Author and Emmy-Nominated Screenwriter

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

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 NYC.

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.

PJ has A Good Man, a gritty contemporary adult psych thriller with Bloodhound Books (August 2023), and The Conundrum of Charlemagne Crosse, a YA alternate history set in Victorian London with Orange Blossom Books (September 2023). In 2024-2027, PJ has a series of Creature Feature picture books with 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 in Eastern Long Island with her family. Learn more at pjmacwriter.com