Christen Randall (she/they) grew up in the American South as one of those girls–the sort that stick out for being too fat or too poor, for being a “slow reader” or a loud mouth, for being, you know, a little funny or a little too sensitive. And like those girls do, she learned it was much easier to exist in this world with a story on her side. For lack of reflection of herself in the ones she read, she started writing her own.

Now, Christen writes Young Adult fiction that centers queer, fat, geeky kids. Her work is about classism, counter culture, mental illness and disability, queer identity, music as a love language, and cats without being about those things. On her good days, you can find Tennessee Williams and Rainbow Rowell in her words. On the bad ones, you’ll find a lot of cussing. These things, as they say, happen.

At present, they live as an Almost Midwesterner in Covington, Kentucky, in a second floor apartment all their own. There are house plants in their windows and shelves full of books and unpainted D&D miniatures in their office. Maybe one day soon, Christen will get a cat.

You can find Christen on most socials as @ByCRandall.