All About #BookTok's Favorite Author, Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover has been churning out YA and New Adult best sellers since 2012. But thanks to #BookTok, A few of her books have been flying off the shelves this summer, including It Ends With Us, a romance based on the relationship of Hoover's own parents, and Verity, a thriller about a struggling writer who uncovers some disturbing revelations about an injured author she's been hired to ghostwrite for. Here is an opportunity to get to know the popular author and pick up a few of her other must-read titles.

1. Her writing career was kicked off by a song lyric.

Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.

Hoover worked as a social worker and teacher in Texas before writing her first novel, Slammed, part of a trilogy about a couple who bond over their shared love of poetry. She was inspired to start writing when she heard a lyric by The Avett Brothers in their song, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise: "Decide what to be and go be it." Because of this, she made her main character a huge fan of the band and incorporated Avett Brothers lyrics throughout the book.

With Maybe Someday, she took her musical connection even further and collaborated with singer-songwriter Griffin Peterson to create an original soundtrack to accompany the novel.

2. She doesn't write with a genre in mind.

I don't like to be confined to one genre. If you put me in a box, I'll claw my way out.

Hoover has said that she was surprised when people classified her first publication as a romance, saying that her view of a romance were the Harlequins her mother read. She also says she never set out to write YA or new adult fiction either, but just writes books she would like to read. In an interview on popsugar.com she describes getting letters from two different readers, one 24 years old and the other 80, who both wrote thanking her for her novella, Finding Cinderella.

3. Her book Hopeless was the first self-published novel to hit #1 on the NYT Best Seller list.

Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for.

In fact, all of Hoover's first four self-published books became New York Times Best Sellers, but it was her fourth that actually nabbed the top spot. Published in 2013, Hopeless is about a seventeen-year-old girl who enters public high school in her senior year, after previously having been exclusively homeschooled. There she meets new people and makes some surprising discoveries.

5. None of her books have made it to the big screen...yet.

I love Zac Efron. I'd love for him to play every role from my books.

Hoover is often asked the question of who she'd like to star in her stories if they get made into movies, but so far, her fans have been confounded by the fact that this hasn't happened. More than five years ago, a Canadian production company bought the rights for Ugly Love, a heart-wrenching story that explores the messiness of a relationship without commitment. Despite the release of a steamy teaser, progress on the project has stalled. Perhaps her recent surge in popularity will get things moving. We'd love to see that happen!

In the meantime, you can watch a television series based on her novel Confess. The story centers on a 26-year-old woman who is trying to rebuild her life after losing everything.

5. She has published 21 books in less than a decade.

I need a chapter break.

Despite being mom to three growing sons, Hoover has been a prolific author publishing anywhere from one to four books a year since her first in 2012. She describes her writing process as very intuitive. No outlines or plans, she just sits down and writes, letting the characters tell their own stories. Whatever she's doing, it's working out smashingly!

Here are a few more recommendations from Hoover's impressive bibliography:

• November 9: A complicated romance between a writer and his unexpected muse.
• Regretting You: A poignant mother-daughter drama about love, grief, and betrayal.
• All Your Perfects: A page-turner that asks: Can a perfect romance survive an unperfect marriage?
• Layla: A twisty paranormal thriller exploring life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love.

You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily book recommendations, literary tidbits, and more.

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon