Rebecca Hanover grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, before relocating to sunny California for college. At Stanford University, she studied English, creative writing, and theater—her honors thesis was a one-woman show called Suburban Revenge, and no, you cannot watch it (sorry). Determined to hit yet another coast, she moved to New York City after graduation, where she lived in a sixth-floor walk-up, typing out stories on her Dell laptop in between copyediting jobs. Eventually, she landed her dream gig an intern on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light, eventually becoming a full-time writer on the show and earning an Emmy Award in 2007.

Still, she never stopped browsing the aisles of the Astor Place Barnes & Noble, imagining her own book on the shelves. After moving back to California—and after many years of writing, re-writing, and chasing after a couple of toddlers—she fulfilled a life-long dream when she published her debut YA novel, THE SIMILARS, in 2019 from Sourcebooks Fire. It became a New York Times bestseller and was followed by the sequel, THE PRETENDERS.

Today, Rebecca writes adult and young adult novels full-time from her home in San Francisco, where she lives with her husband, Ethan, and their three rambunctious kiddos. She loves reading YA, naturally, and anything thriller. When she’s not in the carpool line or in front of her laptop, you can find her in a yoga class, trying out new restaurants, or searching for the perfect matcha latte.