The PirateCat Team

Crystal Crawford

PirateCat Manager/Operator

Crystal Crawford is a homeschooling mom of four, writing teacher, freelance editor, and indie author. Her imagination is her happy place (but a deserted beach is nice, too). She loves coffee, animals, reading, and creating deep, enveloping story worlds full of interesting characters, exciting secrets, and roller coasters (of the emotional variety).

Crystal Crawford is a Top-Faved Kindle Vella author, a former Wattpad Star author and two-time Watty award winner. She has been an indie author for over eight years, and has published more than a dozen books in a wide variety of genres.

M.J. Padgett

Collaborating Author

M. J. Padgett is first and foremost a mom. Her free-spirited daughter has quite a vivid imagination, and her antics sometimes find their way into her mommy’s work. She is a lover of all things chocolate, a Grimm and Dickens addict, a self-proclaimed smarty-pants, and an introvert to the core.

M. J. Padgett is a former Wattpad Star author, a Watty award winner, and a 2022 Finalist for the Realm Awards. She has been an indie author for over eight years and has over 40 published books in a wide variety of genres.

Why PirateCat?

We want to build a community around clean YA reading content.

At PirateCat, our goal is to make it easier to access clean young adult fiction, nonfiction, & more, and to bring clean YA authors and readers together in fun, interactive ways.

What We're All About

YA books should actually be age-appropriate for young adult readers.
- That's why on PirateCat, every story will meet our established “clean” standards (no on-page sexual content; romance focuses on emotion and/or stops at "just kisses”; language/profanity PG-13 level or less; violence PG-13 or less), and each story world will have an easy, at-a-glance rating that notes any concerns for difficult subject matter and/or intense situations.

A strong readership community benefits everyone (readers and authors alike).
- We've designed PirateCat so that readers can leave comments on stories, interact in chat rooms, ask questions and chat with the authors, share their favorite reads with each other, and more.

Supporting clean YA indie authors helps them make more stories!
- PirateCat is currently centered around Crystal and M.J.'s books and serials, and is a hub where readers can binge-read, comment, and interact with us! But we already have plans to include more clean YA indie authors in the future... and even have a waiting list of authors who want to participate once we reach the place where we can bring them in. We see PirateCat as a way to reach more readers with our writing, and to help other clean YA authors do the same.

Young adult reads can be enjoyed by all ages. (We love to read them, too!)
- YA books have a certain feel to them, and we love it! If you're looking for Clean YA fiction & nonfiction, PirateCat is your place--whether you're a teenager looking for clean reads, a parent looking for clean reads for your teen, or an adult who just loves YA books and stories.

Interacting with our readers is one of the best parts of being indie authors!
- We really do love it when you interact with us... But if you're an introvert who prefers to just quietly binge-read, you're welcome here, too! Come on in, read our stories, and leave comments and/or participate in chats to your comfort level... either way, we're thrilled to have you here!