SamiJo is a first-class shenanigator, decorated coddiwompler, narrator, creator, and award-winning author. She is the creator of the Abney Kelly series and the Hecate Grimm series. She has also published a children’s book with illustrator L.K. Kaphengst, and a book of short stories with the Wednesday Writing Club.
In 2025, she won fourth place in Writer’s Digest’s prestigious annual writing competition for her short story “One Samhain Night.”
SamiJo is one of the co-founders of the North Dakota Book and Arts Festival in Jamestown—a festival where authors and artists never pay for table space, and admission is always free. This event is about removing barriers and giving every creator a chance to shine. SamiJo is proud to work with Jill Pfaff and Laurel Pfau from the James River Library System and Aaron Cloyd from the University of Jamestown to make this dream a reality. Want to discover more about the North Dakota Book and Arts Festival? Click here: NORTH DAKOTA BOOK AND ARTS FESTIVAL | JRVLS
SamiJo calls North Dakota home, where she shares life with her husband and a lively little menagerie. When she’s not busy imagining new worlds at her keyboard, you’ll find her draped across her favorite armchair with a good book, stumbling through new video games, or causing mischief during a round of Dungeons & Dragons.
Connect with SamiJo on social media! She loves hearing from fellow readers and writers. Being an author is a small business, and your support means the world.
Awards
SamiJo McQuiston
We finally got Halloween up!
SamiJo McQuiston
From the imaginations of L.K. Kaphengst and SamiJo McQuiston comes this dark and dazzling fairy tale about the darkest day of the year. Welcome to
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SamiJo McQuiston updated their status.
When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it’s been
Books by SamiJo
Abney Kelly seems like your typical thirteen-year-old trying to find her place in the world. She’s shy, awkward, has no friends, and is bullied constantly. However things are not always as they appear, after being pushed into a clover patch, a creature who says he’s her assigned guardian whisks her off to a school in Tìr na nÓg, called Yule.
Turns out she’s a Changeling, and it’s time she learns what that means. Between making new friends, discovering that all the monsters in her nightmares are real, and starting at a new school, Abney didn’t think life could get any harder as she splits her time between the human and Fae realms.
That is until her house matron warns them about Nicholas Kringle. He is stalking his prey throughout realms and collecting the hearts of those on his so-called nice list. At a New Year’s Eve party, Abney and her new gang use an Ouija board and discover that one of their friends is on Kringle’s list.
Determined to stop their friend’s death, Abney and company set off on a chilly adventure, to try to change fate, but only one thing is for certain… This year they’ll end up on the naughty list or die trying.
My name is Hecate Grimm, and I own a bookshop. It’s pretty average as far as bookstores go. Nothing special to see here, or at least that’s what my regulars believe. They also think I’m a ventriloquist, special effects guru, and dedicated actress.
Clearly, when it was raining brains, the vast majority went out with umbrellas. I’ve told them, time and time again that I’m a witch, and this is a haunted bookstore, which is why it’s called The Haunt.
But no, it’s much easier to believe I wasted time learning to throw my voice and hanging invisible wires all over the place. After all, you’re modern people. How could anything supernatural be going on right under your noses?
Maiden, Mother, and Crone—the stupidity of it makes me sick. I guess you can come in if you must. Look around and actually buy something since you’ve had the audacity to interrupt my book. Just don’t wear out your welcome or waste my time with your idiotic questions. I have fictional characters to get back to, and they’re all more interesting than you.
Welcome to the land of Bragda, where the night never ends, and the moon and stars refuse to shine. Here, people are plagued by the chill and hunger of endless darkness and a deep longing for any spark of hope. When the Specter’s Ball arrives, a mysterious stranger sneaks across the border, carrying the promise of change. After four centuries in the shadows, could a single song bring the light back to Bragda?
Collaborations
Titles Come Later: A Collection of Stories is a book of stories written by the members of The Wednesday Writing Club.
The Wednesday Writing Club is a group of friends who decided to start meeting regularly to discuss writing and books. They may get off topic at times and end up laughing a lot, but in the end it always comes back to words and books. They set a goal to write stories for their meetings, which led to them writing more stories than they normally would have. Titles Come Later came from the stories they all wrote for these regular meetings. The title is a nod to the fact that the first drafts of most of their stories were “Untitled.”
This is their first book together.
SamiJo’s Contributions:
How to Catch an Introvert
The Sycamore Tree
The Midnight Hope Farmer
Pink Cookies for Birdie
Five Years
My Poem, The Bottom, is included in this publication, along with other works by talented writers in my area!
