The Author Directory
Twenty novelists across five genres, their stories, achievements and books.
Ana Huang
Born 1990s · Raised in Maryland, U.S.
Ana Huang is a #1 New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her Twisted series, beginning with Twisted Love, exploded on BookTok and turned her into one of the defining voices of modern steamy romance. She followed it with the Kings of Sin series, sharp, glamorous and morally grey, and continues to publish to an enormous global readership.
- ✦ Twisted series became a global BookTok phenomenon
- ✦ #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller
- ✦ Kings of Sin series: King of Wrath, King of Pride, King of Greed
- ✦ Translated into more than 25 languages
Famous books
Twisted Love (2021)Buy on Amazon 
King of Wrath (2022)Buy on Amazon 
The Defender (2025)Buy on Amazon
Elena Armas
Born 1990s · Spain
Elena Armas is a Spanish author who writes funny, swoony, slow-burn romance in English. Her debut, The Spanish Love Deception, became an international sensation after readers discovered it online, and it is being adapted for film. She followed it with The American Roommate Experiment and a string of beloved romcoms.
- ✦ Debut The Spanish Love Deception became a worldwide bestseller
- ✦ Film adaptation in development
- ✦ New York Times bestselling author
- ✦ Writes bilingual, cross-cultural love stories
Famous books
The Spanish Love Deception (2021)Buy on Amazon 
The American Roommate Experiment (2022)Buy on Amazon
Penelope Douglas
Born 1977 · Dubuque, Iowa
Penelope Douglas is a New York Times bestselling author known for dark, intense new-adult and contemporary romance. A former teacher, she built a devoted following with the Fall Away series and Punk 57, and her Devil's Night series, beginning with Corrupt, became a cornerstone of the dark romance genre.
- ✦ Former schoolteacher turned bestselling novelist
- ✦ Devil's Night series defined modern dark romance
- ✦ Punk 57 and Birthday Girl are reader favourites
- ✦ Published in more than 20 languages
Famous books
Punk 57 (2016)Buy on Amazon 
Birthday Girl (2018)Buy on Amazon 
Corrupt (2015)Buy on Amazon
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Born 1971 · Osaka, Japan
Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a Japanese playwright, director and novelist. Before the Coffee Gets Cold began as an award-winning stage play about a Tokyo café where customers can travel in time, but only until their coffee cools. The novel became an international bestseller and launched a gentle, moving series about regret, love and second chances.
- ✦ Before the Coffee Gets Cold began as an award-winning play
- ✦ Over a million copies sold in Japan
- ✦ Adapted into a Japanese feature film (2018)
- ✦ Series translated into dozens of languages
Famous books
Before the Coffee Gets Cold (2015)Buy on Amazon 
Tales from the Cafe (2017)Buy on Amazon
Alex Michaelides
Born 1977 · Nicosia, Cyprus
Alex Michaelides was born in Cyprus to a Greek-Cypriot father and English mother, studied English at Cambridge and screenwriting at the American Film Institute. His debut, The Silent Patient, became one of the bestselling thrillers of the century. The Maidens and The Fury continue his fascination with Greek tragedy, psychotherapy and unreliable narrators.
- ✦ The Silent Patient spent over a year on the NYT bestseller list
- ✦ Sold in a record number of countries for a debut thriller
- ✦ Studied at Cambridge and the American Film Institute
- ✦ Goodreads Choice Award winner for Mystery & Thriller
Famous books
The Silent Patient (2019)Buy on Amazon 
The Maidens (2021)Buy on Amazon 
The Fury (2024)Buy on Amazon
John Grisham
Born 1955 · Jonesboro, Arkansas
John Grisham practised criminal and civil law and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives before writing A Time to Kill. The Firm made him a publishing phenomenon, and he has since written more than 50 books, sold over 300 million copies, and defined the modern legal thriller.
- ✦ Over 300 million books in print worldwide
- ✦ Many novels adapted for film, including The Firm and The Pelican Brief
- ✦ Former lawyer and Mississippi state legislator
- ✦ Board member of the Innocence Project
Famous books
The Firm (1991)Buy on Amazon 
A Time to Kill (1989)Buy on Amazon 
The Judge's List (2021)Buy on Amazon
Jodi Picoult
Born 1966 · Nesconset, New York
Jodi Picoult is the author of more than 25 novels that tackle moral and ethical dilemmas, medical ethics, justice, race and family. My Sister's Keeper became an international bestseller and film. Mad Honey, co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan, and By Any Other Name show her still pushing into new territory.
