Meet Brittany Johnson

Originally (and proudly) from Essex County, New Jersey, Brittany has always been enamored with storytelling—especially if the main character wore a tiara and a flowy dress. Her first “book” was written on the walls of her mother’s living room. Proud (with a mess to now clean), her mother let her re-print her work on giant sticky notes so she could proudly show the world her art.

In her early teens, she relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she fell deeper in love with writing through fanfiction, co-writing original stories with friends through text and notebook, and creating original characters.

As an upperclassman, she discovered a passion for film, screenwriting, and photography. She temporarily put the pen down and joyfully picked a lens up. These passions lead to a brief stint at the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, and later on other professional pursuits. Some of her favorite memories come from helping launch and grow a film production company in St. Petersburg, Florida, and being a featured artist at the MIZE Gallery in St. Pete and the Orlando Museum of Art, in Orlando, Florida. Through it all, she couldn’t ignore the part of her that missed writing, so she found her way back to a notebook and a Word Doc to become an official author.

After a few shelved manuscripts, more rejections than she remembers, and a lot of tears and hard work, she gained representation from Jamie Vankirk at Rainbow Nerds Literary in 2021 with what would become her debut young adult fantasy, Deadly Ever After, set for Fall 2025 publication. She was also chosen to be a contributing author for the award-nominated young adult anthology We Mostly Come Out at Night.

None of the above would have been possible without the immense support of her agent, editors, friends, family, partner, dogs, colleagues, and other creative professionals before her. To each and every single one of them, she is eternally grateful.

Brittany is a proud Black, African American, queer woman who was raised equally in the Northeast and Southeast regions of the States, but that wasn’t always the case.

Throughout her adolescence and young adult life, she struggled with her identity and place in life in various ways which contributed to low self-esteem and depression. Being young, creative, dark, queer, and very much Black, she had to learn that if she played the role that the world demanded she play, she’d live a miserable, isolating existence. She knew there had to be more to life, so she held on fast to her (what felt like an) unrequited lust for life and the faith that things would get better. Spoiler alert: They did, but it took years of emotional, mental, and physical work to get there. 

Many of the tools she utilized she learned from fairytales growing up. They became her survival guide, and without them, she would have never been able to create a life better than what she could have dreamed of. It’s because of movies like Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) and The Princess and the Frog, that she was able to do what some felt she’d never be able to. 

Live a life she loves, on her terms, fueled by a creative career she built from the ground up. 

The books, characters, and worlds she writes reflect those lessons, alongside larger questions she ponders daily. Everything she pens is grounded in empathy and compassion for fictional and real-life individuals alike. She also loves to investigate nuance and the messy emotional “in-between” in our life journeys. All-in-all, she strives to create work that encourages readers to believe that they can have a happily ever after no matter what they look like, who they love, how they identify, or where they came from. Oftentimes you’ll find themes surrounding love, connection, loss, fate, and destiny in those stories.

• She has two dogs: Callie & Scotty

• Her life partner, Alex (A.K. Savage) is a YouTuber, content creator, fantasy author, and novel and script editor. His YouTube channel, SavageBooks, is an educational resource for new writers utilizing popular fantasy media as an example.

• She spent a large portion of her 20s working in the hospitality industry doing everything from serving ice cream to character performing.

• She wanted to be an event planner after leaving art school.

• She is a Broadway enthusiast. Her favorite shows are Into the Woods, The Wiz, Legally Blonde, and Ain’t Too Proud. Her favorite movie musicals are Dreamgirls, Hello Dolly!, and Wicked.

• Her favorite musical artists are Beyoncé and Janelle Monae.

• Her favorite hobbies include baking, ice skating, illustration, and trying to find new hobbies.