Katie Jane Gallagher is the author of the Beauty and Her Alien series, 2020 BBNYA finalist Specter, and the online, serialized YA fantasy The Gold in the Dark. She was born and raised in Illinois, and the magical Naperville Public Library was her home away from home until she ventured to the East Coast for college. Katie graduated magna cum laude from Connecticut College with a BA in Chinese language and literature. She currently lives in Connecticut with her stupendous, half-human half-neanderthal husband and their dopey boxer dog.