Lauren Johnson

Lauren Kay Johnson has always loved storytelling. As a child, she liked to prance around her family’s backyard talking to herself. When her mom asked what she was doing, she replied, “I’m writing books!” It took a few years (okay, decades), but Lauren did eventually write an actual book. Her memoir, The Fine Art of Camouflage, chronicles her coming-of-age against the backdrop of war—beginning with her mother’s Army career and deployment to the first Gulf War when Lauren was seven years old, and continuing with her own service in Afghanistan. The book was a finalist for the 2024 Washington State Book Awards.

Lauren’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Boston Globe Magazine, Glamour, military.com, and several anthologies. Her writing and interviews have been used in the creation of dance and theater productions, and she has lectured at schools, conferences, and veteran centers across the country. Additionally, Lauren’s writing has received support from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, where she worked with Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling memoir Wild.

Over the past decade, Lauren has worked in a range of industries—most recently as a nonprofit executive, directing educational programming for K-12 girls and gender-diverse students—but her most rewarding work has come as an editor and writing coach. She loves helping others home in on and find the power in their unique stories.

Lauren grew up in Seattle, attended college in Los Angeles, lived in Florida while in the military, and earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College in Boston. She thinks it’s pretty cool to have lived in all four corners of the U.S. Currently, she resides in Olympia, WA with her husband, twin daughters, two fat cats, and hundreds of books.