Eto Mori is a Japanese novelist and author born in Tokyo on April 2, 1968. She pursued her education at the Japan Education College of Juvenile Literature before graduating from Waseda University. Her career as a writer began in 1990 with the publication of her debut novel, Rizumu, which won the Kodansha Juvenile Literature Prize for New Writers.

Mori is the original creator of the novel Colorful, which was published in 1998 and received the Sankei Children's Book Award. This novel serves as the source material for the 2010 anime film of the same name, directed by Keiichi Hara and produced by Sunrise. The story follows a soul given a second chance at life within the body of a 14-year-old boy who has died by suicide. The film adaptation was well-received, earning a special mention and the audience award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 2011.

Beyond Colorful, her body of work includes numerous other novels that have been adapted into various media. Her four-volume series Dive!!, published between 2000 and 2002, was adapted into a manga, a live-action feature film, and an anime television series. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 theatrical anime Black Jack: The Moira Syndrome, based on the character by Osamu Tezuka.

Her literary career is distinguished by several major awards. In 1998, she won the Noma Literary Prize for her novel Tsuki no fune. She later received the Naoki Prize in 2006 for Kaze ni maiagaru biniru shito, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards for popular fiction. A consistent theme across her work, particularly evident in Colorful, is an exploration of human imperfection, personal redemption, and finding value in life through connection and understanding.