Kira Peikoff

{{Infobox writer

| name = Kira Peikoff

| image = Kira Peikoff 2020.png

| caption = Peikoff in 2020

| pseudonym =

| birth_name = Kira Lily Peikoff

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|5|21}}

| birth_place =

| occupation = Novelist, journalist

| nationality = American

| education = New York University (BA)
Columbia University

| spouse = {{Marriage|Matthew Seth Beilis|2012}}

| period = Late 2000s–present

| genre = Thriller

| website = {{URL|http://www.kirapeikoff.com/|KiraPeikoff.com}}

| alt = Headshot of Peikoff indoors

}}

Kira Lily Peikoff ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|iː|k|ɒ|f}}; born May 21, 1985)[https://twitter.com/KiraPeikoff/status/469175669646438400 "Kira Peikoff"]. Twitter. May 21, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014. is a journalist and novelist, based in New York City.[http://www.kirapeikoff.com/author.html "About the Author"]. Kira Peikoff. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

Personal life

Kira Peikoff was born to Objectivist scholar Leonard Peikoff and his then-wife Cynthia Pastor Peikoff, a psychotherapist in private practice.[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/fashion/weddings/kira-peikoff-matthew-beilis-weddings.html "Kira Peikoff, Matthew Beilis"]. The New York Times. June 17, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

She was named after the protagonist of Ayn Rand's We the Living.{{cite web|url = http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/16/magazine/tm-13537/2|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140116072737/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/16/magazine/tm-13537/2|url-status = dead|archive-date = January 16, 2014|title = Preserving the Fountainhead|date = August 16, 1998|access-date = November 17, 2014|website = Los Angeles Times|last = Ybarra|first = Michael J.}}[http://www.peikoff.com/2012/04/02/could-you-define-your-reasons-for-choosing-kira-as-your-daughters-name/ "Could you define your reasons for choosing Kira as your daughter's name?"]. Leonard Peikoff. April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2014. She grew up in Irvine, California, being home-schooled and then attending Woodbridge High School.Lopez, Alicia. [http://www.ocregister.com/articles/peikoff-342514-book-writing.html "Former Woodbridge student pens suspense novel"]. Orange County Register. August 21, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

In 2007, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in journalism from New York University.Heller, Anne C. (2009), Ayn Rand and the World She Made, New York: Doubleday, p. 413, {{ISBN|978-0-385-51399-9}}, OCLC [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/229027437 229027437]. She married Matthew Beilis, a musician, in 2012.{{Cite news |date=2012-06-17 |title=Kira Peikoff, Matthew Beilis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/fashion/weddings/kira-peikoff-matthew-beilis-weddings.html |access-date=2025-06-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Career

During her undergraduate internships, Peikoff wrote about Congressional politics for the Orange County RegisterPeikoff, Kira. [http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sex-203426-offenders-information.html "Law keeps eyes on sex criminals"]. Orange County Register. August 21, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

and about business and technology for Newsday.Peikoff, Kira. [http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/big-savings-for-the-nest-1.672254 "Big savings for the nest"]. Newsday. February 23, 2006. Retrieved June 11, 2014.Peikoff, Kira. [http://www.newsday.com/business/technology/gas-retailers-deny-big-profit-1.558668 "Gas retailers deny big profit"]. Newsday. May 1, 2006. Retrieved June 11, 2014. She also researched feature stories for New York magazinePeikoff, Kira. [http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/30032/ "Israeli Egg Farming"]. New York. October 24, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2014. and wrote for the New York Daily News.{{cite web|url = http://www.nydailynews.com/authors?author=Kira%20Peikoff|title = Articles by Kira Peikoff|access-date = November 30, 2014|work = Daily News}}

After graduation, Peikoff worked as an editorial assistant for Henry Holt and Company and for Random House. Since 2013, she has worked as a freelance journalist on health and science, having written articles for The New York Times,{{cite web|url = https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/30/5258120/a-times-reporter-took-three-genetic-tests-and-got-three-wildly|title = A Times reporter took three genetic tests and got three wildly different answers|date = December 30, 2013|access-date = November 17, 2014|website = The Verge|publisher = Vox Media|last = Brandom|first = Russell}}Peikoff, Kira. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/08/science/fearing-punishment-for-bad-genes.html?ref=science&assetType=nyt_now "Fearing Punishment for Bad Genes"]. The New York Times. April 7, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