- ✦ More than 40 million copies of her books in print
- ✦ My Sister's Keeper adapted for film (2009)
- ✦ Eight consecutive #1 NYT bestsellers
- ✦ Studied at Princeton and Harvard
Famous books
My Sister's Keeper (2004)Buy on Amazon 
Mad Honey (2022)Buy on Amazon 
By Any Other Name (2024)Buy on Amazon
Bella Mackie
Born 1983 · London, England
Bella Mackie is a British journalist and author whose debut novel, How to Kill Your Family, became a Sunday Times number one bestseller. Its savagely funny narrator, Grace Bernard, plots revenge on the wealthy family that abandoned her. Mackie followed it with the darkly comic mystery What a Way to Go.
- ✦ How to Kill Your Family: Sunday Times #1 bestseller
- ✦ Television adaptation in development
- ✦ Author of the memoir Jog On
- ✦ Award-winning journalist
Famous books
How to Kill Your Family (2021)Buy on Amazon 
What a Way to Go (2023)Buy on Amazon
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Born 1980 · Martinsburg, West Virginia
Jennifer L. Armentrout is a #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of fantasy, romance and paranormal fiction. Her Blood and Ash series, beginning with From Blood and Ash, became a romantasy juggernaut. She has written over 60 books across young adult and adult fiction and is a passionate advocate for retinitis pigmentosa awareness.
- ✦ Blood and Ash series: #1 NYT bestseller
- ✦ More than 60 novels published
- ✦ Lux series adapted as the film Obsidian
- ✦ Advocate for retinitis pigmentosa awareness
Famous books
From Blood and Ash (2020)Buy on Amazon 
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (2020)Buy on Amazon
Carissa Broadbent
Born 1990s · Rhode Island, U.S.
Carissa Broadbent began as a self-published fantasy author before The Serpent and the Wings of Night, a vampire romantasy set in a deadly tournament, became a breakout hit. Its sequel, The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, cemented the Crowns of Nyaxia series as one of the most talked-about in the genre.
- ✦ Indie success story picked up by a major publisher
- ✦ Crowns of Nyaxia series: New York Times bestseller
- ✦ Known for lush, gothic worldbuilding
- ✦ Huge BookTok and Bookstagram following
Famous books
The Serpent and the Wings of Night (2022)Buy on Amazon 
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (2023)Buy on Amazon
Rachel Gillig
Born 1990s · California, U.S.
Rachel Gillig writes gothic fantasy with a fairy-tale heart. One Dark Window, about a young woman who hides a monster in her mind in a kingdom ruled by magic cards and mist, became a bestseller; Two Twisted Crowns concluded the Shepherd King duology to wide acclaim.
- ✦ Shepherd King duology: international bestseller
- ✦ One Dark Window: Goodreads Choice nominee
- ✦ Celebrated for atmospheric gothic prose
- ✦ Former teacher
Famous books
One Dark Window (2022)Buy on Amazon 
Two Twisted Crowns (2023)Buy on Amazon
Lauren Roberts
Born 2000 · Michigan, U.S.
Lauren Roberts self-published Powerless while in her early twenties, and the story of an Ordinary girl hiding among the gifted Elites became a viral sensation. Picked up by Simon & Schuster, Powerless and Reckless hit the New York Times bestseller list, with a film adaptation in development.
- ✦ Self-published debut became a global bestseller
- ✦ Powerless trilogy: #1 New York Times bestseller
- ✦ Film adaptation in development
- ✦ One of romantasy's youngest breakout stars
Famous books
Powerless (2023)Buy on Amazon 
Reckless (2023)Buy on Amazon
Victoria Aveyard
Born 1990 · East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Victoria Aveyard studied screenwriting at the University of Southern California before her debut, Red Queen, became a #1 New York Times bestseller. Its world of Red-blooded commoners and Silver-blooded, superpowered elites captured a generation of readers. She followed the series with the epic Realm Breaker fantasy.
- ✦ Red Queen: #1 New York Times bestseller
- ✦ Series published in over 35 countries
- ✦ Studied screenwriting at USC
- ✦ Realm Breaker epic fantasy trilogy
Famous books
Red Queen (2015)Buy on Amazon 
Realm Breaker (2021)Buy on Amazon
Hugh Howey
Born 1975 · Monroe, North Carolina
Hugh Howey worked as a yacht captain and bookseller before self-publishing Wool, the story of a society living inside an underground silo. It became one of self-publishing's great success stories, grew into the Silo trilogy (Wool, Shift, Dust), and was adapted as the Apple TV+ series Silo.
