Justine Pucella Winans
Justine Pucella Winans (they/she) is a critically acclaimed and award winning author of queer fiction. They have written a variety of funny and/or scary books across age ranges, receiving accolades such as a Stonewall Honor, Indies Introduce, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, and multiple starred reviews. When not writing, she can be found taking too many photos of her cats, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, actively avoiding real life scary situations, and working their true goal of becoming a Pokémon trainer.
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Leon Kemp
Leon Kemp was born and raised in rural Australia among a maze of grape vines and citrus orchards, perfect for wayward explorers. Presently, they live in Melbourne, where they achieved a bachelor of arts with a major in creative writing.
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They hope to continue weaving stories about queer kids surviving both the kindest and cruelest extremes the world has to offer.
When not writing, Leon spends most of their time watching, playing, and reading all things horror, as well as doting on their cats, Midnight and Mayhem, and their dogs, Casper and Lady. Trespass Against Us is their debut novel. -
Adam Cesare
Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. His books include Clown in a Cornfield, Video Night, The Summer Job, and Zero Lives Remaining. He’s an avid fan of horror cinema and runs Project: Black T-Shirt, a YouTube review show where he takes horror films and pairs them with reading suggestions.
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Nita Tyndall
Nita Tyndall is a queer author and literary translator from North Carolina. Their YA novels from HarperTeen received critical acclaim, and their debut Who I Was with Her won the Bisexual Book Award in 2021. Their translations from the German have appeared in World Literature Today and New Books in German. When they’re not writing, they’re playing D&D or listening to European musicals. They split their time between Germany and North Carolina with their partners.
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Gennifer Choldenko
There’s a Lego in my bum which fits with the Lego in my chair and when I sit down to write, I hear the satisfying snap of the two pieces fitting together. I love words, dictionaries, thesauruses, sharp pencils, the smell of book ink and the delicious art of carving out sentences on clean white paper. I love to slip into another person’s skin and feel what it’s like to live another life. I love when characters come to me out of nowhere and make me cry so hard my mascara runs or laugh until my stomach hurts. I love the crazy fun and infinite possibility of storytelling.
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What prepared me for a life of writing fiction? Though I have a BA from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island Schoo -
Tracey Baptiste
From Thompson-Gale: "Something About the Author"
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I have always loved books. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read "The Friends" by Rosa Guy. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. It remains one of m -
Jenn Reese
Jenn Reese (she/they) writes speculative fiction for readers of all ages. She is the author of Every Bird a Prince and A Game of Fox & Squirrels, an NPR Best Book of 2020, a finalist for the Andre Norton Award and the Mythopoeic Award, and winner of the Oregon Book Award. Her other publications include the Above World trilogy and numerous short stories and essays. Jenn lives in Portland, Oregon where she makes art, plays video games, and talks to the birds.
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Sherri Winston
Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
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Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL. -
Ann Clare LeZotte
Deaf--bilingual, bicultural. Author of T4: A Novel in Verse (Houghton, 2008) and Show Me a Sign (Scholatic, 2020). Library Youth Services for 11 years and counting. Focus on underserved populations and inclusion. Lives with her family in Gainesville, Florida.
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Deva Fagan
I write fantasy and science fiction for readers of all ages. I live in Maine with my husband and our dog. When I'm not writing I spend my time reading, playing video games, doing geometry, and drinking copious amounts of tea.
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NOTE: My comments on books I've read are not meant to be critical reviews, but are just my own reactions. I don't generally use stars, but I do occasionally mark a book with five stars if it's one that feels like it will become a long-term favorite, because it's exactly my sort of book, and caters to my specific tastes as a reader. There are plenty of books I read and really admire that are clearly excellent books, but which are not so exactly "for me" that I give them five stars. I will unabashedly stop reading books I -
Saadia Faruqi
Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” published by Capstone and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” (HMH/Clarion 2020) co-written with Laura Shovan, and “A Thousand Questions” (Harper Collins 2020). She has also written “Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan” a short story collection for adults and teens. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She resides in Houston, TX with her husband and children.
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Marieke Nijkamp
Marieke Nijkamp a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek.
