About Lauren

Lauren is the internationally bestselling author of four series: This Book Is Trying to Kill You, Case Closed, The Incorruptibles, and The Mythics. She is also the author of three other stand-alone books for middle grade readers. Her books are available in 12 languages, have been Junior Library Guild selections, have been on the Indie Next List, been an Amazon bestseller, earned starred reviews, been on state lists, and have been optioned for a TV movie with Nickelodeon. She has also contributed short stories to Storyworks magazine and a middle grade mystery anthology called Super Puzzletastic Mysteries.

Lauren grew up in New Hope, Pennsylvania. After receiving a B.A. in Creative Writing and Philosophy at Hamilton College, Lauren Magaziner worked on two delightful Scholastic magazines, where many of her coworkers didn’t believe her last name was real. She currently lives with her cats (Olive and Feta) in Philadelphia, where she writes full time.

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Answers to questions you didn’t know you had!

  • If you want to know how to pronounce my last name, it’s the word “magazine” with an R on the end.
  • I wrote my debut novel, The Only Thing Worse Than Witches, while studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2011. In addition to writing a book that semester, I also herded sheep, attended a royal wedding, witnessed a waddling parade of penguins, spotted the Loch Ness monster, and stuck my face in a faerie river of eternal beauty.
  • I started writing seriously in fourth grade because of my teacher, Mr. Bloom. Part of his class included writing workshops, where we’d have to turn in 3-5 paged stories each month. One month, I got so invested in my (depressing Holocaust) story that I didn’t want to hand it in, and Mr. Bloom encouraged me to keep going with it. When I finally submitted the assignment two months after that, my story was 30 pages long. My first indication that I had a passion for longer fiction. I dedicated my 5th published book to Mr. Bloom and three other elementary school teachers who encouraged me along the way. You can read about that here!
  • I’m a cat person… with the personality of a dog person.
  • Spooky season is my favorite time of year. But I never need an excuse to dress up in costumes, eat candy, or read/watch horror. I do that all year long!
  • I usually work on four books at a time, all in different stages of the writing process. I love having a revolving door of projects.
  • The quickest manuscript I’ve ever written was The Mythics: Marina and the Kraken. It took me 11 days to complete the first draft. Most of my books take between a month to four months to draft. But that’s always followed by a year (or more) of revisions.
  • The question kids ask me most often is: “Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite?” I usually have an answer. But here’s a secret: that answer changes with my mood. You’ll never make me pick a favorite child 😉.

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