American · b. 1982
TJ Klune wrote LGBTQ+ romance for a decade before The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) became a crossover hit and New York Times bestseller. The novel—about a caseworker who inspects an orphanage for magical children and falls in love with the man who runs it—is cozy fantasy with a political edge, exploring found family and institutional oppression. It won the 2021 Alex Award. Klune followed it with Under the Whispering Door (2021) and In the Lives of Puppets (2023), all characterized by warmth, humor, and queer protagonists. He was born and raised in Oregon and worked as a claims examiner for an insurance company for years before writing full-time. His earlier romance novels have passionate cult followings. Klune is open about his identity as a gay man and about his mental health struggles, and both inform his fiction.