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***
Please note I don't respond to friend requests or messages on GR, but you're always welcome to tweet or email me. :) -
Lindsay Currie
Lindsay Currie is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of mysteries for young readers, including the Delta Games series and It's Watching, She grew up on Nancy Drew and loves a good twisty tale. When she's not writing, Lindsay can generally be found looking for an adventure of her own. She loves researching forgotten history and recently relocated from Chicago to a 220 acre farm in downstate Illinois where she finally gets to see stars every night, and take hikes every day.
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Coming soon: THE HOUSE WITH NO KEYS (October 2025) and X Marks the Haunt (February 2026)! For more details on Lindsay's upcoming books, please visit the My Books tab at the top of the page.
To find out more about Lindsay, please visit her website at www. -
Jenn Bishop
Jenn Bishop is also the author of four other novels for young readers, including the Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner Things You Can’t Say. Her books have been named Junior Library Guild selections and Bank Street College of Education best books and have been finalists for state book awards. She currently calls Cincinnati, Ohio, home. What team do you think she roots for? Visit her online at jennbishop.com.
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Scott Reintgen
Scott Reintgen grew up in North Carolina, and took full advantage of the fact that he lived on the same street as fourteen of his cousins. It could be a little crowded, but he threw a few elbows and carved out a space for himself as the family storyteller. He enjoyed the role so much that he decided to spend most of college and graduate school investing in the world of literature. This led to a career teaching English and Creative Writing in the great state of North Carolina, where he currently lives with his wife and family. To his great delight, the demand for stories and storytellers is alive and well. As such, he can often be found at local coffee shops laboring over stories that he hopes his family, and fans, will love.
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Tehlor Kay Mejia
TEHLOR KAY MEJIA (he/him) is a bestselling and award winning author of books for all ages.
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His debut young adult novel, WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE, received six starred reviews, as well as the Oregon Spirit Book Award for debut fiction, and the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award runner up honor for debut speculative fiction. It has been featured on Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s best books lists, and was a 2019 book of the year selection by Kirkus and School Library Journal.
Tehlor’s debut middle grade novel, PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS, was published by the Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney/Hyperion. It received four starred reviews, and was named Amazon’s best book of 2020 in the 9-12 age range.
Tehlor stri -
Alicia D. Williams
What's there to know about Alicia D? Well, that depends on who you ask.
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If you ask kindergartners, they'd tell you:
1. She likes chunky guacamole.
2. She likes shiny things.
3. She tells good stories.
If you ask her middle schoolers, they'd surely say:
1. She gets us.
2. She makes us laugh with all her jokes.
3. She is Da BOMB.
While all of these may be true, there are a few more points to add . . . Alicia D. is a teacher in Charlotte, NC. She is the proud mother of a brilliant college student. Her love for education stems from conducting school residencies as a Master Teaching Artist of arts-integration. Alicia D infuses her love for drama, movement, and storytelling to inspire students to write. And like other great storytellers, she made the leap -
A.J. Sass
A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
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A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle-grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies. His debut picture book with illustrator Noa Kelner, Shabbat -
Adrianna Cuevas
Adrianna Cuevas is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A Spanish, ESOL and TOEFL teacher, Adrianna currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel.
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Nita Tyndall
Nita Tyndall is a queer author and literary translator from North Carolina. Their YA novels from HarperTeen received critical acclaim, and their debut Who I Was with Her won the Bisexual Book Award in 2021. Their translations from the German have appeared in World Literature Today and New Books in German. When they’re not writing, they’re playing D&D or listening to European musicals. They split their time between Germany and North Carolina with their partners.
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Maggie Horne
Maggie Horne grew up near Toronto, Canada. She now lives in the UK with her wife, where they keep a selection of dogs and children.
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Maggie is the author of HAZEL HILL IS GONNA WIN THIS ONE (an Indies Introduce Summer/Fall 2022 Selection, Indie Next pick, and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and NOAH FRYE GETS CRUSHED from HarperKids, as well as DON'T LET IT BREAK YOUR HEART and FREDDIE AND STELLA GOT HOT from Feiwel & Friends. She’s always trying to write the queer stories she wishes she could have read growing up. -
Sonora Reyes
Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes writes fiction full of queer and Latine characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories.
