Lara Ameen is a screenwriter, novelist, short fiction writer, sensitivity/authenticity reader, and holds a PhD in education with a disability studies emphasis from Chapman University. She received an MFA in screenwriting from California State University, Northridge. Her YA contemporary fantasy novel, SPAER, was awarded a disabled writers’ grant from Suffering the Silence, longlisted in Voyage YA's First Chapters Contest, and their Book Pitch Contest. She writes one-hour TV drama pilots alongside fantasy and contemporary romance novels featuring asexual, disabled, and Egyptian main characters who are often dealing with grief while investigating the supernatural. A 2022 Lambda Literary Screenwriting Fellow, 2022 Mentorship Matters TV Writing Program finalist, and a 2022 NBC Launch TV Writing Program finalist, she was a 2023 screenwriting mentee as part of 1in4 Coalition’s mentorship program for disabled screenwriters. She is a 2021 alum of the Tin House YA Workshop, and 2021 and 2024 alum of the Futurescapes Writers' Workshop. An online writing instructor and fiction editor with Women on Writing, she has given lectures and presentations on disability representation in TV, film, and fiction at various venues in person and online including American University, Skylight Theatre, Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference, Lambda Literary, WriteHive, Women Who Submit, and more. Her short fiction has been published in Prismatica Magazine, Disabled Voices Anthology, Flash Fiction Magazine, Drunk Monkeys, just femme & dandy, Hairstreak Butterfly Review, Akpata Magazine, and elsewhere. She made her traditional publishing debut as a contributor to the 2024 Lambda Literary finalist young adult multi-genre anthology, Being Ace, published by Page Street YA. @trucherrygirl on Instagram, Twitter, BlueSky, and TikTok