We Sent Them Down Singing
Spring 2026
"what an episode of The X-Files might look like if it had been written by Tennessee Williams"
WE SENT THEM DOWN SINGING: A whisper-thin teenage girl from Jubilee, West Virginia must unravel what happened to her thirteen years ago before primordial forces turn her tiny coal-mining town into a nightmare and threaten to alter what it means to be human.
"Skinny didn’t remember much about the trip, but she remembered the Starlite Motel because it had a neon sign with a woman in a green bathing suit diving from the top. The woman started out jackknifed, then straightened her body, and plummeted down toward the concrete before starting all over again. Skinny couldn’t help but feel that’s what her life had been like since that trip to Mesa; an endless cycle of plummeting toward the concrete."
we sent them down singing
Welcome to Jubilee
"Outside, the stars sparkled like silver glitter in the golden shimmer of the Milky Way. Inside, the truck was warm like a cocoon and that old bluegrass song Mamaw loved about the 'aereo plane' tinkled softly from the radio."
"Every single choice I've made has come from a place of loving you so much I can't hardly breathe."
Get to know the residents of Jubilee, West Virginia
the characters of We Sent Them Down Singing
"Skinny" - Phinnie Glow Caldwell
Skinny Caldwell is a fifteen-year-old girl from Jubilee, West Virginia, a tiny coal-mining community nestled at the base of the Appalachian Mountains. She's lived in the shadow of her mama’s disappearance for thirteen years, and her grief has made it difficult to connect with people. Her best friend in the whole dang world is Happy Walker, a family friend who looks out for her and Mamaw. But even Happy can't help her answer the question that haunts her days and stalks her into her dreams at night - what happened to her mama out in Mesa, Arizona all those years ago?
“At the same time she was losing her quilted cheeks and dimpled knuckles, she shed her white hair. Someone had started calling her “Skinny Phinnie” and then “Phinnie” fell away just like everything else from that time in her life and she was just Skinny. By the time Mamaw could get her eating again, Skinny Caldwell was a ropy, yellow-haired echo of the child who was a ray of sunshine so bright her middle name was ‘Glow.’”
"Mamaw" - Kitty Caldwell
Kitty Caldwell has lived in Jubilee, West Virginia her entire life—a life that has been pockmarked by loss. First her husband, Charlie, in a mine collapse, then her daughter, Cordie. The one thing she gained was her granddaughter, but it hasn’t been easy raising her with a heart full of grief. Now she and Phinnie are fixin' to weather what may be the biggest storm of their lives. And it's a storm neither of them may survive
“They’d been friends since they were girls in Jubilee. They’d had different last names back then. Back then, they’d had big plans. Plans that had gotten smaller as they got bigger.”
"Happy" - Harold Walker
Happy Walker is a gentle soul. He lives with his mama, Fronie, in a candy-colored cottage on an old tobacco farm at the edge of Jubilee, West Virginia. Happy has been keeping an eye out for Phinnie Caldwell since her mama disappeared thirteen years ago. Watching out for Phin helps Happy deal with the guilt he feels over his part in Cordie Caldwell's disappearance. But, when alarming events begin happening around Jubilee, Happy's gentle nature may be his downfall.
“Happy laughed his full, bright laugh that always made Phinnie feel like the clouds had parted and the sun was shining on him alone.”
Zell Dorsey
Zell Dorsey has been in Jubilee, West Virginia for a long time. Far longer than his too-handsome face reveals. After disappearing with Cordie Caldwell thirteen years ago, Zell has returned to Jubilee, and he is laser focused on what's left of Cordie's family... especially her teenage daughter, Phinnie. As Zell's plan unfolds, the true scope of what he is--and what he can do--may prove too much for the tight-knit community to overcome.
“Do not shrink me down to a size your mind can fathom because I AM UNFATHOMABLE. I make the sea look like a saltwater tear. I eclipse the sun. I have witnessed the birth of stars and the death of the world. I am unimaginable and without limits. You cannot send me back to the hell I clawed my way out of but I can surely bring hell to your doorstep.”
