Avery Timmons

Avery Timmons is the Chicago-based author of YA fantasy novels THICKER THAN WATER and MAIMED.She is represented by Gabriella Melendez at Great Dog Literary.Regardless of genre, she loves to write about protagonists who are trying to figure out who they want to be and their place in the world. She often draws inspiration from the other things she loves besides books: music, theater, and the city of Chicago.

YA romantic fantasy | dual POV |
dual timeline | forbidden/tragic love | complex family dynamics

The crown is a cage, but her blade is the key.Exodus is the Autumn Court’s most lethal paradox: a prince gifted with the terrifying power of mental manipulation who craves nothing but the silence of a common life. Bound by duty and a father’s cold expectations, he is prepared to marry for politics and suffer for the throne. That was the plan until he met Azalea. She was the Courtless assassin sent to end his life, yet she became the only heart he ever truly claimed. Then, without warning, he broke her.Six years of icy silence shatters when Azalea returns to the palace. Hired by the King himself for a suicide mission to eliminate a rival monarch, she must inhabit the same halls as the man who discarded her. The price is too high to refuse; the proximity is a torture she didn’t anticipate. Azalea came for blood and gold, but as buried secrets of the Autumn Court begin to surface, she realizes the mission is a trap, and her past is a lie. In a kingdom built on deception, the most dangerous thing isn’t the contract she signed, it is the man she still craves.Betrayal has never tasted this sweet.

WINNER OF THE 2026 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

YA urban fantasy | found family |
coming-of-age | complex family dynamics

Eighteen-year-old Lydia Ross wants nothing more than to be normal, which is impossible, considering she’s half-vampire, half-human. But she finds her escape from her overprotective father when she starts her freshman year of college in downtown Chicago.Just as Lydia feels like she is finally fitting in among her newfound human friends, she gets lost in the facade and accidentally attacks a classmate. The attack unlocks a fantastical world of fellow vampires, Fae, and even werewolves that has been hidden just below the surface of her everyday life—including its threats.Caught between the two sides of herself, her blood family, and her found family, Lydia is faced with the struggles of self-acceptance and impossible decisions, including her biggest fear: coming clean to the humans in her life and risk losing them for good.

Short Story Publications

Photography Publications

Interviews

Events

AUGUST 29, 2026: Elmhurst Public Library Local Author Fair @ Elmhurst, IL
OCTOBER 17, 2026: New Book Joy's Local Author Palooza @ Imperial Oak Brewing, Brookfield, IL