Ren Koppel Torres

I've adored fantasy books since the dawn of time. I started my debut fantasy novel, The Shadow in Her Pocket, at nine years old, and published it at sixteen. I wanted to prove that Middle Grade authors don't have to talk down to their audiences. I wanted to flip the script on white- and male-dominated adventure stories. And I wanted to write about magic! Read more about my book here.

I'm passionate about advocating for child literacy. I'm donating a minimum of 10 percent of the proceeds from my book sales to Bookspring, a nonprofit Central Texas. I host book drives, volunteer to help with their book events, and write articles for them, too!

I write articles for several publications including Writer's Digest and Pipeline Artists. I'm featured in cartoon in both The New Yorker and LiteraryHub. I've presented at events including the NISD NerdvanaCon (2018-19) and The Library Foundation's Badgerdog Young Author Series. (If you're interested in having me speak at a book event, school, library, or other event, feel free to reach out to me!) Several teen-focused magazines including Teen Ink, the Augment Review, and WONKedition have featured my book. My poetry is published in Ample Remains, The Hearth, Hispanecdotes, and INKSOUNDS, and is forthcoming in literary magazines including Nymphs . As a guitarist/bassist and music history nerd, I adore writing about music, especially when I get to highlight other Latino musicians. That's part of why I love being an editor for the poetry/music collective, INKSOUNDS!

I was born in New York City in a Jewish-Mexican-American family. I now live in Austin, Texas with my family, a dog named Palomitas, and a rabbit named Zeus. My first language was Spanish. My favorite author is Kilgore Trout. When I'm not writing, I'm a visual artist, a guitarist in a rock band, and a high school student. 

Find me on Twitter at @KoppelTorres. Email me at lorenawesome123@gmail.com.

in Labyrinth Books, a bookstore in Princeton!

my article, "YA and MG Authors' Guide to Strong Female Characters," featured on the front page of WD print magazine!

reading at a Bookspring event

hosting a book drive for Bookspring!

featured in a cartoon cartoon by Bob Eckstein for LitHub magazine

hosting a read-aloud event at the Austin Public Library