Sasha Laurens is the author of the young adult novels A Wicked Magic and Youngblood, which was translated into 12 languages, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and was a 2023 CBC Librarian Favourites Winner in the US. She has a PhD in political science and spends her days doing academic research on authoritarianism and Russian politics. When she's not writing or working, she is training to compete in her first powerlifting competition this year.