Lily Anderson (December 15, 1988) is a writer of

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, best known for her

Indies Choice Book Award The Indies Choice Book Award (formerly known as Book Sense Book of the Year 2000-2008) is an American literary award that was inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) rededicated the award (previously known ...

-nominated novel ''Undead Girl Gang''.

Early life

Anderson is an Afrolatina of Puerto Rican descent. She has been a

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n since she was eight years old. After she dropped out of college at age 18, Anderson wrote her first book and decided she wanted to become a published writer. Anderson grew up doing theatre and is a self-proclaimed theatre geek, saying that she did her first

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play when she was 12 or 13 years old, which ultimately led to her writing both novels in her debut young adult series ''The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You'' as retellings of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'' and William Shakespeare's ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

''.

Influences

She drew on her own experience as a Wiccan for her novel ''Undead Girl Gang,'' in which a teenage Wiccan resurrects her dead best friend. Other inspirations for the novel include dark comedy teenage obsessions of hers, namely the movies '' The Craft'', ''

Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1988 American teen dark comedy crime film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, K ...

'' and ''

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical surrealistic black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, a ...

''. She names American screenwriter and director Shonda Rimes and American plus-size model Tess Holliday as the sources of some of her inspiration.

Personal work

Anderson is an elementary school librarian and lives in Northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Bibliography

Messina Academy Duology

# ''The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You'' (

St. Martin's Griffin St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 2016) # ''Not Now Not Ever'' (

Wednesday Books St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 2017)

Standalones

* ''Undead Girl Gang'' (

Razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

, 2018) * ''The Throwback List'' ( Hyperion Avenue, 2021) * ''Scout's Honor'' ( Henry Holt, 2022) * ''Big Bad'', a ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' novel ( Hyperion Avenue, 2022)

Awards

Nominated * 2019

for ''Undead Girl Gang'' * 2022

Michael L. Printz Award The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". It is sponsored by ''Booklist'' magazine; administered by the ALA's ...

Honor Book for ''Scout's Honor''

References

Living people 21st-century American novelists African-American librarians American women librarians 21st-century American librarians Hispanic and Latino American librarians Wiccan novelists 1988 births 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers American Wiccans 21st-century women librarians 21st-century librarians American women novelists {{US-novelist-1980s-stub