Amanda Lien (she/her) is a speculative fiction writer based in Virginia. Her short fiction has been published in Shelter of Daylight, and her opinionated words have appeared in Fast Company's POV column.

She started out as a newspaper reporter before earning an MFA in Creative Writing from National University, where her scholarship centered on creative writing and composition pedagogy with a focus on diversity in speculative fiction. She also holds a BA in Journalism and an MBA she uses more than she expected to.

Asking Amanda what she writes about could get you many answers. The questions she asks herself as she drafts are more universal:

• Who gets left behind, and who decides that?

• What do you owe people your own family hurt?

• Is it possible to love someone you can't save? (Is it wise?)

Regardless of genre or tradition, she writes queer protagonists, chronically ill protagonists, and the occasional car chase.

By day she works in product marketing. You can find that side of her life at amandajlien.com. The rest of the time she's in dance class or reading fanfiction, on her couch, with two cats and walls full of bookshelves.