Marissa Meyer

Meyer was born in Tacoma, Washington and attended Pacific Lutheran University, where she received a Bachelors in Creative Writing and Children's Literature. She later attended Pace University and received a Master's in Publishing.[4] Growing up, Meyer admits that she had a strong love for fairy tales and one of her favorite shows was Sailor Moon, both of which later impacted her creation of Cinder.[5] Meyer also says that her love of superheroes helped lead to the creation of Renegades.[6]

Meyer at the 2022 Phoenix Fan Fusion

Before writing Cinder, Meyer wrote Sailor Moon fan fiction for ten years under the pen name of Alicia Blade.[7][8] She also wrote a novelette titled The Phantom of Linkshire Manor under her pen name.[7] In an interview with The News-Tribune, she said that doing the fan fiction helped her learn the craft of writing, gave her instant feedback and taught her how to take criticism.[9] After graduating from college and prior to writing Cinder, Meyer worked as a book editor and a freelance typesetter and proofreader.[7]

Meyer states that she was initially inspired to write Cinder after participating in the 2008 National Novel Writing Month contest where she wrote a story focusing on a futuristic version of Puss in Boots.[10] The Lunar Chronicles is a four book series with volumes based on the stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White.[10][11] The first book, Cinder, was a New York Times bestseller.[12] As of 2015, the series had sold over 651,000 copies.[13]

In 2013 Meyer received a two-book deal from Feiwel & Friends for a young adult series featuring the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. However, it later ended up being a standalone book called Heartless, which was released in Fall 2016. Publishers Weekly announced that she would write a superhero series afterwards.[14] The resulting trilogy of books is called Renegades, as is the first book in the series. It was inspired by the misreading of a sign and impacted by her love of superheroes growing up.[15][16] Renegades was released in the November 2017, and became the number 2 book on the New York Times bestsellers in November.[17]

In 2020 she released a standalone rom com called Instant Karma, which was optioned for television by HBO Max in February 2021.[18]

In November 2021 she released Gilded, a novel based on the story of Rumpelstiltskin, the first in a duology.[19] It sold 9,000 copies in its first week, and was the top YA title when released.[20] The second book in the series, Cursed, was released in November 2022.

Since 2020 she has hosted The Happy Writer with Marissa Meyer, a podcast in which she interviews authors about their work.[21]

Meyer is married to Jesse Taylor.[2] In 2015, she and her husband adopted their twin daughters, Sloane and Delaney.[22]

• Official website
• Marissa Meyer at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Marissa Meyer at Library of Congress Authorities, with 5 catalog records
• Marissa Meyer's Official Wattpad Profile