PJ McIlvaine

PJ McIlvaine is a prolific author/screenwriter/writer/journalist. 

PJ’s latest book A GOOD MAN (Bloodhound Books, August 2023), is an adult contemporary psychological thriller set in Montauk and Manhattan. Acclaimed author Brooks Anderson, “The Heroin Hemingway,” has finally made peace with the demons that have haunted him since his mother and older brother were brutally murdered on a hot August night in 1966. The sole survivor of the attack, Brooks buried his pain and guilt but after years of torment, he’s now in a good place. Or so he thinks. Brooks’ life quickly unravels when sleazebag journalist Marshall Reagan is found dead after threatening to write a scandalous expose about the murders. As more bodies pile up, Brooks is caught in a gutwrenching surreal spiral that threatens to destroy everything he cherishes and believes. Remembering what happened that terrible night might save his sanity and sobriety, but it may also cost him his life. The novel is a mash-up of fact and fiction inspired by the author’s late brother and her dysfunctional family in rural Long Island where bad things never happened and monsters weren’t real.  

Also, PJ has THE CONUNDRUM OF CHARLEMAGNE CROSSE, (Orange Blossoms Books, September 2023), a diverse YA alternative history adventure set in Victorian London. 

Additionally, PJ is the author of the Amazon best-selling VIOLET YORKE, GILDED GIRL: GHOSTS IN THE CLOSET (Darkstroke Books, 2022), an MG supernatural historical mystery adventure about a poor little rich girl who sees ghosts in 1912 Manhattan.

PJ’s debut picture book LITTLE LENA AND THE BIG TABLE (Big Belly Book Co., 2019), with illustrations by Leila Nabih, is about a determined little girl who wants her place at the grown-up table. 

In 2024-2027, PJ has a series of Creature Feature picture books to be published by Roan & Weatherford (formerly Oghma Creative Media). 

PJ is a co-host of  #PBPitch, the premiere pitch party for picture book creators. She’s been published in many outlets including The New York Times and Newsday. PJ also does interviews for The Children’s Book Insider newsletter. Also, her Showtime original movie MY HORRIBLE YEAR with Mimi Rogers, Karen Allen, and Eric Stoltz was nominated for a Daytime Emmy.

PJ lives on Eastern Long Island with her family and Luna, a pampered French Bulldog. PJ loves to bake from scratch, rock out to 60’s classics, and is addicted to scary movies, historical period pieces, courtroom dramas, and international crime/thriller/spy series. PJ freely admits that she spends far too much time procrastinating on social media. PJ’s grandfather was the son of a Baron whose ancestral home was a historic castle in France. Also, PJ is distantly related to the feminist author/activist/philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. 

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