Francesca Lia Block

Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is the author of adult and young adult fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry, most famously the Weetzie Bat series. Block wrote her first book, Weetzie Bat, while a student at UC Berkeley; it was published in 1989 by Harper Collins. She is known for her use of imagery, especially in describing the city of Los Angeles. One New York Times Book Review critic said, "Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler." She has collaborated with artistic photographer Suza Scalora to write Evidence of Angels, released in 2009.

Block was born in Los Angeles to a poet and a painter, their creativity an obvious influence on her writing. Another influence was her childhood love of Greek mythology and fairy tales. She has lived in the city all her life, and still resides there with her daughter, Jasmine Angelina (about whom she wrote her book Guarding the Moon), her son Samuel Alexander, and her two dogs: a springer spaniel named Vincent Van Go Go Boots and a beagle mix named Thumper. She left only to attend the UC Berkeley. She has often professed her love of Los Angeles, calling it a "jasmine-scented, jacaranda-purple, neon sparked city," which she has nicknamed in her books "Shangri-LA."

She is currently developing an original show for MTV and writing the screenplay which will bring Weetzie Bat to the cinema. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Library Association. Block's work has been translated into seven different languages and is published around the world.

Block is a member of the Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the Writers Guild of America.