Susan Dennard author page

Susan Dennard biography

Susan Dennard is an American author of speculative fiction for young adults. Trained as a marine biologist, she worked in science before moving into writing and is known for fast-paced fantasy built around tight world-building and character-driven plots.

Dennard made her debut with the historical-fantasy trilogy Something Strange and Deadly for HarperTeen: Something Strange and Deadly, A Darkness Strange and Lovely, and Strange and Ever After. She followed with the bestselling Witchlands sequence from Tor Teen, comprising Truthwitch, Windwitch, Sightwitch (illustrated companion), Bloodwitch, and Witchshadow. The series blends political intrigue, magic systems tied to elemental and thread-based powers, and an ensemble cast across multiple nations.

Her later work includes the contemporary-set dark fantasy trilogy The Luminaries (Tor Teen), which began as an interactive storytelling project with her online readership before publication. The books—The Luminaries, The Hunting Moon, and The Whispering Night—centre on a secretive community that protects its town from nightmarish creatures in the surrounding forest.

Beyond fiction, Dennard shares craft guidance through newsletters and workshops for aspiring writers, drawing on her research background and professional experience to discuss process, revision and story structure.

Selected works: Something Strange and Deadly trilogy (HarperTeen); Witchlands: Truthwitch, Windwitch, Sightwitch, Bloodwitch, Witchshadow (Tor Teen); The Luminaries, The Hunting Moon, The Whispering Night (Tor Teen).