Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater is an American writer of Young Adult fiction. She currently lives in Virginia.

Stiefvater was born Heidi Hummel in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She described herself as an anxious child with many phobias. As a child, she wanted to be a fighter pilot and racecar driver and was a voracious reader who enjoyed writing. By age 16, she was submitting manuscripts to publishers. After being homeschooled from sixth grade on, Stiefvater attended Mary Washington College, graduating with a B.A. in history. By the time she had entered college, she had already written overnovels, including four thrillers about the Irish Republican Army, a historical blockade runner novel, and a highfantasy novel about impassioned enchanters fighting among civil unrest. At 16, she legally changed her first name from Heidi to Margaret. After graduating, she worked as a portrait artist, specializing in equestrian art, which is collected internationally.

Source: Wikipedia