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Outside of writing, Sonora loves breaking their body and vocal chords by playing with their baby niblings, and dancing/singing karaoke at the same time. -
Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Shifa Saltagi Safadi was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was a young girl. She is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker, and is very familiar with the challenges of learning English and navigating two languages.
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As a mom to four Arab American children and a former English teacher to Middle School students, (and an author!) she now spends her time helping kids develop a love of reading and writing too.
You can learn more about her books on her website shifasafadi.com -
Elisa Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. Her first middle grade book, Tethered to Other Stars, was a finalist for the Cybils Award and the Ohioana Book Award, made the 2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices list, the Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list, and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which called it “beautifully executed.” Her second book, Mallory in Full Color, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, made the NYPL Best Books for Kids list, was named on SLJ’s Best Books of 2024 list, and received starred reviews from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books and School Library Jou
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Kara A. Kennedy
Kara A. Kennedy has been telling ghost stories—and sometimes living them—since childhood. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University, where she worked as a writing tutor and cultivated a love of coffee. She lives in a historic and possibly haunted home in Pennsylvania with her wife and their two cats. I Will Never Leave You is her debut novel.
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Mary Averling
Mary Averling grew up across England and Canada, never far from the woods. She has degrees from the University of Victoria and Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Her debut, The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist, a Junior Library Gold Standard Selection, an ALA Rainbow List Pick, and one of BookPage's Top 10 Books of 2024. Since she can't stay away from libraries for very long, she is currently working toward her PhD in Ontario, where she lives surrounded by all the magical, spooky, heartfelt books she can find.
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She is represented by Kelly Sonnack at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. -
Taylor Tracy
Taylor Tracy is the author of the Stonewall Award Honor Book Murray Out of Water. Taylor writes books filled with humor and heart that explore the joys and hopes of queer kids, focusing on mental health, found family, and the importance of a sense of community. She lives in New Jersey with her family, including a fluffle of mischievous rescue bunnies, and loves everything her home state has to offer: the best bagels, pizza, and beaches. When not writing, she can be found down the shore, in the rock gym or next to her growing pile of books to read and love.
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Ali Terese
Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic - 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster - 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award - Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas's Lone Star Reading ListVisit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.com.
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CL Montblanc
CL Montblanc is a writer, producer, and escape room enthusiast. Despite hailing from Texas, CL is intimidated by both horses and very large hats. Their debut novel PRIDE OR DIE will release in early 2025, with another book to follow in 2026.
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Mary Averling
Mary Averling grew up across England and Canada, never far from the woods. She has degrees from the University of Victoria and Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Her debut, The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist, a Junior Library Gold Standard Selection, an ALA Rainbow List Pick, and one of BookPage's Top 10 Books of 2024. Since she can't stay away from libraries for very long, she is currently working toward her PhD in Ontario, where she lives surrounded by all the magical, spooky, heartfelt books she can find.
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She is represented by Kelly Sonnack at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. -
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Matthew R. Corr
Matthew was born and raised in beautiful New England. Growing up in his small town fueled his big city dreams. Matthew moved to New York City, where he earned a musical theatre degree. After countless performances on stages across the country, his passion for writing finally stepped into the spotlight. Matthew is a huge fan of film and everything Marvel-related. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. Matthew’s debut novel Land On Me soared to #1 on Amazon and launched a new career. His novel then went on to win Quill Hawk Publishing's Best Indie Choice Award. To learn more about Matthew and the release of his next book, please visit www.matthewrcorr.com or @matthewrcorr
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Michelle Jabès Corpora
Michelle Jabès Corpora is a writer, editor, and martial artist. In addition to working in the publishing industry for more than seventeen years as an editor and concept developer, she is the author of two historical novels for middle grade readers, two horror novels for young adult readers, and author of the Throne of Khetara fantasy series for Young Adults. She has also ghostwritten five novels in a long-running middle grade mystery series. In her spare time, Michelle trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a blue belt at Crazy 88 MMA, and enjoys making home-cooked meals, doing tarot readings, and playing Dungeons & Dragons with her friends. Michelle lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, a guinea pig, and a dog named Charlie.
