McCormick Templeman



McCormick Templeman is an author, scholar, and editor, whose interests include horror, medicine, and literature of the long 19th century. Her writing has received praise from such outlets as Kirkus, BCCB, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Book Riot, and Bustle, and has been published by the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Journal of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine, and multiple Penguin Random House imprints. 


AstroLit: A Bibliophile’s Guide to the Stars

with Rachel Feder
In stores November 14, 2023
also available on audio from Penguin Random House

preorder from Penguin Random House

A unique, illustrated introduction to astrology that explores the zodiac through a literary lens, drawing lessons from celebrated authors including Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, W.E.B. Du Bois, Nella Larsen, Oscar Wilde, and dozens more.

AstroLit is a cosmic, illustrated voyage through the lives and works of literary giants from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. Renowned literary history scholars Rachel Feder and McCormick Templeman bring the twelve signs of the zodiac to glimmering life by analyzing the influence of over fifty illustrious writers' sun signs on the shape and depth of their most iconic works.

Each of the twelve sections focuses on a particular zodiac sign, featuring profiles of three celebrated authors analyzing their works and lives through the prism of their astrological sign. You'll uncover connection between writers' signs and their realms of creative influence, including the Capricornian ambition of Edgar Allan Poe and Zora Neale Hurston, the Sagittarian influence on William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the Taurean gothiness evident in Mary Wollstonecraft's work. Each chapter also includes writing advice and reading recommendations for readers, no matter your sign.

A delight for both astrology and book lovers, AstroLit is a gratifying exploration of classic literature and a playful way for readers and astrology lovers to learn something new about their favorite authors.

Other Titles

The Glass Casket

★ Starred review – Kirkus
★ Starred review – BCCB

YALSA best fiction selection

Overdrive Library Services, Best Books of the Year

"With stylish prose, richly developed characters and well-realized worldbuilding, Templeman plumbs archetypes of folklore to create a compelling blend of mythic elements and realistic teen experience."
-Kirkus Reviews


The Little Woods

★ Starred review – BCCB

“Templeman is a talent to watch.”
– Daniel Kraus, Booklist

Swerve: A Novel of Divergence (with Vincent James and Rowland Saifi)

“Smart, strange, funny, intense, wild, stylish, unsettling, sexy and surprising.”
— Laird Hunt

Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

“Terrifying and new . . . There’s nary a clunker in the collection—this is satisfying, disturbing
horror for the modern YA audience.”
—Publishers Weekly

PhD, University of Denver
DACM, Pacific College of Health and Science
MFA, Naropa University
MSOM, AIMC, Berkeley
BA, Reed College

Professional Affiliations


AAAOM
PEN America