Welcome to Crystal Crawford's official author blog!

Jay sank against the building as the car drove away. “How am I supposed to raise $1200 in two days?”

Jay’s dazed stare followed the panicked pointing of the crowds forming on the street. High up on the garage level of the building, the back end of the pickup truck dangled past the crumbled barrier, slowly tilting toward the street—right over Jay’s head. Massive stacks of what looked like foil containers filled the pickup’s bed.

Usually the ghosts just bullied Jay and spouted veiled threats about the house, though they had never been actually dangerous until recently, when the bank sent the foreclosure notice. Now, they were outright admitting they needed Jay's help, or at least this ghost was. Perhaps they were getting desperate.

A fire alarm blared overhead as Jay dashed into the lobby. Hospital staff rushed in every direction. Jay pressed her hands to her ears, trying to make sense of the scene.

Jay sat in the hospital waiting room a few hours later, cleared by the CT scans as still having a normal brain, her ribs declared bruised but not broken. A small bandage covered the cut on her head.

Jay groaned and blinked dust from her eyes. She wiped at her forehead, and her hand came away wet. Blood. Her heart raced with panic. She probed her forehead with her fingers and winced. It was sore, but only bleeding a little, judging from her fingers. Her vision cleared with a little blinking, but it was dim. She coughed, and pain shot through her side. Dust puffed up from the ground beside where she lay, stirred by her breath. She felt dazed. Where was she?

The Talent Coordinator rushed past Jayana and whipped the curtain open.

The curtains split. Jay was blinded by spotlights as big as a car as the announcer’s shrill voice echoed through the sound system: “The finalists for the Miss College Town Belle Regional Pageant!”

Ghost Trouble Crystal Crawford © 2018-2022 Crystal Crawford All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, cont

(occurs about 15 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) Brone Donahue possessed only two mementos of his late wife: the platinum ring in his left jeans pocket, and the ghost staring over his right shoulder. The warm rays of golden hour spilled across his desk as Moira watched him work. She huffed. “Hot ash and holy water? This is even worse than your last plan.” Brone suppressed a shiver as her icy breath grazed his neck. Her breath in life had been warm a

(occurs about 10 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) The chit-chat of dinner conversations drifts out at Mother and me from lantern-lit windows as we slip out into the grassy field just beyond the final row of the village houses, arms laden with crates of faespell vials and herbal remedies we couldn’t quite manage to sell out of in another slow day at the market. I unfurl my wings, relieved to spread them now that we’re finally out of the narrow Arcvale

(occurs about 5 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) Little dove, wake up. Duvessa blinked her eyes open, a distant racket of clangs and howls colliding with the throbs in her head. Her amber pendant hummed warm against her sternum. Though she couldn’t see it through the thick cotton of her dress, she knew the hum meant it was glowing--the rune had activated. Danger. She bolted upright, nearly ramming her head into the massive bear leaning over her. “Fo

(occurs about 15 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) Joe Dullahan wiped engine grease on his jeans then slammed the hood of the old Buick. “That should get you back to town. How’d you end up so far off the main road, anyway?” “Took a wrong turn back at Clarksville.” The old man planted brown loafers unsteadily on the dirt and leaned into his cane as he stepped out of the driver’s seat. He slid a trembling hand into the pocket of his slacks. “What do I

(occurs about 15 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) Moonlight spilled over the broken fence in the middle of the field, spotlighting it like the lone prop on a stage of grass and darkness. To most observers, the free-standing segment of worn log fence would seem a remnant of days long gone, marking this lot as former pasture land before subdivisions had cropped up on either side, leaving only this small patch of field and one remaining copse of skinny p

(occurs about 5 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) Lightning slashed the night sky. I tipped my face up as the thunder rumbled. I imagined Keyja darting among the white slivers that sliced out as the bolt crackled--hair flying, skirt clutched above her knees, dainty, dirt-crusted feet dashing cloud to cloud--even as a teenager, she’d hated wearing shoes. But my fancy faded with the flash.Keyja was the lightning now. She was never coming back to me. “Fun

(occurs about 7 years before the start of the main Leyward Stones series) It’s been days since Mom first fell into the fever sleep, and I’ve finally resorted to digging my father’s journal out of the attic. Mom’s half-lucid mumblings about it are the only lead I have for helping her, and heaven knows no other help is coming. I’m not even sure the neighbors are still out there. For days, I’ve heard nothing but the weeds. After poring over the journal at the kitchen table for t