to stop. Just for a minute. We need to look at what we’ve built and say, Hey. This matters.

This book matters. These characters matter. This story found its way into the world, and someone saw something special in it.

That’s worth celebrating.

So tonight, I’m celebrating Victoria and Gabriel. I’m celebrating Ravenfell Manor. I’m celebrating gothic romance, speculative fiction, haunted love stories, and heroines who refuse to back down from the dark.

And I’m celebrating every reader who has picked up this book, reviewed it, shared it, talked about it, or stepped through the doors of Ravenfell Manor with me.

Thank you. Truly.

Writing can be a lonely, strange, beautiful, maddening thing. But moments like this remind me why I do it.

For the stories. For the characters who won’t leave me alone.  For the readers who say, “I loved this.” For the chance to create something that lingers.

So raise a glass with me—wine, coffee, tea, sparkling water, whatever you’ve got.

Here’s to Once Upon a Midnight Dreary. Here’s to the HOLT Medallion. Here’s to Ravenfell Manor. And here’s to doing epic sh*t.

HUZZAH!