Leah Thomas Books In Order

Publication Order of Because You'll Never Meet Me Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Leah Thomas is a reputed American author known for writing science fiction, young adult, romance, fiction, and gay & lesbian stories. She is particularly famous for writing the Because You Will Never Meet Me series. Leah started her writing career with the first book of this series in 2015. In addition to this series, she has penned a few standalone books as well. Her debut book was a Morris Award finalist in 2016. With the single novel entitled When Light Left Us, Leah ventured into writing YA science fiction stories. Author Leah graduated from Clarion in 2010. Her short fiction has featured in various literary magazines and journals such as Ideomancer, Asimov’s, Three Lobed Burning Eye, Black Static, and several others. Leah considers herself a dork and feels uncomfortable about giving out her author biography. When she is not busy with her writing projects, she can be found cosplaying or teaching. She is usually active on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Leah says that there are a number of things that inspired her to write her debut novel. Certain parts of it were influenced by her homesickness while she lived abroad and certain other parts were inspired by the superhero and comic books that she read in her childhood. A major part of her book’s story comes from the belief that distance doesn’t really matter when people can share words with each other in the form of letters, music, or stories. Leah is credited to have created the popular fictional characters of Moritz and Ollie. She says that these characters approach their lives with strategies that come to their mind. They discover various new possibilities when they come in each other’s contact and go on to realize that they are the hopes of each other and need to stick together always. Leah had o go through lots of research work to come up with the stories of Mortiz & Olie.

According to her, her first novel falls in the line of superhero stories’ spirit and has an aspect of realism in it. Leah believes that she has lived the life of her character Ollie. Just like him, she grew up in northern Michigan and had many friends. People in her hometown have recognized the aspects of their childhood mentioned in the book, which Leah thinks is quite funny. While growing up, Leah was inspired by many movies and books to write her own book. These include Harry Potter, Discworld, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hannibal, Marvel Cinematic Universe, etc. The authors who have influenced her the most include Kurt Vonnegut, Nancy Farmer, Tim Burton, MT Anderson, Ray Bradbury, etc. Currently, Leah is working on several of her upcoming books and has lined up a few of them for release in the coming months.

The Because You’ll Never Meet Me series written by author Leah Thomas started in 2015. It revolves around the lives of the two main characters named Ollie and Mortiz. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Because You’ll Never Meet Me’. It was released in 2015 by the Bloomsbury publication. The book opens by introducing Moritz and Ollie as best friends. Their friendship is very strong, but they cannot meet each other. Ollie has an allergy to electricity. Its contact causes his debilitating seizures. On the other hand, Moritz has a weak heart, which is made to keep pumping with the help of an artificial electronic pacemaker. These extraordinary conditions make it almost impossible for them to meet. If they ever decide to meet, Ollie may lose his life due to seizures. And Moritz cannot live without the electronic pacemaker. But, their medical conditions do not stop them from sharing thoughts and words and chatting. They develop a strong bond of friendship through letters and share whatever is going on in their lives with one another. The letters become their lifeline during their dark times.

Before coming across Moritz, Ollie had a friend named Liz. But, he lost him because Liz had to move on in life and attend high school. Moritz also faced a difficult time as a bully keeps harassing him and intends to destroy him completely. This novel tells the story of hope and impossible friendship under strange situations. The story is dark, humorous, and powerful at the same time. Leah’s extraordinary narration brings the readers into the minds and hearts of 2 special boys waiting for the moment to rise and shine. This book is penned in an adorably smart and enjoyable style that seems absolutely entertaining and fascinating. Numerous readers and critics enjoyed reading this distinctive book and gave honest reviews. Both the characters depicted by Leah look so perfect and wonderful in their own ways that it is difficult to make out who is more lovable. There is a perfect balance of angst and comedy in the book that made the readers remain glued to the story from start to finish.

The second volume of the series is called ‘Nowhere Near You’. It was also published by Bloomsbury publication in 2017. Once again, Ollie and Moritz are depicted as the lead characters in the novel. Initially, it is mentioned that the friendship of Moritz and Ollie knows no bounds even though they are not able to meet. They continue to exchange letters and share stories. In one of the letters, Ollie informs Moritz that he is about to take up the first road trip of his life. This trip will help him move out of the woods for the first time. Ollie knows that it is not going to be an easy task for a boy like him, who is allergic to electricity and begins to face hardships as soon as the trip begins. Moritz wonders which new school should be joined by him that would suit his condition and other pupils won’t make fun of him.

After setting out of the comfort of their homes, Ollie & Moritz meet other people like them, who are seemingly leading normal lives. Seeing them live their lives happily makes the two boys realize that they never imagined living with a medical condition could be that easy. A boy having an atypical skeleton keeps joking about it, a girl hides her deformity, etc. Moritz & Ollie begin to see the future with sorts of possibilities. As they attempt to lead a happy life, their past comes back to interrupt and threatens to cause the destruction of whatever progress they have made.