Ali Hazelwood

About

#1 New York Times best-selling author of The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Check & Mate, Bride, and Not in Love, whose literary world dawned in the extracurricular pastime of fanfiction writing, until she was discovered by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. A majority of her works have been characterized by female protagonists employed in academic or STEM fields - an element she drew from her own occupation as a full-time professor of neuroscience from 2021 to 2023. She has also published several novellas, including Under One Roof, Stuck with You, and Below Zero - all 3 of which were conglomerated into the 2023 anthology Loathe to Love You.

Before Fame

She grew up in Italy, and spent time residing in both Germany and Japan. She relocated to the United States to pursue her neuroscience Ph.D., with a graduate study focus on brain stimulation and cognitive neuroscience research. She was initially inspired to delve into the world of fanfiction by an author named PsiCygni on the online platform known as AO3, or Archive of Our Own. She went on to submit her own fanfiction on AO3, called Head Over Feet, about a relationship between the Star Wars characters Rey and Kylo Ren. 

Trivia

The name Ali Hazelwood is not her true name, but merely a pseudonym she adopted for her literary works. Keeping her identity as an author separate from her life as a full-time neuroscience professor was not her original intention; however, in an interview with The Washington Post, she shared that during the years she spent as a professor, no one from her academic world ever identified her as Ali Hazelwood.

Family Life

She has shared several playful anecdotes about her relationship with her husband on her alihazelwood Instagram account. Her pet cats, as well as the gaze of raccoons she adopted, have also appeared in many of the photos on her social media accounts.

Associated With

In her debut novel, which is called The Love Hypothesis, she designated the male protagonist "Adam" after Adam Driver, who portrayed the role of Kylo Ren in several installments of the Star Wars film franchise. The novel's cover illustration was drawn to resemble the likeness of both Driver and Daisy Ridley, who originated the role of Rey in the films.