Short Bio
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, storm chaser, and adventurer. She has authored over 20 books and 50 short stories, including AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First (Candlewick), Enchanted (HMH) and Prince Phillip’s Birthday Waltz (Disney). Alethea has received the Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant, the Scribe Award, the Garden State Teen Book Award, and is a two-time winner of the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award. She has been twice nominated for both the Andre Norton Nebula and the Dragon Award. Alethea also narrates stories for multiple award-winning online magazines and contributes book reviews to NPR. Born in Vermont, she currently resides on the Space Coast of Florida where she watches K-dramas with her teddy bear, Charlie. Find out more about Princess Alethea at aletheakontis.com
Author Photos
“The beauty of a princess, the confidence of a queen, the brilliance of a writer, and the demeanor of a cheerful fairy comedian!” Tweet
Cheyenne Z.
Blogger“I want to live in (Alethea’s) head because I think that might be the most interesting place in the world!!!!” Tweet
Ellen Oh
Author“If Neil Gaiman and the Brothers Grimm had a child who grew up to weave fairy tales, she would be Alethea Kontis.” Tweet
J.T. Ellison
AuthorLong Bio
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, storm chaser, voice actress, and Saturday Songwriter. She is responsible for creating the epic fairy tale fantasy realm of Arilland, and dabbling in a myriad of other worlds beyond. Her award-winning writing has been published for multiple age groups across all genres. She is the host of “Princess Alethea’s Fairy Tale Rants” on YouTube and Princess Alethea’s Traveling Sideshow at Dragon Con. Alethea has used her voice acting abilities to narrate stories for ACX, IGMS, Escape Pod, Pseudopod, Cast of Wonders, PodCastle, Shimmer, Apex Magazine and Clarkesworld Magazine, and she contributes regular YA book reviews to NPR. During the 2020 lockdown, she and other Snow Patrol fans teamed up with lead singer Gary Lightbody to create over a dozen original songs. Their first EP, The Fireside Sessions by Snow Patrol and the Saturday Songwriters, released on August 21, 2020 to much critical acclaim.
Alethea’s YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won both the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award and Garden State Teen Book Award. Enchanted was nominated for the Audie Award in 2013 and was selected for World Book Night in 2014. Both Enchanted and its sequel, Hero, were nominated for the Andre Norton Award. Tales of Arilland, a short story collection set in the same fairy tale world, won a second Gelett Burgess Award in 2015. The second book in The Trix Adventures, Trix and the Faerie Queen, was a finalist for the Dragon Award in 2016. Alethea was nominated for the Dragon Award again in 2018, for her YA paranormal rom-com When Tinker Met Bell. In 2019, the third in her Harmswood Academy trilogy–Besphinxed–won the Scribe Award, presented by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. In 2019 she was one of two winners to receive the Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant.
Princess Alethea was given the honor of speaking about fairy tales at the Library of Congress in 2013. In 2015, she gave a keynote address at the Lewis Carroll Society’s Alice150 Conference in New York City, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She also enjoys speaking at schools and festivals all over the US. (If forced to choose between all these things, she says middle schools are her favorite!)
Born in Burlington, Vermont, Alethea currently lives on the Space Coast of Florida. She makes the best baklava you’ve ever tasted, plays really bad acoustic guitar, and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie. Find out more about Princess Alethea and the magic, wonderful world in which she lives at aletheakontis.com
Media
10 Books to Read While Waiting Impatiently for Maleficent (HuffPo)
24 Books You Should Read Based on Your Favorite TV Shows (Buzzfeed)
46 of the Most Beautiful Sentences in YA Literature (Buzzfeed)
“Everyone involved — and we do mean everyone involved — take a bow.” —Mark Kennedy, Associated Press on The Fireside Sessions by Snow Patrol and the Saturday Songwriters
Snow Patrol Announce The Fireside Sessions EP, Release New Collaborative Single (Hot Press)
SNOW PATROL and the SATURDAY SONGWRITERS release The Fireside Sessions EP on August 21st (XSNOISE)