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Amy Plum
Amy Plum is the international bestselling author of the DIE FOR ME series (Indie Next List pick, Romance Times top pick, and recipient of a starred review from School Library Journal). The books have been translated into thirteen foreign languages. The trilogy is accompanied by three novellas entitled DIE FOR HER, DIE ONCE MORE, TO DIE FOR and a compendium entitled INSIDE THE WORLD OF DIE FOR ME.
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In DREAMFALL and NEVERWAKE a radical experiment to cure chronic insomnia goes wrong, and its seven teenage test subjects are plunged into a shared coma populated by one another’s nightmares; those who die in the dream will also die in real life.
Amy's action/adventure/magic duology, AFTER THE END and UNTIL THE BEGINNING, received starred reviews fro -
Hayley Krischer
Hayley Krischer is the author of two young adult novels, SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ALI GREENLEAF and THE FALLING GIRLS. Her adult debut, WHERE ARE YOU, ECHO BLUE? comes out from Dutton July 16, 2024.
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She has also written for many publications including The New York Times, Elle, Marie Claire, The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic.
Hayley lives in New Jersey with her family. -
Sami Ellis
Sami Ellis is a queer horror writer inspired by the horrific nature of Black fears and the culture’s relation to the supernatural. When she's not the single auntie with a good job, she spends her time not writing. You can follow her @themoosef on Twitter, or check out her words in her debut novel Dead Girls Walking (2024).
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Amanda DeWitt
Amanda DeWitt is an author and librarian, ensuring that she spends as much time as books as possible. She also enjoys Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragon-ing, and also writing, just not whatever it is she really should be writing. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a Masters in Information and Library Science. She lives in Clearwater, Florida with her dogs, cats, and assortment of chickens. Aces Wild: A Heist is her debut novel.
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Katya de Becerra
Katya de Becerra was born in Russia, studied in California, lived in Peru, and then stayed in Australia long enough to become a local. She was going to be an Egyptologist when she grew up, but instead she earned a PhD in Anthropology. She is the critically acclaimed, Aurealis winning, Kirkus and Booklist-starred and Shadows nominated author of horror-thrillers When Ghosts Call Us Home, What The Woods Keep, Oasis, and the forthcoming They Watch From Below.
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Sherri Winston
Prepare for your greatest mission yet. Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, is ready to take you on a journey across Manhattan and behind the scenes at her family’s museum. Fast-paced and quick-witted, Jada leads us into her conspiratorial world with great panache and determination. Perfect for cool middle grade spies.
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Sherri Winston has eight published works of fiction, and lives in Orlando, FL. -
Josh Winning
Josh Winning is a nostalgia nut, book/film lover and author of The Shadow Glass , which is like Labyrinth meets Stranger Things, and Burn the Negative , which is like Scream meets My Best Friend's Exorcism.
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He is senior film writer at Radio Times, writer at Total Film, SFX and Den of Geek, and the co-host of movie podcast Torn Stubs. He has been on set with Kermit the Frog (and Miss Piggy), devoured breakfast with zombies on The Walking Dead, and sat on the Iron Throne on the Dublin set of Game of Thrones.
Josh lives with his cat Penny and dreams of one day convincing Sigourney Weaver to yell “Goddammit!” at him. -
Victoria Wlosok
Victoria Wlosok is the author of the young adult thrillers How to Find a Missing Girl and Six Must Die. A recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in English and Business Administration, she now spends her time researching methods of murder for future books, attempting to break out of escape rooms, and teaching language arts in the mountains of the Czech Republic. She invites you to follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and X @xvictoriawrites, or visit her website at victoriawlosok.com.
