Alex Aster, also known as Alexandra Pierson, is a Colombian American author of middle grade, young adult, and adult novels. She began her professional writing career with the release of her middle grade fantasy series, Emblem Island, followed by the massive release of her bestselling Lightlark trilogy, a young adult fantasy romance series. Summer in the City (2025) is her adult novel debut.

Aster is a #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, #1 Publishers Weekly Bestselling, #1 Indie Bestselling, and USA Today Bestselling author of Lightlark. The novel sold in over 30 territories. She is also among the most-followed authors in the world, boasting over 1.4 million followers in TikTok alone. Although Aster’s middle grade series found moderate success, Lightlark catapulted her into the spotlight, largely due to her self-promotion on BookTok, where her videos went viral. The massive popularity of her posts helped secure an unusually large publishing deal, which sparked controversy among readers and writers who questioned the role of industry connections and privilege in her rapid ascent. This backlash centered on the perception that Aster’s rise was not solely due to the strength of her manuscript, but aided significantly by pre-existing industry access, a high-level agent, and a viral platform few debut authors could replicate. As a result, Aster’s publishing journey stands in stark contrast to the typical debut author experience.

Aster has spoken publicly about her struggles with writer’s block. She goes through periods of time where she can’t write for months on end, but when the inspiration strikes, she can write 10,000 words in a day—not unlike Elle, the protagonist of Summer in the City. Aster, like Elle, tends to pull from her real-life experiences to inform her scripts. Aster loves writing from coffee shops because of the cozy ambiance, the pastries, and the tables. Elle enjoys writing from coffee shops for the same reasons.

The setting for Summer in the City is also inspired by parts of Aster’s life, as she lives in New York City. While she wrote Summer in the City, Aster visited all the same places she wrote about from Elle’s perspective, rediscovering her own love for the city in the process. Just as Elle walks in the footsteps of the characters she writes in her script, Aster walks in the footsteps of the characters she’s creating in her adult debut.

Aster has described her transition from young adult fantasy to adult romance as an experience full of the unexpected. While her Lightlark and Emblem Island series were written in third-person, Aster chose to write Summer in the City from the first-person perspective. The biggest difference between the two styles, she’s noticed, has been that her personality shines more through a more intimate, interior perspective like first-person.