MY FAVORITE AUTHORS (2015 EDITION)!

I started reading books last 2014. YES! I started my blog this year. YES! I’ve met a lot of authors through different social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, etc.). SUPER YES!

I think it’s finally time to highlight these authors and give them a spotlight. I know that these people (directly and indirectly) helped and inspired me to make my own blog. I wouldn’t be here right now if I haven’t met them. Today, I’ll be sharing to you some of my favorite authors along with a short description of their life, books and whatnot. My 2015 wouldn’t be complete without them. Trust me. (You should stalk their profiles, too — teehee!)

---

ELISE KOVA has always had a passion for storytelling. She wrote her first novella, a high-fantasy, in sixth grade. Over the years she’s honed her love of literature with everything from fantasy to romance, science fiction to mystery, and whatever else catches her eye.

Elise lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where she’s currently working on the next installment in her debut YA fantasy series: Air Awakens. She enjoys video games, anime, table-top role playing games, and many other forms of “geekdom.” She loves talking with fans on Twitter (@EliseKova) and Facebook (/AuthorEliseKova). Visit her website, EliseKova.com/, for news and extras about her books!

---

BECKY ALBERTALLI was born and raised in the Atlanta, GA suburbs. She really loves ice cream, though. And most desserts. She wrote and directed a tragic play at age twelve with a plot that borrowed heavily from a Lurlene McDaniel novel. She fell hard for Harry Potter at age sixteen and never grew out of it. She went to college in Connecticut and totally freaked out about all of the snow. She and her college friends once created their own likenesses on the Sims, and it was all fun until Sim Becky burned the Sim house down and then peed herself. She majored in psychology and avoided hard sciences whenever possible.

---

By the time JENNIFER NIVEN was ten, she had already written numerous songs, a poem for Parker Stevenson (“If there were a Miss America for men, You would surely win”), two autobiographies (All About Me and My Life in Indiana: I Will Never Be Happy Again), a Christmas story, several picture books (which I illustrated myself) featuring the Doodle Bugs from Outer Space, a play about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s sister entitled Blindness Strikes Mary, a series of prison mysteries, a collection of short stories featuring her as the main character (an internationally famous rock star detective), and a partially finished novel about Vietnam. She was also an excellent speller from a very early age.

In 2000, she started writing full-time, and I haven’t stopped… she has written eight books (two of those are forthcoming), and when she’s not working on the ninth, she’s contributing to her web magazine, Germ (www.germmagazine.com), thinking up new books, and dabbling in TV. She is always writing.

---

AMY FINNEGAN writes her own stories because she enjoys falling in love over and over again, and thinks everyone deserves a happy ending. She likes to travel the world—usually to locations where her favorite books take place—and owes her unquenchable thirst for reading to Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling. Her debut novel, NOT IN THE SCRIPT (Bloomsbury, Oct 2014), came about after hearing several years of behind-the-scenes stories from her industry veteran brother. She’s also been lucky enough to visit dozens of film sets and sit in on major productions such as Parks and Recreation, and Parenthood.

You can follow Amy on Twitter @ajfinnegan, Instagram @StrangerThanFictionWriter, or Facebook (Amy Finnegan, Author). She is represented by Erin Murphy of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

---

LYGIA DAY PENAFLOR is a private academic teacher for young Hollywood stars. Her students have included the young casts of Gossip Girl and Boardwalk Empire, as well as I Am Legend. She enjoys writing about teens and has kept true to her teenage self by marrying her high school sweetheart and remembering her locker combination (32-18-12). She lives on Long Island where she is an avid equestrian and old-school roller skater. Unscripted Joss Byrd is her debut novel.

---

FACTS ABOUT ANDREA WELLS:

1.     I love tacos.  I could eat them every day of the week.  For every meal.  (Is it weird I started this list with food?)

2.     I have watched the entire Golden Girls series more times than I could ever count.  I own a limited edition box set.  I know everything about every episode.  I’m infatuated with the clever storylines, exceptional writing and hilarious jokes.

3.     I have a mild-to-severe case of Misophonia.  I cannot stand to hear people chew their food or slurp a drink… holy cow; I can’t even talk about this anymore.

4.    My absolute, all-time favorite song is: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.  Then about a million different songs come in second place.  I have a very serious addiction to music.

5.     I consider using swear words in normal conversation to be a hobby of mine.

---

HEIDI HEILIG grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko’olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark.

She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theatre Writing, of all things, and she’s written books and lyrics for shows including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their pet snake, whose wings will likely grow in any day now.

