E.M. Anderson, author of The Keeper of Lonely Spirits, loves graveyards.

When she needs to clear her head, the 34-year-old writer walks around the peaceful serenity of Woodlawn Cemetery and loses herself amidst the headstones.

It’s a ghostly hobby for a ghost-friendly writer.

Anderson’s new book The Keeper of Lonely Spirits, published by HarperCollins, is exactly the sort of book one would expect from someone who respects the dead as much as Anderson.

“It’s about an old ghost hunter cursed with immortality who hunts ghosts rather than making mortal friends who will die one day,” said Anderson. “A bunch of Ohioans befriend him against his will and he has to decide whether to leave and preserve his heart or stay and finish out the ghost hunt and protect their lives. It’s also a love letter to northwest Ohio. The internet loves Ohio as a joke, but I really do like it here even though I’m from Michigan and I’m not supposed to like Ohio.” 

Anderson, who uses she/they pronouns, moved to northwest Ohio from Michigan about 14 years ago. (“The colleges gave me more money here,” she says with a chuckle.) And she loves it here.

“I found my own community here, which has been nice. I love where I’m from but it’s different growing up somewhere but then finding somewhere as an adult and making it your own place,” said Anderson. “I have a local writing community which is great. I think we have a great library system, great Metroparks, the Toledo Zoo, there’s lots of theaters. People from Toledo are often like ‘There’s nothing to do here,’ and I’m always saying, ‘What are you talking about? There’s lots to do here.’”

Anderson will celebrate the release of The Keeper of Lonely Spirits with a release party on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Gathering Volumes (196 E. South Boundary St., Perrysburg). The party will include a chat between Anderson and fellow local author Kate Michaelson.

“[Anderson’s] writing is very relatable and I feel like everybody who reads the book will love her empathetic characters,” said Gathering Volumes owner Denise Phillips.

Michaelson, an Ottawa Hills resident and former English instructor at the University of Toledo, said she is looking forward to interviewing Anderson at her release party.

“I love E’s description of the natural world. There’s a lot of imagery with birds and trees and flowers and it makes for a very cozy atmosphere and a beautiful read,” said Michaelson, whose debut novel, the murder mystery Hidden Rooms, has received acclaim after it was published last year. “And l love how E treats all the characters with empathy. They feel like very real, fully realized characters and you understand where every character is coming from, even if it’s a character that’s an antagonist.” 

Michaelson said the author discussion will touch on a few topics including how the role of northwest Ohio plays into Anderson’s writing. 

“We’ll probably talk about how they came up with the concept of the book. And I want to talk with them about the local setting,” said Michaelson. “It’s set in northwest Ohio, but it’s not set in a real town, it’s a fictional town. So I really want to hear if it’s based on a real town or not. And I also want to talk with them about their writing journey.”

The Keeper of Lonely Spirits is Anderson’s second book. Her debut novel The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher was published by the small press Midnight Meadow Publishing in April of 2023. Now, two years later, her follow-up book is being published by HarperCollins, one of the “big five” English language publishers in the world. 

Despite writing a book largely about ghosts, Anderson said she’s not a morbid person.

“I don’t think a lot about death but I do think about grief. It’s very easy to write a book about ghosts because there’s grief inherent to that,” said Anderson, who got her start in writing at age 12. 

“My publication journey really started in 2020 when I started sending out queries for the first time. I queried [The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher] for two years, got an offer from Midnight Meadow. I got an agent right before my first book came out,” said Anderson.

The Keeper of Lonely Spirits crosses literary genres, making it appealing to a variety of readers.

“I call it a ‘cozy fantasy.’ Other people have also called it a ‘cozy mystery’ and a ‘cozy horror,’ and Publishers Weekly called it a ‘gothic romantasy,’ so we have lots of reader options. But personally I think anyone who likes a comforting story, who is looking for something softer but still dealing with hard issues like mental health and grief and having a complicated relationship with your hometown will like the book,” said Anderson, who works as an administrative professional during the day and as a successful novelist by night. 

Phillips agreed that there were many things that drew her into the book. 

“I loved her characters and I cared about everybody in the book which for me makes a book a good read,” she said. 

Anderson also noted that readers interested in queer characters and queer stories will like Keeper because it’s a very queer book. 

She said working a day job does not affect her verve to write. 

“I’m good at [my job] and it’s not too taxing so I can come home and I’m not be too tired to do my writing, which is obviously important,” said Anderson.

Currently, she is hard at work on other books, juggling several writing projects at a time. 

“I start writing a cozy fantasy but it’s leaning toward more of a ‘romantasy’ right now, so we’ll see what happens when I turn it in,” said Anderson. “I also have a cozy mystery that I’ve been slowly revising in the background and I accidentally started a gothic novel over the holidays, because that’s how all the ideas start out — accidentally.”

For more information, visit elizmanderson.com.

First Published March 19, 2025, 11:00 a.m.