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Ali Terese
Ali Terese is a middle grade and YA author who writes funny and heartfelt stories including FREE PERIOD (Scholastic - 2024) and VOTE FOR THE G.O.A.T. (Aladdin / Simon & Schuster - 2025). Her work has received the National Book Award - Longlist honor, a School Library Journal starred review, an Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award, and a Kids’ Indie Next selection. FREE PERIOD is part of the Chicago Battle of the Books and Texas's Lone Star Reading ListVisit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more at aliterese.com.
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Alex Brown
Alex Brown (she/her) is a Locus nominated queer biracial Filipino American writer who loves to root for the final girl--especially if she's a monster. Alex's YA Comedy-Horror debut, DAMNED IF YOU DO was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and was also selected for Taysha's Reading List.
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Alex's YA Horror anthology, THE HOUSE WHERE DEATH LIVES, will be out on August 2024 and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
Alex's sophmore YA Horror-Comedy, REST IN PEACHES, will be out October 2024.
Alex co-edited the YA Horror anthology NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS. Alex has a short story in the instant Indie Besteller, THE GATHERING DARK.
Alex is also the co-creator of The Bridge, a sci-fi/horror narrative fiction podcast that's had -
Danielle Vega
Danielle Vega is the author of THE MERCILESS and SURVIVE THE NIGHT. She's also the author of BURNING, under the name Danielle Rollins.
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Kara A. Kennedy
Kara A. Kennedy has been telling ghost stories—and sometimes living them—since childhood. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University, where she worked as a writing tutor and cultivated a love of coffee. She lives in a historic and possibly haunted home in Pennsylvania with her wife and their two cats. I Will Never Leave You is her debut novel.
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Lila Riesen
LILA RIESEN is the author of Rainsong (2026) and Free Radicals (2023), which Publishers Weekly called “an emphatic and empathetic debut.” The daughter of Afghan and Australian immigrants, she lives in Irvine, California with her husband and son.
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https://www.lilariesen.com/ -
Norman Ollestad
Norman Ollestad, a New York Times BESTSELLING author, studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA’s undergrad Film School. His writing has appeared in Outside, Men’s Journal and Time. He is married and has two children—a son and daughter—and lives in Venice, California.
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Sarah Hollowell
Sarah Hollowell is a fat Hoosier writer aiming to up the magic quotient of Indiana. Her primary genre is young adult fantasy, but she also writes nonfiction and a little poetry. Her work has appeared on The NoSleep Podcast, Huffington Post, and Fireside Magazine, among others. She writes about TV and movies for Frolic, and is a contributor in the YA anthology, The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and the Fierce. Sarah is represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
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Sarah spends an awful lot of her non-writing time listening to podcasts, needle felting cryptids, and replaying the same five video games. -
Kate Williams
I'm the author of The Babysitters Coven trilogy (girls, magic, fashion, friendship, LOLs and dogs) and the thriller Never Coming Home (islands, influencers, bikinis, biscuits and gravy, and murder).
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Hannah Martian
Hannah Martian (they/she) is a writer of queer crime fiction. She is a two-time graduate of Washington State University (MA '24, BA '20) and large portions of LONG TIME GONE may or may not have been written in class while "taking notes." Hannah currently lives in eastern Washington and is hard at work plotting her next (very gay) mystery.
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Adrianna Cuevas
Adrianna Cuevas is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A Spanish, ESOL and TOEFL teacher, Adrianna currently resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel.
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Amy Christine Parker
AMY CHRISTINE PARKER is the author of the critically acclaimed duology, GATED and ASTRAY and the standalone thrillers, SMASH & GRAB, FLIGHT 171, and YOU'RE DEAD TO ME. GATED was a nominee for both the Sequoyah Book Award and the South Caroline Junior Book Award and was a YALSA Quick Pick for reluctant readers. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats. Visit her at amychristineparker.com and follow her on Twitter @amychristinepar.
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Codie Crowley
Codie Crowley once told a scary story that caused mass hysteria at a slumber party, and she’s been chasing that high ever since. When she isn't writing chilling fiction, she's probably out looking for ghosts in Salem, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, their cat, and a collection of creepy dolls.