Slate,[http://www.slate.com/authors.kira_peikoff.html "Kira Peikoff"]. Slate. Retrieved May 12, 2014. Salon,[http://www.salon.com/writer/kira_peikoff/ "Kira Peikoff"]. Salon. Retrieved May 12, 2014. Cosmopolitan,{{cite web|url = http://www.cosmopolitan.com/author/1364/kira-peikoff/|title = Kira Peikoff|access-date = November 30, 2014|website = Cosmopolitan|publisher = Hearst Corporation}} The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,Peikoff, Kira. [http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/personhood-vs-stem-cell-research/nQT65/ "Personhood vs. stem cell research"]. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

Psychology Today{{cite web|url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/experts/kira-peikoff|title = Experts: Kira Peikoff|access-date = November 17, 2014|website = Psychology Today}} and The Hastings Center Report.Peikoff, Kira. [http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Publications/HCR/Detail.aspx?id=6443 "Beware the Biomarkers for Criminal Behavior"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512225832/http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Publications/HCR/Detail.aspx?id=6443 |date=May 12, 2014 }}. The Hastings Center Report. July/August 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2014.

When Peikoff was 13 years old, Gone with the Wind inspired her to become a novelist.{{Cite journal|url = http://www.suspensemagazine.com/files/SM_February_2012.pdf|title = Gives Voice to Those Who Have None: An Interview with Kira Peikoff|date = February 2012|journal = Suspense|access-date = November 24, 2014}} In 2008, Peikoff finished writing her debut novel, Living Proof, having taken a year off after university to write it,Petit, Zachary. [http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/important-writing-lessons-from-first-time-novelists "Important Writing Lessons From First-Time Novelists"]. Writer's Digest. January 7, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014. and in February 2012, it was published. The book, inspired by her disgust toward President George W. Bush's opposition to stem-cell research, is a dystopian thriller set in a future time when embryo destruction is legally considered first-degree murder and fertility clinics are severely regulated by the government. The novel received largely positive reviews, among them a mildly positive review by Publishers Weekly,[http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7653-2930-1 "Living Proof"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512224140/http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7653-2930-1 |date=May 12, 2014 }}. Publishers Weekly. December 12, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2014. a mildly negative review by Kirkus Reviews,[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kira-peikoff/living-proof2/ "Living Proof"]. Kirkus Reviews. December 19, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2014. and positive reviews by Suspense Magazine{{Cite journal|url = http://www.suspensemagazine.com/files/SM_February_2012.pdf|title = Suspense Magazine Review of "Living Proof" by Kira Peikoff|last = Lignor|first = Amy|date = February 2012|journal = Suspense|access-date = November 24, 2014}} and Mystery Scene magazine.{{cite web|url = http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/blog-article/2395-living-proof|title = Books: Living Proof by Kira Peikoff|access-date = November 24, 2014|website = Mystery Scene|publisher = KBS Communications|last = Mack|first = Debbi}}

No Time to Die, a second biomedical thriller by Peikoff, was published in September 2014, receiving mildly positive reviews by the Romantic Times{{cite web|url = http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/no-time-die-0|title = No time to die|access-date = September 21, 2014|website = RT Book Reviews|last = Ayers|first = Jeff}} and NJ.com.{{cite web|url = http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2014/11/montclair_writers_thriller_focuses_on_staying_forever_young.html|title = Montclair writer's thriller focuses on staying forever young|date = November 23, 2014|access-date = November 30, 2014|website = NJ.com|publisher = New Jersey On-Line|last = Cutler|first = Jacqueline}}

Peikoff is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.[http://www.asja.org/our-members/search-members/results-lastinit2.php?id_number=2843 "Search Members Results"]. American Society of Journalists and Authors. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

She is also the editor-in-chief of the science publication Leaps.org.