Official Author Website
Dana Gricken
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My Books
MURDER AT THE CABARET
Murder mystery
Book One in the Penny Fox Mysteries series
Published by Bella Books, 2025
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NEW YORK CITY, 1925.
By day, Penny Fox runs The Sly Fox detective agency, helping women escape dangerous marriages and catching philandering husbands in the act.
By night, Penny manages The Primrose, the glittering cabaret and speakeasy she inherited after her father's sudden death—a venue that exists at the mercy of mob boss Sonny Hargrave.
As if juggling two dangerous professions wasn't enough, Penny finds herself falling for Cora Bellinger, a woman she rescued from an abusive relationship—complicating Penny’s already precarious engagement.
But when the dancers from her cabaret begin disappearing and their bodies later discovered, Penny realizes a serial killer is stalking the women of The Primrose. Now she must use every detective skill she possesses to catch a murderer before he claims another victim.
In a world where women are expected to know their place, Penny Fox refuses to back down—even when facing the deadliest threat of all.
DESIRE
Young adult standalone horror
Published by Evernight Teen, 2025
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Be careful what you wish for…
Seventeen-year-old Jane Morrison is obsessed with the male love interest in a cheesy romance novel. Carter Blaine is cool, attractive, romantic—and much to Jane’s disappointment, fictional. Until his exact description shows up on her doorstep.
When the boy introduces himself as Carter Blaine, Jane thinks it’s a prank orchestrated by one of the mean girls at school. But when everyone else is just as surprised to see her with the hottest new guy in town, Jane goes along with it. It isn’t long until she finds something wrong with Carter—other than the fact that he shouldn’t exist.
He’s controlling, demanding, and aggressive. He doesn’t need to sleep or eat and he can’t feel pain. When he starts stalking her and targeting her enemies, she decides to find out why he’s here—but the truth might be more sinister than she realizes.
A BILLION REASONS
Young adult standalone thriller
Published by Evernight Teen, 2024
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All sixteen-year-old Megan Atwell wants to do is be a normal teenager. But when her mother gets sick and her deadbeat father is nowhere to be found, Megan has to take care of her family by dropping out of school to get a job. When Megan struggles to afford her mother's medication, she decides to steal it—only to get caught and have her arrest go viral.
As she sits in a jail cell, she's surprised to learn all charges have been dropped. Her mysterious savior? 95-year-old Evelyn Quincy—sole heir to the multi-billion-dollar Quincy Industries who wants her to enter a competition to win her fortune when she dies.
But Megan isn't the only teenager invited and must put up with puzzles, tests, and tricks. If Megan wants to save her family, she’ll have no choice but to compete—and she has a billion reasons to win.
THE DARK QUEEN
Young adult fantasy
Published by Fire and Ice, 2020
Book One in "The Soulless War" trilogy
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When the Dark Queen rises, our world will crumble.
For centuries, war has been brewing below the surface of New York. People known as the soulless – immortal humans with strange powers – have threatened life on the surface. The Dark Queen seeks revenge for a crime long forgotten and wants to rule the world.
Eighteen-year-old Riley Stark - a new recruit in the Sentinels, a military group that protects Earth from the Underworld – thinks she’s joining for the right reason. As a child, she narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on her life, and has wanted justice ever since.
After Riley goes snooping through her records, she finds the terrible truth – her ancestor was Mira Stark who killed the famous Dark King, and the soulless have wanted her family’s blood spilled. When Riley falls in love with a soulless boy she’s been taught to hate, she realizes that she can’t trust anyone – soulless or otherwise.
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WHISPERS IN THE WOODS: A short story collection
Features 20 short stories in fantasy, sci-fi, and horror
Self-published, 2024, standalone
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For fans of Stephen King, The Twilight Zone, and Edgar Allan Poe comes an exciting new short story collection.
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Novelist Dana Gricken weaves twenty dark and engaging tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction in Whispers in the Woods: A Short Story Collection, inspired by some of the greatest short story writers on the planet.
With three chapters ranging from deals with the devil to robots taking over the world to cannibal aliens, this collection has a little bit of everything that will delight, thrill, and terrify. These stories were whispered in the woods long, long ago. And now, they're finally yours.
Can you hear their call?
DRIFTING DARKLY
A sci-fi novella
Self-published, 2024, standalone
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What would you do if you were stranded out in space?
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The spaceship Einstein, the first of its kind, left Earth with one mission: to find out what lies beyond our solar system. Led by a team of highly-trained professionals and a helpful virtual intelligence, everyone thought it would be a success. But they were wrong.
Six years later, the Einstein is stranded hundreds of light-years from home. They've lost communication, navigation, and helm control. Everyone back on Earth believes they're dead. The worst part is, no one onboard can figure out why they're still stuck and unable to return home.
While the hopeless crew has accepted their fate, Communications Officer Jan Barrett hasn't. Her investigation leads her to unravel the truth—that their ship's malfunctions were sabotage. Someone onboard is keeping the Einstein adrift in space—and they have no intention of ever letting go...
