Kailee Pedersen
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kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Kailee Pedersen
@kaileepedersen.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.6K following 220 posts
THE MINIMALIST (St. Martin's, '26)
PASTORALE (Burnside Review '25)
SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS (St. Martin’s + Titan '24)

writer/opera singer/swe | 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇳 adoptee | she/her
rep: Paul Lucas @ Regal Hoffmann
kaileepedersen.com
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kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Join me at Sower Books @sowerbooksne.bsky.social this Friday to discuss SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS! This is my first ever book event in my hometown and I'm beyond excited to be doing it at a wonderful indie bookstore. Can't wait to chat all things Midwestern, Gothic, and spooky! 👻🌽
Sower Books 914 N 70th Street, Lincoln, NE 68505 Kailee Pedersen - Nov 14 at 7pm author of Sacrificial Animals (cover features a red fox on black background)
November 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
I did my first ever school visit yesterday at my old high school in Nebraska. The students were so sweet and asked really thoughtful questions. I hope they feel encouraged to pursue their artistic dreams, in whatever form they may come, and I'm excited for what the future holds for them. 😊
A mug filled with pastel-colored pens on top of a piece of paper that reads "Thank you - your visit helps inspire future writers and readers alike! We appreciate your time and efforts." stacked on top of a black journal.
November 12, 2025 at 8:06 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Had a wonderful time talking all things queer & BIPOC spookiness with my friend Briana Cox on The Dark Mind podcast hosted by Vince Midgard! 👻

Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvGr...
The Dark Mind podcast hosted by Vince Midgard, displaying the track playing in a mocked-up audio player. "Voice, Violence & Visceral Fiction: Briana Cox & Kailee Pedersen on Craft".
November 11, 2025 at 7:33 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
I'm back in my home state of Nebraska next week! 🌽 Catch me and my queer Midwestern Gothic novel SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS on Friday, Nov 14th for a spooky author event at Sower Books and Saturday, Nov 15th at the Nebraska Book Awards!

@sowerbooksne.bsky.social
Events for Kailee Pedersen, author of Sacrificial Animals Nov 14 at 7pm - Author Event: Kailee Pedersen & Sacrificial Animals at Sower Books Nov 15 at 11am - Nebraska Book Awards: Author Roundtable at UNL Ubuntu Room Nov 15 at 3:15pm - Nebraska Book Awards: Awards Open House at UNL Heritage Suite Nov 15 at 4:30pm - Nebraska Book Awards: Awards Presentations at UNL Swanson Auditorium Sower Books 914 N 70th Street, Lincoln, NE 68505 Kailee Pedersen - Nov 14 at 7pm author of Sacrificial Animals (cover features a red fox on black background) Kailee Pedersen Nebraska Book Award (Fiction Honor) for Sacrificial Animals November 15, 2025 Author Roundtable 11am - Ubuntu Room Awards Open House 3:15pm - Heritage Suite Awards Presentations 4:30pm - Swanson Auditorium
November 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Check out this article in the New York Times @nytimes.com by @emilyhughes.bsky.social for a tour of literature's deliciously distressing, tenebrous, and grotesque Gothic texts. Honored to see the Midwestern familial rot and ruination of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS among them! 🦊👻 @stmartinspress.bsky.social
The New York Times - Gothic Fiction: A Starter Pack by Emily C. Hughes With roots in the 18th century, this haunted genre's hallmarks can be found throughout modern horror. Here's where to start. Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen. Cover features a red fox on black background. When Nick and his brother, Joshua, return to their family farm to visit their estranged, dying father, Nick doesn’t expect much in the way of reconciliation. What he does find is an unexpected connection with Joshua’s wife, Emilia, a Chinese woman with hidden motivations and strange ties to a pivotal act of violence from Nick’s past. In this polished debut — what I might call “frontier Gothic” — the stark landscape of rural Nebraska is shot through with calcified familial hatred and a vibrant strain of Chinese folklore. If you read it and love it, try … Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian”; “Lone Women,” by Victor LaValle; or “Daughters Unto Devils,” by Amy Lukavics.
October 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Another photo I forgot to include! 🦊👻
Stacks of the novel Sacrificial Animals beneath a sign advertising an author event for Kailee Pedersen and Paul Tremblay.
October 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Had the loveliest afternoon at B&N Smithfield with @paultremblay.bsky.social! Thank you to the B&N team for having us and to everyone who came out for the discussion and Q&A!
Kailee Pedersen, left, wearing a floral shirt, holding a copy of Sacrificial Animals. Paul Tremblay, right, wearing a plaid shirt, holding a copy of Horror Movie. A poster advertising the event "Knife Hands & Fox Tales", an afternoon in conversation with Kailee Pedersen and Paul Tremblay. A stack of novels, with Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay on top, Sacrificial Animals and The Minimalist by Kailee Pedersen beneath.
October 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Unbelievably excited for this event with Paul Tremblay at Barnes & Noble on Sunday! It'll be my first time in Rhode Island talking all things horror, cursed films, Gothic Midwestern estates, and more 🙂👻 @barnesandnoble.com @paultremblay.bsky.social

