Victoria Aveyard

{{short description|American writer of young adult and fantasy fiction}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Victoria Aveyard

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1990|07|27}}

| birth_place = East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, U.S.

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| occupation = Novelist
Screenwriter

| language = English

| education = University of Southern California (BFA)

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| genre = Young adult
Fantasy

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| notableworks = Red Queen

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| awards = 2015 Goodreads Choice Awards Best Debut Novel and 2015 Buxtehude Bull

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| years_active = 2015–present

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Victoria Aveyard (born July 27, 1990) is an American writer of young adult and fantasy fiction and screenplays.{{cite web|title='Red Queen' is familiar fantasy fare|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2015/02/17/red-queen/23497451/|work=USA Today|date=February 17, 2015}} She is known for her fantasy novel Red Queen.{{cite web|title=Victoria Aveyard: I'm so pleased that badass ladies are considered a 'hot trend'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/01/victoria-aveyard-red-queen-interview|work=The Guardian|date=July 1, 2015}} Aveyard wrote the novel a year after graduating from University of Southern California's screenwriting program in 2012.{{cite web|title=Elizabeth Banks in Talks to Direct YA Fantasy 'Red Queen'|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/elizabeth-banks-talks-direct-ya-801884|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=11 June 2015 }}{{cite web|title='Red Queen' Writer Reveals Cover, Talks Inspirations and Splurges|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/red-queen-writer-reveals-cover-715795|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=30 June 2014 }} Sony Pictures teamed up with her to write spec screenplay Eternal.{{cite web|title=Sony Acquires Spec 'Eternal' for 'Divergent' Producer and Michael Costigan|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/sony-eternal-divergent-michael-costigan-1201068320/|work=Variety|year=2014}}

Early life

Aveyard was born on July 27, 1990, and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts.{{Cite web |title=Author |url=https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=HarperCollins Canada |language=en-US}} Her parents are public school teachers.{{Cite web |title=An Interview with Victoria Aveyard |url=https://www.pageafterpage.org/an-interview-with-victoria-aveyard}} She moved to California at the age of eighteen after she was accepted into the University of Southern California, where she studied screenwriting.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://victoriaaveyard.com/about/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=Victoria Aveyard |language=en-US}} She is of Scottish and Italian descent and resides in Santa Monica, where she lives with her husband and dog.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Career

Aveyard finished her first novel, Red Queen, after she graduated from college.{{Cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://victoriaaveyard.com/faq/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=Victoria Aveyard |language=en-US}} She was inspired to write Red Queen after she graduated from college with a lot of student loan debt and did not see any way to get out of it.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} Aveyard did not traditionally query; she signed with Suzie Townsend after she heard about her work when she was at USC's writing program. Red Queen was published in 2015 and was met with positive reviews, including praise for its storyline and diversity within the characters and plot twists. Red Queen was the recipient of the Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Goodreads Author.{{Cite web |title=Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22328546-red-queen?from_choice=true}} Three sequels and one prequel came after. Originally, Red Queen was planned to be a film franchise with Universal Pictures and Elizabeth Banks directing. In 2021, it was announced that the project will be a television series with Peacock, with Banks directing and appearing in a recurring role.{{cite web | url=https://bookstacked.com/popular/red-queen/red-queen-movie-tv-show-victoria-aveyard-2020/ | title=Red Queen Movie Update: "The team is still chugging along" | date=9 July 2020 }} Before production even began, Aveyard announced on Instagram that the series was renewed for a second season. Aveyard also wrote the pilot script for Red Queen.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In 2021, Aveyard released another novel called Realm Breaker which has reached number one on The New York Times Best Sellers list for young adult hardcover books.{{cite web |title=Young Adult Hardcover Books - Best Sellers - Books - June 6, 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2021/06/06/young-adult-hardcover/ |website=The New York Times}}