Laini Taylor

Laini /ˈleɪni/^[1] Taylor (born December 22, 1971) is an American young adult fantasy author and a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature,^[2] best known for the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, Strange the Dreamer, and Muse of Nightmares.

Laini Taylor
Taylor in March 2018
Born	(1971-12-11) December 11, 1971 (age 53) Chico, California, U.S.
Occupation	Writer
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Period	2004–present
Genre	Young adult fantasy
Notable works	Faeries of Dreamdark series Daughter of Smoke and Bone series Lips Touch: Three Times
Notable awards	Cybils Award (2009) National Book Award Finalist (2009) Michael L. Printz Honor Book (2018)
Spouse	Jim Di Bartolo (2001–present)
Children	Clementine
Relatives	Alex (older brother) Emily (younger sister)
Signature
Website
lainitaylor.com

Biography

Taylor was born in Chico, California, grew up as a US military kid in Europe and California, and earned her English degree from UC Berkeley. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter.^[3] She always wanted to be a writer, and was 35 before she finished her first novel.^[4]

Career

Event chalkboard at with Taylor at Powell's Books

In 2004, she wrote a graphic novel for Image Comics, illustrated by her husband, Jim Di Bartolo.^[5] Her first novel, Dreamdark: Blackbringer, was published in 2007. The sequel, Dreamdark: Silksinger, was a winner of the 2009 Cybil Award.^[6] In 2011, she published Daughter of Smoke and Bone, a young adult fantasy series. The first book in the series was chosen by Amazon as the Best Teen Book of 2011,^[7] and the sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight, was also on the list in 2012.^[8] In 2017, she published Strange the Dreamer, followed by its sequel Muse of Nightmares in 2018, in which protagonist Lazlo Strange, a scribe and polyglot, journeys to the Lost City of Weep. Taylor created a unique language for this world, which she weaves into the plot. Strange the Dreamer became a Michael L. Printz Honor Book^[9] as well as the 2018 Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature.^[10]

Works

Faeries of Dreamdark

• Dreamdark: Blackbringer (2007)
• Dreamdark: Silksinger (2009)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011)
• Days of Blood and Starlight (2012)
• Dreams of Gods and Monsters (2014)
• Night of Cake and Puppets (novella) (2013)

Strange the Dreamer

• Strange the Dreamer (2017)
• Muse of Nightmares (2018)

Graphic novels

• The Drowned, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo (2004)

Collections

• Lips Touch: Three Times (2009)
• "Spanking Robots" in Fractured Fables (2010)
• "Gentleman Send Phantoms" in Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction (2012)
• "The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer" in My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories(2014)