TEN YEARS: A poetry collection
Book One in "The Heart's Companion" poetry trilogy
Self-published, 2024
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From novelist Dana Gricken comes the first installment in a poetry trilogy called The Heart's Companion.
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With nine chapters—ranging from love to heartbreak to mental illness, body issues, and women's rights, Ten Years: A Poetry Collection tells the story of life's lessons in a touching and deeply personal way. Whatever you're going through, let this poetry collection be your heart's companion that helps you through it all.
So pull up a chair, get a warm beverage, and let all your emotions out.
ENCHANTINGLY YOURS
Book Two in the "Maidens of Fairhaven" trilogy
Published by Oliver-Heber Books, 2025
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Shy and anxious Gemma Solace stays in her magical library in Fairhaven, reading fantasy romance. But nightmares about her mother plague her. When Princess Esme encourages Gemma to live in the surface world, this is Gemma's chance to face her anxiety and finally find her mother who escaped as a traitor a year ago. What she doesn't anticipate is the handsome Ian Whitman—an enchanting bartender who makes her heart patter.
After many a mishap, Gemma lands her dream job at a bookstore, and it seems as if her fairytale is within reach.
But a dangerous, magical stranger lurks around every corner, and those she once trusted betray her at every turn. How far is she willing to go to protect the man she loves and the city she calls home?
THE DARK EVOLUTION
Book Two in "The Soulless War" trilogy
Published by Fire and Ice YA, 2020
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After the supposed death of the Dark Queen and the capturing of the Underworld, the Sentinels believe they’ve won the war. When a strange ally of the Dark Queen named Doctor Zero emerges, he announces that he’s discovered how to turn everyone soulless. With him, he brings a fearless army, a dangerous serum, and the powerful Dark Queen by his side.
To have a fighting chance against him, Riley Stark frees King Bane and the Renegades from prison. The Dark Queen’s old husband—King Lucius, who resurfaces with a bloodthirsty army of his own—disagrees with Doctor Zero’s plan to turn the world soulless and seeks revenge. When Caleb is injured in the battle, Riley is forced to trust strangers and neglect her own people to save him.
As the government crumbles, new monsters come out of hiding, and dangerous groups take to the streets, Riley must protect Caleb, prevent her people from becoming soulless, and ask herself if she can continue to serve the Sentinels when they’ve hidden so much from her.
THE GIRL WITH THE INVINCIBLE BLOOD
Book Two in "The Dragonwitch Chronicles" trilogy
Self-published, 2018
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A girl reborn. A sinister weapon.
After Elara Everly’s death in battle, she’s revived with magic from a powerful witch and dragon. With King Angus dead, his son, Fergus, has taken his title—and rules with an iron fist. Hating the dragons and witches with a vengeance for taking his father, he vows to take King Angus’ plan one step further and kill all the dragons and witches.
Since Elara’s been gone, she realizes everything has changed—her friends have moved on, tempted to practice evil magic—and the world is different than she remembers. When King Fergus steals invincible weapons from a powerful group of orcs, he seeks to unleash them on the dragons and witches—who can’t defend themselves this time.
After Elara realizes the key to stopping the weapons is in her magical blood, she has to return to the fight—and assemble another army to stop King Fergus’ warriors called the Bloodslayers. With friends becoming enemies and an even more ruthless King out to kill all the dragons and witches, the world needs the Dragonwitch more than ever.
CHATTER
Young adult paranormal mystery
Published by Fire and Ice, 2024, standalone
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After a freak car accident, seventeen-year-old Zoey Mulligan is shocked to discover she can hear people’s thoughts. She hates it at first, but then realizes she can use it to her advantage—like outsmarting her opponents on the soccer field and learning her crush likes her back.
But when she finds out her stepmother never liked her, her true friends weren’t true at all, and her father sees her as a burden, Zoey moves back in with her mother in the small town of Driftwood. When she arrives, she hears a dark thought planning to kill people in town soon but can’t figure out who it's coming from.
Through their thoughts, Zoey discovers that everyone in town has a secret—from her mother, aunt, and soon-to-be-uncle to her new friends—with some of them being blackmailed by a mysterious figure known as the Watcher. Zoey must sift through their secrets and find out who’s planning murder—and stop them before they wreak havoc on her small town.
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LITTLE THINGS
Horror novella
Self-published, 2024, standalone
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It doesn't take much to push you over the edge...
When Sydney Horner sends her abusive boyfriend to jail, she thinks her days of torture are over. After she takes the detective’s advice to try out therapy, little things begin to happen. The television remote moved. Her car in a different spot. Her clothes missing. Footsteps when she’s in the shower.
At first, everyone thinks Sydney is paranoid—suffering from PTSD from her boyfriend and childhood trauma she hasn’t told anyone about, her twin sister's death after she tried to kill Sydney. But Sydney knows better, that someone’s trying to torment her. And if she doesn’t find them soon and figure out why they’re doing this, those little things won’t stop there…
THE GIRL WHO WALKED THROUGH FIRE
Fantasy novel
Self-published, 2018
Book One in "The Dragonwitch Chronicles" trilogy
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One girl. One epic destiny.
