Meet the Author(s)
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Working under multiple pen names is kind of like being Clark Kent and Superman at the same time (albeit without all the flying and laser vision and jumping over tall buildings in a single bound.)
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Libbie Grant (the author's real name) began writing under her first pen name, Libbie Hawker, in the late 2000s. Her initial plan was to establish her career under that pen name and then transition to publishing under her real name when the time was right. But in 2017, when Lake Union Publishing asked her to write for their press in a more literary style and under a new name, Olivia Hawker was "born" and has been active on the historical fiction scene ever since.
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It's not uncommon for authors to work under multiple pen names for a variety of reasons. It's accepted as standard practice within the publishing world, but it can cause some confusion for readers! Many authors with pen names keep each name separate from the others and don't publicly acknowledge their several identities.
But in Libbie's case, as her body of work grew, the task of maintaining multiple web sites and newsletters became too much to handle! Consolidating all of her work onto a single web site saved an awful lot of stress and made the task of juggling multiple identities a little easier to manage.
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Libbie was born in Rexburg, Idaho and grew up in the Seattle area. Her father and grandfather were both professional artists; like them, she is self-taught and takes pride in her independent/outsider approach to writing. Although she does work with publishers, she was also an early adopter of self-publishing during the early to mid 2010s, when the Kindle e-reader revolutionized the publishing world. Now she actively experiments with emerging modes of storytelling, seeking to spread the long-form narrative to new and exciting niches as technology and society continue to evolve.
Among her various pen names, Libbie has been a Washington Post bestseller and earned a coveted spot on the Top 100 Bestselling Books of the Year list on Amazon. She has been a finalist for several awards, including the Washington State Book Award, the WILLA Literary Award, and the Audie Award for outstanding audiobooks. Her work has been featured in the New York Times Review of Books. The Denver Post called one book "Beautifully written... superb... a first-rate historical novel," while Booklist praised another as "Exceptional." Bestselling author Paulette Kennedy called her latest novel "Masterful... a singular work of art... completely unforgettable."
Libbie is a permanent resident of Canada, working towards her citizenship. She and her partner Paul divide their time between their home in Victoria, British Columbia and a small cottage on San Juan Island.
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To contact Libbie, please use the "Contact" option in the site menu.