Something's amiss in Mesa, Arizona
the characters of eggs and marrowbone
Detective Rey Garcia
Detective Rey Garcia thought he had put the disappearance of Cordie Caldwell behind him until the nightmares started again. He has never forgiven himself for letting Phinnie Caldwell down when he couldn’t find her missing mom thirteen years ago. Now another girl in Mesa has lost her mother, and Rey won’t rest until both girls have answers. But his obsession with the two cases may prove deadly for the soft-hearted detective when he finds himself facing down forces more powerful than he can comprehend.
“He made himself a mug of Sleepytime Tea and popped on his noise-canceling headphones. He grabbed his phone, scrolled to Enya, and clicked on her first album. The one from the ’80s. When Rey had finished his tea, he turned out the lights, and closed his eyes. As he listened to 'On Your Shore,' he thought—she really does have the voice of a goddamn angel. ”
Betty Wenstrand
Betty Wenstrand is someone a lot of people don't take seriously. She wears too much makeup, outdated hairstyles, and a wardrobe thrifted from a pastel rainbow. But Betty is smart—a lot smarter than people give her credit for—and she remembers the disappearance of Cordie Caldwell. It would be hard for her to forget because she has dreamed about it every night for the past thirteen years. Now Betty is worried the case will push Rey Garcia, her dear friend and colleague, somewhere he can’t come back from. Somewhere Betty can’t reach him.
“Betty was soft in all the ways a person could be—from the lines of her silhouette to the colors she chose to cover herself with. But most of all, it was Betty Wenstrand’s heart that was soft. The pain of the world burrowed deep inside Betty’s cushioned heart and, once it was there, it never truly left.”
Dr. Shade Altaha
When Dr. Shade Altaha agreed to help Detective Rey Garcia with a cold case, she never imagined she would gain two new friends. She also never imagined the case would lead her to evidence that threatened the existence of the entire human race. Now Shade has to put together a puzzle where none of the pieces seem to fit before she loses her new friends forever. As she tries to make sense of the impossible evidence, Shade must also be brave enough to let down the walls she has so carefully built around her life as she learns to trust people other than herself.
“Being thorough and meticulous is how Shade had made a name for herself at such a young age. She didn’t believe in gods. She didn’t believe in magic. Science was her religion, and nature was where she worshiped because that is where she could follow the patterns and find the answers.”
Andy Dafoe
Andy Dafoe cares about exactly one thing in this world: his granddaughter, Maudie. To keep her safe, he would do anything, including keeping a terrible secret for the past thirteen years. Now Andy's secret is in danger of being exposed, and his mistakes might cost Maudie her life. To get the answers he needs to save his own ass and protect his granddaughter, Andy has to return to the one place he swore he'd never go back to. Andy has to return to the cave in the Superstition Mountains where it all started thirteen years ago.
“Almost nothing had changed in thirteen years. He squeezed his eyes closed and rested his head against the steering wheel, trying desperately to keep out what he knew was coming. The memories came anyway, as vivid as if they had happened yesterday.”
"He stared up at the spray of stars above the curving ridge of the mountains and felt guilty for thinking they were beautiful. Andy didn’t deserve any beauty in his life—he knew that."
Meet libby edwardson
Libby Edwardson is an author and artist who has called a lot of places home. She has been a cabaret singer in Dublin, a dog walker in NYC, and driven a bookmobile through the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky. Now she lives on the coast of Maine, where she paints ghosts, writes about monsters, and wanders seaside cemeteries.
Libby's debut novel, We Sent Them Down Singing, is a horror story set in the heart of the Appalachian mountains. Libby has six children, an embarrassing number of pets, and dreams of visiting Roswell, New Mexico. She studied theater at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland and has a B.A. in English from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Libby has also appeared on Good Morning America as co-founder of a volunteer group for Appalachian youth called "52 Weeks of Giving."
"I wrote We Sent Them Down Singing because I wanted to subvert the lazy media stereotypes about Appalachia and tell a story that reflected the Appalachia I knew for the thirteen years I called it home. A place where the people are bright and flawed and funny and complicated. A place where the accents sing rather than talk and where the tea is always sweet.
My book explores the darkness that is unearthed when greedy men dig too deep into places they don’t understand, but it is mostly a story about love that can’t be extinguished, the resilience of the Appalachian people, and the families we choose."