From criminal justice major to paranormal author, Marshall University graduate Casey Bond is releasing her 25th paranormal/fantasy book Friday, Nov. 1.

“When Wishes Bleed,” a standalone, paranormal tale, will be Bond’s 25th published book, not including co-written and anthology pieces she has done.

“Magical,” Bond said, describing her newest book. “There’s a mystery to it, and there’s a romantic element that I think is just really sweet. For teens and adults, I think just about anyone can read it.”

Bond graduated Marshall in 2003 with a degree in criminal justice and an emphasis in legal studies. She worked in the field for a short time, but after having kids of her own, she moved on to writing. 

“I always liked to read. I kind of fell out of it until I had kids,” Bond said. “I was gushing to my mom about ‘Twilight,’ like, ‘this is so cool,’ and she was like, ‘there’s no reason that you couldn’t write a book.’ And I just got to thinking, and I just sort of did.”

While Bond’s stories are more aligned with the paranormal realm than the criminal justice world, she does credit Marshall for some of her skill. 

“You have so many papers and things to write, a lot of it’s technical,” Bond said. “I also took some creative writing classes while I was there.” 

Bond first started through a small publisher but currently self-publishes because she said she enjoys the artistic freedom of deciding how her books are formatted, covered and marketed. 

Bond insisted her love of Halloween and the close release date has nothing to do with her Nov. 1 release or witchy tale.

“I like fantasy and paranormal because, not to take anything away from contemporary romance or things set in our world and our time, but I just like to be transported somewhere else,” Bond said. “I know what’s happening here, so I kinda want to go somewhere else where the rules are a little bit different and it’s fun.”

Bond said she has a variety of stories to work on for the upcoming year. 

“I am working on another fantasy book and then I am going to be working on a couple of young adult fantasy legend retellings,” Bond said. “I’ve done the fairytales, so I’m going to be focusing on the legends next.”

Brittany Hively can be contacted at [email protected].