Welcome to the third Author Spotlight Saturday!
Remember when my original plan was to do this twice a month? That was adorable.
Admittedly, I fell off a bit, and then quarantine hit, and what even is time anymore, you know?
So, when things get back to normal, maybe I will too, but until then, I'll jut try to remember to post from time to time.
Cool? Cool.
Today's Author Spotlight is on my friend Lily Anderson! Lily and I are agency sibs, both of us represented by Laura Zats at Headwater Literary Management.
And guess what, guys? BONUS! Lily's books are full of badass females! Heck yes!
I read UNDEAD GIRL GANG last year and omg, you guys, I just LOVE this book! Needless to say, I'm very excited to introduce you to her today! Take it away, friend!
Hi! I'm Lily Anderson. I live in Northern California. In the past, I’ve been a school librarian, a bookseller, and a theater teacher, but right now I am lucky enough to be a full time writer.
1) How many books have you written? Which is your favorite and why?
I have three published YA novels—a duology based around a private school and summer camp for genius teens: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU (a retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing) and NOT NOW, NOT EVER (which retells Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest). My third book is a super dark comedy about grief and witchcraft, UNDEAD GIRL GANG. I think I have to like all of them equally since they came out of my brain, but I definitely loved infusing UNDEAD GIRL GANG with all of my Wiccan teen angst!
2) What are you currently working on?
Right now, I’m in the process of wrapping up a really exciting project: my first adult novel! Its title is currently in transition (my books never keep their titles!) but the book is about a gal in her mid-twenties who loses her dream job, moves back in with her family, and decides to tackle her high school bucket list to try to find herself again—with the help of the people she left behind, including her childhood best friend, her first love, and the tattooed prom queen next door.
3) What are three things we probably don’t know about you?
1. Even though I write YA: I didn’t go to high school! I was homeschooled from thirteen to sixteen so that I could take an accelerated course load and graduate two years early. (I can feel you shouting “Nerd!” at me and you’re so very correct.) After all that hubbub? I got a job at Barnes and Noble and went to community college.
2. Most of my tattoos are theater references. I have song lyrics from two musicals—Once On This Island and Bat Boy—on my shoulder and hip respectfully, as well as a quote from Hamlet down the length of one forearm. (But the tattoo I get asked about most is my Deathly Hallows!)
3. I’m a song lyrics whiz! My only party trick is knowing all the words—every verse—to a truly shocking amount of songs. Any decade, any genre. As long as I’ve heard it before, I probably know the lyrics.
Be sure to grab one of Lily's books!!! You know you want to! (And, it's not like you don't have time to read. ha)
Give Lily a follow, you guys!
