Jillian Lauren

Jillian Lauren Shriner (born August 16, 1973) is an American writer, performer, adoption advocate, and former call girl for Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei. She is known for memoirs she wrote about her time spent as a call girl, such as Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, which is about her time spent in the harem of the Prince of Brunei.

Jillian Lauren
Jillian Lauren at the 2011 Texas Book Festival
Born	(1973-08-16) August 16, 1973 (age 51) Livingston, New Jersey
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Period	2001–present
Genre	tragicomedy, fiction, memoir
Notable works	Everything You Ever Wanted, Some Girls: My Life in a Harem and Pretty
Spouse	Scott Shriner ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	2
Website
jillianlauren.com

Early life and education

Lauren grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, and graduated in 1991 from Newark Academy.^[1] She later moved to New York City, where she briefly studied acting at New York University.^[2]

Writing

Jillian Lauren is the author of the New York Times bestselling^[3] memoir books Everything You Ever Wanted, released May 2015,^[4] Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, released in 2010,^[5] and the 2011 novel Pretty, all published by Plume/Penguin. Some Girls chronicles her time spent in the harem of the Prince of Brunei.^[5]

Lauren's true crime book Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer was published by Sourcebooks in 2023.^[6] The book is based on the author's extensive interviews with serial killer Samuel Little. Her work attempting to seek justice for Little's victims and match cold cases to him is chronicled in the 2021 five-part documentary series, Confronting a Serial Killer.^[7][8]

Lauren has been a public storyteller in association with The Moth.^[9] She did a TEDx Talk about adoption and identity at Chapman University in 2014.^[10] From 2012 to 2017, Lauren wrote blog posts at The Huffington Post.^[11]

Personal life

Lauren is married to musician Scott Shriner, bass player of the band Weezer. They live in Los Angeles with two adopted sons. Their first son is a boy from Ethiopia who was adopted on January 23, 2009.^[12]

2025 arrest

On April 8, 2025, Lauren allegedly stepped outside her home during a police chase involving uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officers in her neighborhood. According to police, she was ordered to drop a handgun but refused, instead pointing it at the officers, leading to an Officer-involved shooting. She then retreated into her home, packed an overnight bag, and was later transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. She has since been charged with attempted murder.^[13]