- ✦ Wool: landmark self-publishing success
- ✦ Silo adapted for Apple TV+ (2023)
- ✦ Former yacht captain and bookseller
- ✦ Silo trilogy: Wool, Shift, Dust
Famous books
Wool (2011)Buy on Amazon 
Shift (2013)Buy on Amazon 
Dust (2013)Buy on Amazon
John Scalzi
Born 1969 · Fairfield, California
John Scalzi is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Old Man's War launched his career; Redshirts won the Hugo; and The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain showed his gift for big ideas delivered with big laughs.
- ✦ Hugo Award winner for Redshirts
- ✦ Former president of SFWA
- ✦ Old Man's War series in development for screen
- ✦ Long-running blog Whatever
Famous books
Old Man's War (2005)Buy on Amazon - The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022)Buy on Amazon
Starter Villain (2023)Buy on Amazon
T. Kingfisher
Born 1977 · New York (based in North Carolina)
T. Kingfisher is the adult-fiction name of Ursula Vernon, the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award-winning author and illustrator. As Kingfisher she writes witty, warm and sometimes terrifying fantasy and horror: Nettle & Bone won the Hugo for Best Novel; What Moves the Dead reimagines Poe; A Sorceress Comes to Call is a gothic triumph.
- ✦ Hugo Award for Best Novel: Nettle & Bone (2023)
- ✦ Nebula and Locus Award winner
- ✦ Also writes and illustrates children's books as Ursula Vernon
- ✦ Creator of the Hugo-winning webcomic Digger
Famous books
Nettle & Bone (2022)Buy on Amazon 
What Moves the Dead (2022)Buy on Amazon - A Sorceress Comes to Call (2024)Buy on Amazon
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Born 1977 · Enugu, Nigeria
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in the university town of Nsukka, Nigeria. Purple Hibiscus announced a major talent; Half of a Yellow Sun, set during the Biafran war, won the Women's Prize; and Americanah became a defining novel of race and migration. Her TED talks, including We Should All Be Feminists, reached millions.
- ✦ Women's Prize for Fiction: Half of a Yellow Sun
- ✦ MacArthur Fellowship (2008)
- ✦ Americanah: National Book Critics Circle Award
- ✦ We Should All Be Feminists: one of the most-viewed TED talks
Famous books
Americanah (2013)Buy on Amazon 
Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)Buy on Amazon 
Purple Hibiscus (2003)Buy on Amazon
Elif Shafak
Born 1971 · Strasbourg, France (Turkish-British)
Elif Shafak is a Turkish-British novelist and the most widely read woman writer in Turkey. Writing in both Turkish and English, she has published more than 20 books. The Forty Rules of Love became an international bestseller; The Island of Missing Trees was shortlisted for the Women's Prize; There Are Rivers in the Sky followed in 2024.
- ✦ Books published in 55+ languages
- ✦ Booker Prize and Women's Prize shortlistee
- ✦ Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters
- ✦ Prominent advocate for women's rights and freedom of speech
Famous books
The Forty Rules of Love (2010)Buy on Amazon 
The Island of Missing Trees (2021)Buy on Amazon 
There Are Rivers in the Sky (2024)Buy on Amazon
Sally Rooney
Born 1991 · Castlebar, Ireland
Sally Rooney is an Irish novelist celebrated for intimate, precise fiction about love, class and power among young people. Conversations with Friends announced her talent; Normal People was longlisted for the Booker and adapted into a hugely popular television series; Intermezzo extended her range to two grieving brothers.
- ✦ Normal People: Booker Prize longlist
- ✦ Normal People adapted for BBC/Hulu (2020)
- ✦ Costa Novel Award winner
- ✦ Former European university debating champion
Famous books
Normal People (2018)Buy on Amazon 
Conversations with Friends (2017)Buy on Amazon 
Intermezzo (2024)Buy on Amazon
Madeline Miller
Born 1978 · Boston, Massachusetts
Madeline Miller spent years teaching Latin and Ancient Greek before publishing The Song of Achilles, a retelling of the Iliad through Patroclus's eyes that won the Orange Prize. Circe, her reimagining of the witch of the Odyssey, became a global bestseller and helped launch the modern boom in mythological retellings.
- ✦ Orange Prize for Fiction: The Song of Achilles (2012)
- ✦ Circe: #1 New York Times bestseller
- ✦ Former Latin and Greek teacher
- ✦ Books translated into over 30 languages
Famous books
The Song of Achilles (2011)Buy on Amazon 
Circe (2018)Buy on Amazon