Amanda Arista

Amanda was born in Illinois, raised in Corpus Christi, lives in Dallas but her heart lies in London. Good thing she loves to travel. During the summer after second grade, she read every book in the young adult section of the library, much to the surprise of the local librarian. So she started making up her own stories and hasn’t stopped.

She has a husband who fights crime and a tiny human who is following in her mother’s footsteps of storytelling. You can usually find her curled up on her couch with a varied menagerie of dogs or lizards writing away.

Along with her BA in English & Psychology and her MA in Education, Amanda is a graduate of the SMU The Writer’s Path and taught other aspiring authors for six years in the program. She has delivered lectures at several writer conferences and loves discussing craft, character, and structure.

Amanda is the author of the Diaries of an Urban Panther series and The Merci Lanard Files.