GILLIAN FLYNNGillian Flynn was born February 24, 1971 in Kansas City, Missouri. She is an American author, screenwriter, comic book writer and former television critic for Entertainment Weekly. Flynn has published three novels, which are all thrillers: Sharp bjects, Dark Places, and Gone Girl. While growing up, Flynn was "painfully shy" and found escape in reading and writing. Flynn's father used to take her to watch horror movies. She received her undergraduate degrees in English and journalism from the University of Kansas. She spent two years in California, writing for a trade magazine for human resources professionals. Then she moved to Chicago and attended Northwestern University for a master's degree in Journalism, in 1997 Flynn initially wanted to work as a police reporter, but she chose to do writing, as she discovered she had "no aptitude" for police reporting. She says that she is a writer due to her 15-some years in journalism. Some critics have accused Flynn of unflattering depiction of female characters in her books. Flynn identifies herself as a feminist and feels that feminism allows for women to be bad characters in literature. She says that she has grown weary of the “the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul- searching fashionistas”. She particularly mourns the lack of good, potent, female villains. Read More Read Less