More info: tinyurl.com/2wnkexvj
October 26, 2pm ET Barnes & Noble (The Crossings at Smithfield) Paul Tremblay, author of HORROR MOVIE & Kailee Pedersen, author of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS, in conversation.
October 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Catch me at the Writer's Digest Horror Writing Virtual Conference this Saturday, 10/18 at 7pm discussing the ins and outs of debuting!

Sign up here: writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/horror-writi...

@writersdigest.bsky.social
Writer's Digest Horror Writing Virtual Conference Things I Wish I Knew Before I Debuted October 18th, 7pm Eastern by Kailee Pedersen, author of Sacrificial Animals. Sacrificial Animals cover features a red fox on a black background. Kailee Pedersen is an Asian woman with brown hair wearing red lipstick and a pink shirt.
October 16, 2025 at 3:27 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
are there foxes in Stardew Valley, asking for a friend
Stardew Valley character creation showing a character named Nick with the farm name "StagsCrossing Farm" and the favorite thing "bad decisions."
October 11, 2025 at 6:28 AM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Digital galleys of my second novel, THE MINIMALIST, are now available on Edelweiss!

“To compose is among the bitterest of self-mutilations..."

Request here: www.edelweiss.plus#sku=1250328276
eGalleys on Edelweiss available now for Kailee Pedersen's THE MINIMALIST. Cover features an Asian woman's face inside the silhouette of a piano. The Minimalist by Kailee Pedersen - out in hardcover August 18, 2026 Cover features an Asian woman's face inside the silhouette of a piano. Novel includes: classical music psychodrama; gruesome, unsettling, queer elements; vibes of Tár and The Piano Teacher; a descent into madness; a bisexual protagonist; Asian adoptee issues; and 20th century Jewish composers.
October 6, 2025 at 10:04 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Come see me perform Pamina in The Magic Flute ✨🪈 this Friday, 7pm at the Plainfield Masonic Temple in New Jersey with a cast of wonderful singers!

Concert performance (including dialogue) in German. Abridged with running time of ~2.5 hours.

Flyer designed by Jerusalem Lodge.
New York Opera Forum in a concert performance of The Magic Flute by Mozart. Friday, September 26, 2026. 7:00pm Concert. Plainfield Masonic Temple - 2nd Floor Ballroom. 105 East Seventh Street, Plainfield, NJ 07060. Concert $30 includes coffee, tea and cake. Parking available in lot or across street on 7th. Presented by Jerusalem Lodge & Paladin-Sinclair Concerts 732-718-4934.
September 23, 2025 at 4:48 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Finally got my author copies of the SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS paperback! 🥰

