Fantasy author, Auralee Wallace, joins the Spotlight to discuss her latest release
Author Name: Auralee Wallace
Book Title: The Late-Night Witches
Book Genre: Contemporary Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: August 19, 2025
Publisher: ACE
Welcome, Auralee! Please tells us about The Late-Night Witches.
Exhausted super-mom Cassie Beckett is juggling a fifteen-year-old daughter, twin eight-year-old boys, and a husband working overseas when she discovers one tiny detail nobody mentioned in the school newsletter: she’s fated to duel a centuries-old master vampire on Halloween night. Think Buffy meets Good Girls meets Practical Magic on Prince Edward Island’s red-sand beaches.
What sparked the idea for this book?
Honestly? My own battle with breast cancer. Fighting cancer taught me what it’s like to face something monstrous or at least very, very scary. Somehow writing about actual monsters felt weirdly healing. Plus, I really just liked the idea of unleashing vampires in Anne of Green Gables territory.
What drew you to writing a vampire/family saga?
I grew up on Buffy, Charmed, Supernatural, and Fright Night. I love some humor with my monsters. But as a mom of three, I couldn’t help but wonder what if the Chosen One had to pack school lunches while training to save the world? The family dynamics became the heart of the story because that’s where the real stakes are. Vampires are scary, but not being around for your kids is terrifying.
What’s your favorite part about writing/being an author? What do you find challenging?
My favorite part is getting to know my characters during the plotting phase (yes, I’m one of those obsessive plotters with very specific spiral notebooks and BIC colored pens). The challenging part? Those sentences that I have to rewrite a hundred times in order to get them to sound natural. I think it’s worth it in the end though.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read The Late-Night Witches?
If you need a reminder that you’re stronger than you think, this book’s for you. It’s about discovering you can be a hero even when you can’t find matching socks. Plus, there are witches, vampires, sisterhood, and PEI potato fudge references, so something for everyone!
What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
That ordinary people can do extraordinary things. That sometimes the scariest monsters aren’t the ones with fangs, but the ones that make us doubt our own strength. And that sometimes just getting out of bed and facing the day is heroic.
Are you working on a new project? Please tell us about it.
I’m currently working on a cozy fantasy set in a haunted seaside library where two librarians might just fall in love – if three demanding ghosts don’t get in the way. It’s got all the autumn vibes, plenty of tea, and significantly fewer vampires. Look for it in 2026!
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
I play way too much soccer for my age, get distracted a lot by my two chaos kittens and big messy dog, and often fall asleep to BBC mysteries. I’m also a tea and coffee addict. Can’t stop. Won’t stop.
Where can readers find you?
Website: auraleewallace.com Twitter: @AuraleeWallace Instagram: @auraleewallaceauthor Facebook: Auralee Wallace Author
Thank you, Auralee! The Late-Night Witches is out now!
The Late-Night Witches
Cassie Beckett’s life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she’s really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet.
That is, until the vampires arrive.
As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie’s tenuous grip on normalcy, she’s forced to come face-to-face with long–disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty responsibility: rid the island of vampires, or let them win. (Both options suck, in more ways than one.)
Armed with her family, newfound friends, and a baby in a spectacularly garlicky onesie, Cassie must learn what it is to be a witch and how to fight for what she loves before time runs out. Because on Halloween night, the stakes will be higher than ever before…and it’s up to Cassie to finish what the witches that came generations before her started.
Author Bio:
Auralee Wallace is the author of multiple novels, including the Otter Lake mystery series and the Evenfall Witches B&B Mysteries. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in English literature, and she worked in the publishing industry for a number of years before teaching at the college level. When this perpetually sleep-deprived mother of three children and one rescue cat isn’t writing, reading, or playing soccer, she can be found watching BBC mysteries and warring with a family of peregrine falcons for the rights to her backyard.