lijah J. Mears is an author of science-fiction and fantasy from North Carolina. Growing up Jewish, neurodivergent, and gay in the South, great speculative fiction was Elijah’s way of escaping from a world where he didn’t always fit in. Now, he honors his younger self by writing tales of self-discovery, queer liberation, and the weirdest ideas that pop into his head. When not writing, he can often be found baking cookies, building walkable, urbanist neighborhoods for his Sims, or daydreaming.