Lily Meade writes real world issues through an extraordinary lens. She comes from a background of extreme poverty, something she prides herself on being transparent and vulnerably honest about. She has been homeless twice and still lives in housing insecurity. She believe stories have power and strives to live by the motto of a life inspired by fiction. She knows just how powerful hope can be when you’re on a difficult journey. She believes anyone can achieve their own happy ending, no matter how bleak things may currently seem.
The Shadow Sister is her debut young adult novel, but not her first foray into the writing community. Her YouTube channel on writing advice and inspiration, established in 2014, has over 3,700 subscribers. She has an active and engaged presence on social media, quick to interact with readers and never shy to hop on camera to share excitement and new career updates.
She has a Certificate in Editing from the University of Washington. Her work has been published in Bustle, Teen Vogue, and Publishers Weekly. She has been featured in Romper, Buzzfeed, and Rolling Stone. The Shadow Sister is a Locus Magazine Recommended Read, on the 2024 TAYSHAS Reading List, and was a Boston Globe Best Books for Summer 2023. Before it even sold, The Shadow Sister was a finalist for the Eleanor Taylor Bland award for emerging writers by Sisters In Crime.
“Lily presented her first writing workshop for our Peninsula Library System’s Young Adult Novelist Convention (YANovCon), an annual county-wide event hosted by all of the libraries in San Mateo County, California. Although Lily had initially agreed to appear as a discussion panelist, when our committee decided to add a Teen Writing Workshop as a new element of this year’s convention she very kindly (and enthusiastically!) agreed to take on this larger role as well. We were so fortunate to have had her in charge of this large program! From start to finish, Lily was a joy to work with as well as a true professional who worked to achieve the best possible results. We were able to completely entrust her with designing and planning what turned out to be exactly the right program for our teens – her workshop was outstanding in all ways, and Lily’s positive, engaging demeanor only served to make the experience even more worthwhile! Lily’s workshop was such an excellent first-time event here at YANovCon that attendees overwhelmingly rated it one of their favorite moments of the entire day. We welcome Lily back at any time!” ― YANovCon
