Sometime around sixth grade, Cory was forced to face the sad truth that being a heroine in a Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, or Madeleine L’Engle book was not, in fact, a valid future career choice. But since she thought it might be almost as much fun to grow up to be Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, or Madeleine L’Engle, she decided to do just that. She’s still working on it.
Cory’s path to being an author did not go in a straight line. First, she attended UCLA and earned her B.A. in Psychology. Then she went to Cornell Law School to get her J.D. She worked as a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell and then as an adjunct professor at Texas State University, teaching business law to undergraduates.
But the writing bug was something that she just couldn’t shake, and she officially made her sixth grade dream come true in 2011 with her debut young adult novel, THE VEIL. Cory’s debut middle grade, DINOSAUR BOY, came out from Sourcebooks in 2015 and its sequel, DINOSAUR BOY SAVES MARS, launched in 2016. Cory’s second young adult novel, WITCHTOWN, came out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers in 2017 and her third middle grade novel, THE SECOND BEST HAUNTED HOTEL ON MERCER STREET, came out from Abrams/Amulet in the fall of 2020.
Cory’s latest challenge has been teaching seventh grade English. After a long-term substitute position turned permanent, Cory started teaching full time during the epic 2020-21 school year. Teaching during the pandemic has been more of a challenge than she’s able to find words for, but it has also re-affirmed something that Cory has always known: real-life kids are just as awesome, brave, and brilliant as their fictional counterparts in books.
Cory lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Mark, their two kids (Sophia and Alex), their dog (Gandalf) and their three cats (Weasley, Kit, and Rocky). In addition to writing, Cory enjoys running, baking, and hanging out with her family.
