Riya Gupta is a storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada, although she prefers to write under her pen name Lia Gray. She has always had a passion for writing stories specialising in fantasy, literary, adventure and romance. Her childhood was spent engrossed in a world of books, so it was hardly a surprise when she declared her intentions of becoming an author at the age of 9. After writing two “novels” that were better off as paperweights, she wrote her debut YA novel “Incipient” during high school, self publishing it in 2022. At the moment, she is working on her novel “Word of Honor.”
Aside from four novels, she’s also written over a hundred literary pieces that are a blend of flash fiction, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction and stage plays. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Paper Shell Anthology, Inkwell Magazine and the That’s What We Said Journal. She has an Instagram account under the name @liagraybooks that she typically uses the account to fawn over many of her favourite novels. She also holds a dual degree in Creative Writing and English from UBC.
A few interesting facts:
Favorite Books: The Do Over, I Hope this Doesn’t Find You, You’ll be the Death of Me, My family and other animals, The Folk of the Air series, Caraval. Truly, the list goes on. PJO all the way, with Magnus Chase a close second. I’ve read every single Shadowhunter novel there is to exist and Ann Liang is my idol.
Weird Abilities: I can have entire conversations with myself, something I seem to do quite a lot. It’s probably not healthy…but maybe it’s why I’ve always been good at spelling tests. Oh and zoning out. I’m really good at that.
Music Choices: I’m a music writer. It sounds cool, but simply means I am incapable of writing without listening to songs. Some of my favorite artists are Gracie Abrams, Hozier, Fallout Boy, Odetari and Enhypen. Hopefully, you get the gist.
Recreational Activities: When I’m not writing, I enjoy reading books from my local library, listening to music at unnatural volumes or hunting for new cafes that sell matcha. I tend to find inspiration in my everyday mundane life and the people I encounter, so I’m always excited to connect with fellow writers and readers! I can also often be found trying to convince my orange cat to bask in my company. My efforts so far, however, have proved futile…
liagray.com 