TJ Klune is a New York Times bestselling author of adult and young adult fiction. Klune began publishing novels in 2011 and his other works include fantasy and romance series along with several standalone novels. Under the Whispering Door is Klune’s 27^th published novel. His 2020 novel, House in the Cerulean Sea, received both the Alex Award and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and his 2013 novel Into This River I Drown won the Lambda Literary Award. Klune’s writing, including Under the Whispering Door, often explores magical realism and elements of the supernatural while covering themes of community, compassion, and equality. Klune’s writing is also influenced by his own asexuality, neurodiversity, and queerness, and his books center characters from these communities which are underrepresented in literature (Klune, TJ. “About.” TJ Klune Books).

Klune’s books, such as the award-winning Into This River I Drown, often address the topic of grief. This is a central theme of Under the Whispering Door, which he has called “the most personal book [he’s] written” (Klune, TJ. “I’m Angry.” TJ Klune Books). Klune wrote Under the Whispering Door while battling grief after the death of his fiancé and fellow romance author, Eric Arvin, to whom the book is dedicated.