After eighteen-year-old Elara Everly—a peasant girl from a small village—saves a boy from a house fire, she discovers she’s immune to the flames. Born with a strange birthmark—a dragon pentacle and a witch symbol—her father has kept her hidden all her life.
Meanwhile, King Angus—the ruthless king of Meridian—seeks war against the dragons and witches for being dangerous. The Fallen Ones, an evil group of dragons and witches, combine their powers to destroy human cities in retaliation for all the brutality they’ve faced. When Elara ventures to the city of King Angus’ power, her birthmark is exposed, and the king tells her she’s the Dragonwitch—a girl with the power of all three races, destined to bring the world together.
Fearing her power and influence, King Angus has Elara sentenced to death—only for the dragons and witches to save her life. With the threat of the Fallen Ones trying to destroy humanity and King Angus’ mission to imprison the two races, Elara must do the impossible—assemble an army of warring witches and dragons—to save their world.
REVERIE: A poetry collection
Book Two in "The Heart's Companion" poetry trilogy
Self-published, 2024
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From novelist Dana Gricken comes the second installment in a poetry trilogy called The Heart's Companion.
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Like its sister collection Ten Years, Reverie: A Poetry Collection is a continuation of poetry from the heart that speaks about love, pain, mental health struggles, body issues, women's rights, and more.
Once again, let this poetry comfort you and take you on a journey of understanding and healing.
SPELLBOUND HEART
Book Three in the "Maidens of Fairhaven" trilogy
Published by Oliver-Heber Books, 2025
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After the destruction of the magical kingdom below Toronto called Fairhaven, guardswoman Iris Ambrose is forced to come to the surface to protect their people—or what’s left of them. With nowhere to turn and very little friends, the Prime Minister of Canada gives them a church to live in and a mission: to get humanity to accept them into their society.
But nothing is ever as easy as it seems. With a hateful group called the Exterminators making their lives difficult, they have tricks up their sleeve to frame, injure, and even kill Iris’ people. Disheartened by humanity’s reaction, Iris meets Grant—a handsome, kind teacher who wants to help and guide her, restoring her faith in goodness and unity.
With humanity and the Fairhaveners at odds, a mysterious and dangerous Fairy Godfather figure rising from the ashes, and a budding romance, can Iris protect her new home and true love before she loses everything?
THE DARK CAGE
Book Three in "The Soulless War" trilogy
Published by Fire and Ice YA, 2020
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Powers of life and death are hard to resist…
The Soulless Trilogy comes to an end with THE DARK CAGE!
Doctor Zero has been defeated, but there’s just one problem—before his death, he managed to turn Riley Stark soulless with his serum. Protected by the Purity Crystal, she’s now able to feel emotions, but the Sentinels and her family and friends have slowly turned their backs on her.
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While Riley tries to prove she’s still the same girl, an old soulless legend called the Cardinal rises. Thought to be a soulless God with the power to control the Quintessence—the land of souls, better known as the afterlife—everyone fears he’s returned to take over the world. As Riley’s former best friend returns, he brings an army with him called the Darkhunters who are intent on killing all the soulless for good. When he discovers Riley’s transformation, he kidnaps her and creates a radioactive bomb that can destroy the soulless.
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With friends becoming enemies and an old soulless God waiting in the shadows, Riley will have to fight to save the world and control her new power before she loses it all.
THE GIRL AND THE SILVER MARK
Book Three in "The Dragonwitch Chronicles" trilogy
Self-published, 2018
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Lord Kyros rises. The world crumbles.
After stopping King Fergus and his Bloodslayers, Elara Everly thinks the world is safe again—but not for long. Bella Morgana, a witch who practices evil magic, summons the Dark Lord Kyros—the demon who ruined the peace in the faraway land of Mythania where humans, witches, and dragons lived centuries ago.
After Bella frees King Fergus from jail, he gathers another army—this time, hoping to kill the dragons and witches for good. But when a strange illness caused by Kyros begins to spread, his plans are put on hold as people start dying. It isn’t long before the world starts collapsing and kingdoms fall.
When Elara realizes the essence in her mark—the one she was born with of a dragon and a witch—holds the cure to the sickness, she and her friends embark to cure the world. Thwarting Lord Kyros’ attempts at war, sickness, and destruction, Elara must summon another army to stop him in the land of Mythania—and the world hangs in the balance for their final battle.
Biography
Hello and welcome to my official website!
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I am an author from Ottawa, Canada who writes all genres and for all age groups. I've been published by Melange Books, Evernight Teen, Oliver-Heber Books, Bella Books, and different anthologies. I have more books coming soon! My work is available on Amazon and other retailers internationally.
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Feel free to take a look around and check out my books or send me a message!
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