Ransom Riggs (born February 3, 1979) is an American writer and filmmaker best known for the book '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children''.

Early life and education

Riggs was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in 1979 on a 200-year-old farm, and grew up in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where he attended Pine View School for the Gifted. He studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, where he was a good friend of

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...

. He later studied film at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

His work on short films for the Internet and blogging for ''

Mental Floss ''Mental Floss'' (stylized as ''mental_floss'') is an American online magazine and digital, print, and e-commerce media company focused on millennials. It is owned by Minute Media, an international digital media publisher based in London, Engla ...

'' got him a job writing ''The Sherlock Holmes Handbook'' which was released as a

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

to the 2009 ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

'' film. Riggs had collected curious vernacular photographs and approached his publisher, Quirk Books, about using some of them in a

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

. On the suggestion of an editor, Riggs used the photographs as a guide from which to put together a narrative. The resulting book was ''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'', which made The ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, and was adapted into the 2016 film of the same name. Another book inspired by old photographs, ''Talking Pictures'', was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in October 2012. The second novel in the ''Miss Peregrine'' series, '' Hollow City'', was released in January 2014, with the third installment, ''

Library of Souls A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

'', following in September 2015. A spin-off book of short stories, ''Tales of the Peculiar'', was released in September 2016. The fourth novel in the series, '' A Map of Days'', was released in October 2018. The fifth novel in the series, ''The Conference of the Birds'', was released in January 2020. The sixth, ''The Desolations of Devil's Acre'', was released on February 23, 2021.

Personal life

Riggs married author Tahereh Mafi in 2013. They lived in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

and later moved to

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. Their first child, a daughter, Layla, was born on May 30, 2017.

Works

Young adult novels

Miss Peregrine series

* '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' (2011) * '' Hollow City'' (2014) * ''

'' (2015) * '' A Map of Days'' (2018) * ''The Conference of the Birds'' (2020) * ''The Desolations of Devil's Acre'' (2021)

Companion Books

* ''Tales of the Peculiar'' (2016), short stories collection * ''Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders: An Indispensable Guide to the Dangers and Delights of the Peculiar World for the Instruction of New Arrivals'' (2022)

Sunderworld series

* ''Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry'' (2024) * ''Sunderworld, Vol. II: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry'' (2025)

Stand-alone

* ''Arcanum'' (2015)

Comics

Miss Peregrine series

*''Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel'' (2011), with Cassandra Jean * ''Hollow City: The Graphic Novel'' (2016), with Cassandra Jean

Non-fiction

* ''The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World's Greatest Detective'' (2009), guide * ''Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued from the Past'' (2012), photographies

Adaptations

* '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'' (2016), film directed by

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

, based on young adult novel '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riggs, Ransom 1979 births Living people American male novelists Kenyon College alumni Writers from Florida Writers from Maryland People from Irvine, California Novelists from California USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni