Victoria Elizabeth (V. E.) Schwab (born July 7, 1987) is an American writer. She is known for the 2013 novel '' Vicious'', the '' Shades of Magic'' series, and ''

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ''The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue'' is a fantasy novel by the American author V. E. Schwab. It was published by Tor Books on October 6, 2020. The story follows a young French woman in 1714 who makes a Deal with the Devil, bargain with the Dark ...

'', which was nominated for the 2020

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by ''Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries o ...

''.'' She publishes

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

books published under the name Victoria Schwab. She is the creator of the supernatural teen drama series ''

First Kill (TV series) '' First Kill'' is an American supernatural teen drama series created by Victoria Schwab that premiered on June 10, 2022 on Netflix. The series is based on Schwab's short story of the same name. In August 2022, the series was canceled after on ...

'', based on her short story of the same name originally published in the 2020 anthology ''Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite.''

Early life and education

Schwab was born on July 7, 1987 in California and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Schwab went to an all-girls Southern preparatory school. She graduated from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

in 2009. She had originally planned to study

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

, but changed directions after taking art and literature courses. She completed her first novel (unpublished) in her sophomore year, and sold her debut novel, ''The Near Witch'', to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

before graduating.

Career

Schwab's debut novel, ''The Near Witch'', was published by

in 2011. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called ''Vicious'' "a brilliant exploration of the superhero mythos, and a riveting revenge thriller". Additionally, it received a

starred review A starred review is a book review __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece ...

from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', which also named the novel one of its best books of 2013 for Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror. The

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Reference and User Services Association The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) annual Outstanding Reference Sources awards are considered the highest awards honoring academic reference books or media,. Besides these awards, the American Library Association (ALA) also grants ...

likewise awarded it the top fantasy book in their 2014 Reading List. In late 2013, the rights for a film adaptation of ''Vicious'' were bought jointly by Story Mining & Supply Co and

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

's:

Scott Free Productions Scott Free Productions is an independent film and television production company founded in 1970 by filmmakers and brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. They formed the feature film development company Percy Main Productions in 1980, naming the ...

. In 2014, Schwab signed a two-book deal with

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, which included ''A Darker Shade of Magic'' and its sequel''.'' The former was published in February 2015, and also received a starred review from ''Publishers Weekly''. In 2017, she signed another book deal with Tor for ''Vengeful'', the sequel to ''Vicious''; a new trilogy set called ''Threads of Power'', which takes place in the same world as the Shades of Magic series; and an "homage to ''Blade Runner''" called ''Black Tabs''. In May 2018, Schwab gave the sixth annual

Tolkien Lecture The J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature is a free public lecture delivered annually at Pembroke College, Oxford University. The series was founded by Pembroke postgraduate students Will Badger and Gabriel Schenk in memory of J.R.R. Tolki ...

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

. ''

'' was published by

on October 6, 2020. It was heavily praised and nominated for the 2020

''.'' Schwab's short story "First Kill" was published in the 2020 anthology ''Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite.'' On October 15, 2020,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

gave a series order to the production ''

.'' Schwab served at the creator and an executive producer of the series and as a writer for a number of episodes. The first season of the series premiered on June 10, 2022 on Netflix.

Personal life

Schwab grew up in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and has lived in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. She first came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

at age 28.

Bibliography

As Victoria Schwab

''The Dark Vault'' series

*''The Archived'' (2013) *''The Unbound'' (2014) *"Leave the Window Open" (2015) (short story) *The Returned (TBA)

''Everyday Angel'' series

*''New Beginnings'' (2014) *''Second Chances'' (2014) *''Last Wishes'' (2014)

''Monsters of Verity'' series

*''This Savage Song'' (2016) *''Our Dark Duet'' (2017)

''Cassidy Blake'' series

*''City of Ghosts'' (2018) *''Tunnel of Bones'' (2019) *''Bridge of Souls'' (2021)

Standalone works

* ''Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts - Broken Ground'' (2015) * ''Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy'' (2017) (contributing writer) * ''(Don't) Call Me Crazy'' (2018) (contributing writer)

As V. E. Schwab

''Villains'' Series

*"Warm Up" (2013) (short story) *'' Vicious'' (2013) *''Vengeful'' (2018) * Victorious (announced)

Villains Graphic Novels

*ExtraOrdinary (2021)

''Shades of Magic'' series

*''

A Darker Shade of Magic ''A Darker Shade of Magic'' is an adult fantasy novel by American author V. E. Schwab published by Tor Books in 2015. It is the first installment of the ''Shades of Magic'' trilogy. Plot summary As a young Antari magician, Kell is one of the l ...

'' (2015) *''A Gathering of Shadows'' (2016) *''A Conjuring of Light'' (2017) *Untitled (''Threads of Power,'' announced)

''Shades of Magic Graphic Novels'' series

*''Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince'' (2019) *''Shades of Magic Vol. 2: Night of Knives'' (2019) *''Shades of Magic Vol. 3: The Rebel Army'' (2020)

''The Near Witch'' series

* "The Ash-Born Boy" (2012) (short story) *''The Near Witch'' (2011) (republished in 2019 under V. E. Schwab)

Standalone works

* "First Kill", a short story within the anthology ''Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite'' (2020) *''

'' (2020) * ''Gallant'' (2022) * ''Black Tabs'' (announced)

Awards

* 2018 Winner

Goodreads Choice Awards The Goodreads Choice Awards is a yearly award program, first launched on Goodreads in 2009. Winners are determined by crowdvoting, users voting on books that Goodreads has nominated or books of their choosing, released in the given year. Most boo ...

- Best Science Fiction for ''Vengeful'' * 2022 Winner

- Best Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction for ''Gallant''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwab, V. E. 21st-century American women writers Living people American LGBT novelists Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women writers of young adult literature American young adult novelists 1987 births Washington University in St. Louis alumni LGBT women LGBT people from Tennessee American lesbian writers 21st-century LGBT people