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Her debut novel, Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch, is coming August 2024 from Disney-Hyperion. -
Alechia Dow
Alechia Dow is a former pastry chef, food critic, culinary teacher, and Youth Services librarian. When not writing about determined black girls (like herself), you can find her chasing her wild child, baking, or taking teeny adventures.
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Lorien Lawrence
Lorien Lawrence is a writer and middle school English teacher from Connecticut. When she's not reading or writing, she can be found hunting ghosts with her family. THE STITCHERS is her debut novel.
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Alex S. Johnson
Alex S. Johnson is the author of two novels, Bad Sunset and Jason X IV: Death Moon, the collections Wicked Candy and Doctor Flesh: Director's Cut,the co-author of Fucked Up Shit! with Berti Walker, as well as numerous Bizarro, horror, science fiction and experimental literary stories, including works published in Full-Metal Orgasm, Bizarro Central, Gone Lawn, Ugly Babies Volume 2, Master/slave, Noirotica III, Cthulhu Sex, The Surreal Grotesque, Cease, Cows, and many other venues. He is the creator/editor of the Axes of Evil heavy metal horror anthology series He has also been a music journalist for such magazines as Metal Hammer, Metal Maniacs and Zero Tolerance and a college and university English professor. Johnson currently lives in Sacr
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Alison Ames
Alison Ames is the author of horror novels for adults and teens. To Break a Covenant, her first novel, was nominated for a Colorado Book Award. Her second novel It Looks Like Us is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection pick. You can find more information and other books on her website.
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Elisa Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. Her first middle grade book, Tethered to Other Stars, was a finalist for the Cybils Award and the Ohioana Book Award, made the 2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices list, the Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list, and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, which called it “beautifully executed.” Her second book, Mallory in Full Color, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, made the NYPL Best Books for Kids list, was named on SLJ’s Best Books of 2024 list, and received starred reviews from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books and School Library Jou
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Jasmine Skye
Jasmine Skye is a queer-romantic, grey-ace, bigender fantasy author who earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program. S/he especially loves to create magical worlds where LGBTQIA+ heroes persevere through hardships to claim their own happy endings.
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Jasmine has a small menagerie of pets and a collection of hobbies including cosplay and figure skating. When s/he’s not writing, Jasmine does STEM outreach work with high schoolers across Texas. -
Eva V. Gibson
Eva V. Gibson is the author of contemporary YA novels Together We Caught Fire and Where Secrets Lie, and the 2023 Edgar Award nominated Frightmares. A bookworm since early childhood, she gravitated toward the dark and gritty, reading, then writing, stories with controversial themes and flawed, complicated characters.
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She lives and works in Tennessee, surrounded by kids, yarn, Smoky Mountain fog, and generations of inherited farm cats. -
Jessica Goodman
Jessica Goodman is the New York Times bestselling author of young adult thrillers They Wish they Were Us, They’ll Never Catch Us, The Counselors, and The Legacies.
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She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, and was part of the 2017 team that won a National Magazine Award in personal service. She has also held editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly and HuffPost, and her work has been published in outlets like Glamour, Condé Nast Traveler, The Cut, Elle, Bustle, and Marie Claire. -
Trang Thanh Tran
Trang Thanh Tran writes speculative stories with big emotions about food, belonging and the Vietnamese diaspora. They grew up in a big family in Philadelphia, then abandoned degrees in sociology and public health to tell stories in Georgia. When not writing, they can be found over-caffeinating on iced coffee and watching zombie movies. SHE IS A HAUNTING is their debut novel.
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Barry Lyga
Barry Lyga is a recovering comic book geek. According to Kirkus, he's also a "YA rebel-author." Somehow, the two just don't seem to go together to him.
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When he was a kid, everyone told him that comic books were garbage and would rot his brain, but he had the last laugh. Raised on a steady diet of comics, he worked in the comic book industry for ten years, but now writes full-time because, well, wouldn't you?