The gorgeous (and very foxy 🦊) cover design is by Olga Grlić (bookcoversbyoj on Instagram)
Sacrficial Animals by Kailee Pedersen in paperback. Cover features a red fox on a black background. Spines of several paperback copies of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS by Kailee Pedersen displayed stacked atop each other. Cover features a red fox on a black background.
September 22, 2025 at 3:29 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Enjoyed these recommendations? Here's some gothic & operatic stuff I wrote: Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen, cover depicts a red fox on black background. The Minimalist by Kailee Pedersen, cover depicts an Asian woman's face inside a slashed-up piano silhouette.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Vanessa Premiered 1958 Composer Samuel Barber Librettist Gian Carlo Menotti Isolated in her country house, Vanessa awaits the return of her lover Anatol from twenty years ago. A young man declaring himself to be “Anatol” eventually arrives, but he is revealed to be Anatol’s son. When a love triangle develops between Erika, Vanessa’s niece, and the new “Anatol”, Vanessa descends into delusion in this starkly chilling tragedy. Vanessa is an underappreciated gem of twentieth-century American opera by Samuel Barber with a libretto by his life partner Gian Carlo Menotti.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Bluebeard's Castle Premiered 1918 Composer Béla Bartók Librettist Béla Balázs Bluebeard’s Castle is a short symbolist opera lasting an hour with only two characters - Bluebeard and his new wife, Judith. As judith opens the doors of bluebeard’s castle, she must confront the reality of her new married life. filled with gorgeous and challenging polytonal music for the singers and orchestra, Bluebeard’s Castle weaves a dissonant, dark spell.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Salome Premiered 1905 Composer Richard Strauss Librettist Oscar Wild (trans. Hedwig Lachmann) Banned in London until 1907, Salome contains erotic and violent elements that have long proved controversial, including the “Dance of the Seven Veils” and the beheading of John the Baptist. extraordinarily beautiful in its musical color and symbolism, Salome is a stunning 90 minutes of death and desire.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
The Turn of the Screw Premiered 1954 Composer Benjamin Britten Librettist Myfanwy Piper (after Henry James's novella) Based on the gothic horror novella by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw depicts a governess caring for two children at an English manor house. The governess begins to believe the children are haunted by the ghosts of two former employees of the manor. Benjamin Britten‘s opera contains the 12-note “Screw” theme, which musicologist Peter Evans contends implies “an infinitely extended pattern”, suggesting that “this screw can turn forever.”
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Wuthering Heights Written 1951 Composer Bernard Herrmann Librettist Lucille Fletcher (after Emily Brontë's Novel & Poetry) Bernard Herrmann was a Jewish-American composer and conductor. Most known for his work in film, he composed the scores for several Alfred Hitchcock movies (including psycho), Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, and Martin Scorsese’s taxi driver. WUTHERING HEIGHTS, his only opera, is rather beautiful, intensely dramatic, and rarely performed.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Tomorrow is my Pamina debut in a local production of The Magic Flute, and with spooky season fast approaching I thought I'd recommend some particularly haunted operas. With an emphasis on Jewish and LGBTQ+ composers & librettists, these five Gothic operas 👻 are among my favorites in the repertoire!
Five Gothic Operas for Spooky Season Listening
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Had an amazing time tonight at The World's Borough Bookshop celebrating the paperback launch of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS!

Thank you to all who came, the bookstore for hosting us, and Clay McLeod Chapman for bringing the wit and verve in excess as conversation partner. @claymcleod.bsky.social
Kailee Pedersen in a floral dress signing a copy of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS. Kailee Pedersen in a floral dress looking up while signing a copy of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS. Kailee Pedersen, left, in floral dress discussing literature with Clay McLeod Chapman, right, in light blue shirt. Kailee Pedersen in floral dress singing while holding phone in front of a mural "The World is Yours" at The World's Borough Bookshop.
September 17, 2025 at 2:27 AM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Tomorrow, join me, Randee Dawn, Liz Gotauco, and David Mack in a group author reading for Brooklyn Books & Booze at Barrow's Intense!

@bklynbooksbooze.bsky.social
@randeedawn.com
@cosbrarian.bsky.social
@davidmack.bsky.social
Kailee Pedersen, Randee Dawn, Liz Gotauco, and David Mack September 17 at 7pm ET Barrow's Intense 86 34th St. Brooklyn, NY 11232 Brooklyn Books & Booze
September 16, 2025 at 6:20 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Tomorrow! Come see me and Clay McLeod Chapman @claymcleod.bsky.social discuss all things Midwestern Gothic, queer horror, and launch the paperback of SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS 🦊👻 at The World's Borough Bookshop.

RSVP here: shorturl.at/bsA9U
Kailee Pedersen with Clay McLeod Chapman launching Sacrificial Animals (cover features red fox on black background) in paperback The World's Borough Bookshop September 16th at 7pm Eastern 34-06 73rd Street Jackson Heights, NY 11372
September 15, 2025 at 3:39 PM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Was mega struggling through the current section of my Western 🤠 so decided to make a run to McNally Jackson for the most predictable inspo possible. Thanks for letting me sign a copy of Sacrificial Animals and for this super cute tote (free for authors!) 😎 @mcnallyjackson.bsky.social
A copy of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian atop a McNally Jackson tote with a design depicting the Downtown Brooklyn location
September 13, 2025 at 12:56 AM
kaileepedersen.bsky.social
Wednesday 9/17 at 7pm: Brooklyn Books & Booze at Barrow's Intense

@bklynbooksbooze.bsky.social @cosbrarian.bsky.social @davidmack.bsky.social @randeedawn.com (3/3)
Kailee Pedersen, Randee Dawn, Liz Gotauco, David Mack September 17th at 7pm ET Barrow's Intense 86 34th St., Brooklyn, NY 11232 Brooklyn Books & Booze
September 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM