Press Kit

Long Biography

Rachel Toalson is the award-winning author of the middle grade books THE COLORS OF THE RAIN, THE WOODS (both published by Yellow Jacket, a former imprint of Bonnier),  THE FIRST MAGNIFICENT SUMMER (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster), and SOMETHING MAYBE MAGNIFICENT (upcoming from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster), as well as several poetry and essay books for adults and a huge collection of middle grade and young adult books under a pen name. 

She’s been exercising her creativity since she was a little girl growing up in tiny-town Texas, where there was nothing more to do than race barefoot through cornrows, build forts out of blackberry bushes and old snakeskins, and dodge electric fences trying to escape angry bulls in fields that didn’t belong to her. She chased away her boredom reading, running, and imagining and writing stories. She still does that today. 

Rachel writes about small towns like the one she grew up in, large cities like the one she lives in now, and characters with neurodivergent brains, mental illness, lost and found families, addiction, and economic difficulties—because these are the stories she knows. 

Before she turned to writing stories full time, Rachel was a news and features reporter for The San Antonio Express News and The Houston Chronicle and a managing editor of a newspaper produced by The United Methodist Church. While balancing a busy job in journalism, she also played bass guitar and sang in the rock band she shared with her husband, Ben. They recorded three full-length albums together. 

She and Ben run the weekly podcast “In the Boat with Ben and Rachel,” a show focused on creativity, productivity, common struggles for creatives, feminism, neurodivergence, and mental health. She also hosts the YouTube shows “On My Shelf,” “Real Talk with Rachel” and “Writing Tips with Rachel.” She lives with Ben and their six children in San Antonio, Texas. Sign up for news, updates, book recommendations and more at https://racheltoalson.podia.com/newsletter.