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl is his first novel. Unsoul'd is his latest. There are a whole bunch in between, featuring everything from the aftermath of child abuse to pre-teens with superpowers to serial killers. He clearly does not know how to stick to one subject. -
Alex Travis
Alex Travis was born in New York and made her way to Northern Virginia to begin her daytime career as a full-time school psychologist. She has a BA in psychology from University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of Maryland. Alex wrote her first book at the age of 11, and has been losing herself in fictional worlds of her own creation since then. Alex makes her home in Virginia with her husband, an outrageous collection of Funkos, and too many books to count.
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Ann Dávila Cardinal
Ann is a Nuyorican, Vermont-based novelist with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA). She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers, including father and son poets Virgilio and José Antonio Dávila, and her cousin, award-winning fiction writer Tere Dávila.
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Ann’s first solo novel, a young adult horror novel titled Five Midnights, was released by Tor Teen on June 4, 2019. Five Midnights won the 2020 International Latino Book Award in the category of Best Young Adult Fantasy & Adventure, an AudioFile’s Earphones Award for the audiobook, and was finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. The story continues in Category Five, also from Tor Teen, released on June 2, 2020. Category Five is a 2021 nominee for the same Internation -
A.J. Sass
A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
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A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle-grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies. His debut picture book with illustrator Noa Kelner, Shabbat -
Mark Oshiro
MARK OSHIRO is the queer Latinx, Hugo-nominated writer of the online Mark Does Stuff universe (Mark Reads and Mark Watches), where he analyzes book and TV series. He was the nonfiction editor of Queers Destroy Science Fiction! and the co-editor of Speculative Fiction 2015, and is the President of the Con or Bust Board of Directors. When not writing/recording reviews or editing, Oshiro engages in social activism online and offline. Anger is a Gift is his debut YA contemporary fiction novel.
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Robin Wasley
Robin Wasley is a YA fantasy writer with a soft spot for orphans, found families, and funny girls with no special skills who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. She grew up in a family of adoptees, never truly seeing herself reflected in the books she devoured. As an adult, when she saw an Asian American girl on the cover of a YA book for the first time, she cried.
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Robin lives in Boston and works in scientific publishing, but she writes so readers can laugh, cry, and scream “Why are you like this?” Her favorite things are genre-mashes, bubble baths, Cheetos, and pie. When not writing, she enjoys baking and binge-watching entire seasons of TV in a single day.
Her one dream in life is to become best friends with BTS. -
CL Montblanc
CL Montblanc is a writer, producer, and escape room enthusiast. Despite hailing from Texas, CL is intimidated by both horses and very large hats. Their debut novel PRIDE OR DIE will release in early 2025, with another book to follow in 2026.
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Freya Finch
Freya Finch writes about myths, magic, and mischief makers. Born and raised in Michigan, she earned her MA in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University in Chicago. Now she lives in the mountains of Poland where you can find her hiking with her German shepherd dog or lounging at home with her husband watching their favorite movies. Rise is her first novel. Find her on Instagram @freyafinchauthor
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Marie Hoy-Kenny
Marie Hoy-Kenny attended the University of Toronto, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Writing and Communication. Her work has been published in several literary magazines, including trampset, Cosmonauts Avenue, and FlashBack Fiction. Her debut novel, THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN, was published by Blackstone Publishing in 2023. Her short story INCARNATION will be published in Blackstone’s first SHADOW LAB anthology in November 2024, and her debut picture book, THIS PLANT IS NOT BORING, will be published in April 2025 by Orca Book Publishers.
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Rebecca Mahoney
NOTE FROM REBECCA: Hey friends, thanks so much for your interest in my books! I'm not planning to be active much on here, so if you have any questions, the best place to reach me is on Twitter at @cafecliche, or by asking a question on my website: https://www.rebeccamahoneybooks.com/c...
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Rebecca Mahoney is a young adult and middle grade writer, and the co-creator of audio drama serial The Bridge Podcast. She's a strong believer in the cathartic power of all things fantastical and creepy in children's literature--and she knows firsthand that ghosts, monsters, and the unknown can give you the language you need to understand yourself. She was raised in Windham, New Hampshire, currently resides in Somerville, Massachusetts, and spends her spare -
Ann Fraistat
Ann Fraistat is an author, playwright, and narrative designer. Her debut novel, What We Harvest, is a 2022 Bram Stoker finalist, an ABA Indies Introduce and Kids' Indie Next Pick, and a finalist for the Barnes & Noble YA 2022 Book Awards. A Place for Vanishing, her second book, is an instant USA Today bestseller. Her co-author credits include plays such as Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending, and alternate reality games sponsored by the National Science Foundation. She lives in Maryland.