---

JESSICA BROOKS is a lover of books, coffee, and all things owl-dorable. She writes young adult books about near-future dystopia (Pity Isn’t An Option, Cozenage #1, available now) and magical realism (the Flora series). Connect with her on her blog, Let Me Tell You A Story, Tumblr, or anywhere else on the interwebs by doing a search for her username: coffeelvnmom.

---

JESSICA VERDI lives in Brooklyn, NY, and received her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She loves seltzer, Tabasco sauce, TV, vegetarian soup, flip-flops, and her dog. Visit her at jessicaverdi.com and follow her on Twitter @jessverdi.

Her debut, What You Left Behind, is one of my faves this year!

---

KAROLE COZZO lives outside of Philadelphia, PA with her loving husband, exuberant little girl, and smiley little boy. She adores YA Romance, because it would be awesome if life in general had a requisite feel-good happy ending rule. Vices include obscene Haribo gummy consumption, addiction to Starbucks NF vanilla lattes, and tendency to hoard Bath and Body Works 3-wick candles.

---

KIMBERLY KARALIUS is the author of LOVE FORTUNES AND OTHER DISASTERS and its forthcoming sequel LOVE CHARMS AND OTHER CATASTROPHES (May 2016). If you gave her a wish bone, she would wish fervently for snow in Florida. Her love for 90s cartoons (or any cartoons, really) knows no bounds. She might be the only person you know who can be completely engrossed in watching silent films. Being in Florida certainly has one big perk: going to Disney World. Which she does. Frequently.

Kimberly holds an MFA in fiction from the University of South Florida. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals such as Luna Station Quarterly, The Medulla Review, and Hogglepot. Her chapbook, POCKET FOREST, was published by Deathless Press in August 2013.

---

MICHELLE HODKIN is the author of the Mara Dyer Trilogy, which was a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling series. The trilogy, which includes The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer, was described as “haunting and dreamlike” by Cassandra Clare and “darkly funny, deliciously creepy, and genuinely thoughtful” by Veronica Roth. Lev Grossman has called Hodkin “One of the greatest talents in Young Adult fiction.” The novels were praised by Romantic Times, MTV’s Hollywood Crush, and the Los Angeles Times, and books from the series appeared on several state reading lists. Additionally, The Retribution of Mara Dyer was selected as one of TIME.com’s Top 10 YA Books of 2014.

Hodkin grew up in Florida, went to college in New York, and studied law in Michigan, before finally settling in Brooklyn last year.

You can visit her online at:

http://www.michellehodkin.com/
http://twitter.com/MichelleHodkin
http://pinterest.com/michellehodkin/
http://michellehodkin.tumblr.com/

---

New York Times best-selling author, SCOTT SIGLER, is the creator of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. His works are available from Crown Publishing and Del Rey Books.

In 2005, Scott built a large online following by releasing his audiobooks as serialized podcasts. A decade later, he still gives his stories away — for free — every Sunday at scottsigler.com. His loyal fans, who named themselves “Junkies,” have downloaded over thirty-five million individual episodes.

Scott is the co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his dog Reesie.

---

TOMMY WALLACH is a Brooklyn-based writer and musician. His first novel, We All Looked Up, will be published by Simon and Schuster in April 2015. His work has appeared in many nice magazines, such as McSweeney’s, Tin House, and Wired. He has released an EP with Decca Records, and will be independently putting out an LP in Spring 2014. He also makes music videos, including one that was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum. You should buy him dinner.

 

---

Reading and writing are close to INES BAUTISTA YAO‘s heart ever since she was a child. She graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in AB Communication Arts. She has been a teacher at the Assumption College San Lorenzo and the Ateneo de Manila University’s English department.

Her debut novel One Crazy Summer was first penned in 2007 when she was pregnant with her first daughter Addie. Being a mother has taken much of Ines’ time so she was only able to write 13 pages of her novel. She completed her story in April 2011, while three-year-old Addie was sleeping and inspiration struck her again. Two months later her story was complete. After eight months, her dream of publishing her own book came true. The book was only launched last January 26, 2012, but Ines is already writing her second novel.

Most readers can remember Ines as the former editor-in-chief of K-Zone Magazine and Candy Magazine . At present, Ines is working as an editor of Summit Books. She is also married to photographer Marc Yao, whom she says she consults whenever she’s stuck in the middle of a story she’s writing.

---

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department and never looked back. Today, she is a graduate of De La Salle University – Manila with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature. She taught high school English for three years and was an essay consultant for two. Currently she writes full-time and is based in the Philippines.

---

You should stalk check the profiles of these lovely people. They’re all fantastic and incredible. Also, please share some of your favorite authors in the comments. Thank you so much for reading! See yah in my next post! 🙂