I began the final stretch of the Johnny Graphic ghost adventures last summer, but haven’t worked on it since then. Now that my King Harald mystery is with the first beta reader, I have time to get back into it.

Johnny and Nina and the rest of the gang are on Okkatek Island (my version of Iceland), searching for the mysterious ghost shaman Morbrec—who may hold the clue to defeating Percy Rathbone. And boy, are they all in big trouble. They’re being hunted by deadly tribesmen and a huge volcano is about to blow. Now I need to figure out how to get them out of this mess. Oh, and it’s Johnny’s very last chance to find out what happened to his parents.

I started the Johnny Graphic Adventures in 2006, not realizing that middle-grade fiction is one of the hardest fiction genres to sell for indie authors. My advice to would-be middle-grade indie novelists: Don’t do it, unless you’re fine with selling no books. If there is any other genre that you enjoy—that an indie author can potentially thrive in—go there instead.

But the thing is, I love the Johnny books more than any of my other series. For sure, they’re the most fun to write, as I channel my inner 12-year-old. And it’s going to feel awfully good, giving Johnny and his friends a proper ending to their story. I owe it to these characters.