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For more, find her at annfraistat.com, or connect on Twitter or Instagram @annfrai -
Maya Ameyaw
Maya Ameyaw is a Ghanaian Canadian author born and raised in Toronto. Her debut novel When It All Syncs Up was selected as one of Kirkus’s best books of 2023 in the young adult category. She is a former bookseller and currently works as a writing instructor. Maya has edited several literary anthologies for community arts programs.
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In her free time, Maya enjoys hanging out with her adorable dwarf rabbit and devouring as many books as possible. She also loves exploring all the bookstores that Toronto has to offer. -
Amber Hunt
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Tom Llewellyn
TOM LLEWELLYN is the author of five novels for middle-grade and young-adult readers, and one picture book. His books have been translated into five languages.
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His first novel, The Tilting House, was published by Random House in 2010. Regarding his 2024 novel, The Five Impossible Tasks of Eden Smith (Holiday House), Booklist said: "A truly memorable setting for a terrific tale."
Tom graduated with honors from the University of Washington's creative writing program. When he's not making books, he writes thought leadership for an investment company and serves as the co-founder of the street art project, Beautiful Angle. Tom was born in Tacoma, Washington, where he raised his four brilliant children. He lives in Tacoma with his amazing wife, Deb. -
Cedar McCloud
Cedar McCloud is a queer and nonbinary author, Tarot deck illustrator, and art witch. They are best known for their debut Tarot deck and guidebook, the Numinous Tarot, as well as the Threadbound Oracle and its accompanying novel, The Thread That Binds. Cedar lives on the west coast of the USA with their partner and cat, where they spin yarn, dye, weave, cook, bind books, make paper, play the mandolin, and do five million other fun things.
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Cedar used to publish things under the name Noel Arthur Heimpel, but no longer goes by that name for gender-related reasons. If you see them, they are the same person! -
John Florio
John Florio was raised in Flushing, NY. He credits the streets of Queens as one of his earliest influences, along with black-and-white movies, old superhero comics, Sports Illustrated, Humphrey Bogart, and the Hardy Boys.
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A fan of pop fiction and creative nonfiction, Florio is the author of the historical crime novels, Sugar Pop Moon and Blind Moon Alley. With Ouisie Shapiro, he has written the nonfiction books: Marked Man, Doomed, War in the Ring, One Nation Under Baseball, and One Punch from the Promised Land. Florio and Shapiro also contribute to The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, and ESPN.
Florio holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine, an MA from New York University, an MBA from St. John’s University -
Sarah Van Name
Sarah Van Name grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and now lives and works in Durham with her family and dog. She is the author of three young adult novels: These Bodies Between Us (2024), Any Place But Here (2021), and The Goodbye Summer (2019). You can find her on Instagram @sarahvanname.
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Mark Tatulli
Mark Tatulli is a comic artist and film maker, mostly known for his dark comedic newspaper strip Liō. He is the recipient of three Emmy Awards. He works for Banyan Productions. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children.
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Karuna Riazi
Karuna Riazi is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. She holds a BA in English Literature from Hofstra University, and is an online diversity advocate, blogger, and educator. She is a 2017 honoree on NBC Asian America's Redefining A-Z list, featuring up and coming talent within the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, and her work has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Book Riot and Teen Vogue, among others.
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Karuna is fond of tea, Korean dramas, writing about tough girls forging their own paths toward their destinies, and baking new delectable treats for friends and family to relish.
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Sierra Isley
Sierra Isley is a young adult author originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but currently based in Philadelphia. She graduated from Florida State University in 2021 with an Editing, Writing and Media degree. Her debut novel IN THE RING releases in Fall 2023. Outside of writing, her passions include filmmaking, social media communications and drinking chai lattes.
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