Shaela Kay

Biography

I am a wife, mother, homeschool educator, and Christian. I love leopard print and rainy days. Prior to beginning my writing career, I was an independent paper crafts designer and worked for several different companies. My cards and scrapbook pages have been published online and in numerous idea books and magazines.

I was born and raised near Seattle, WA (which explains why I love the rain, haha). As a child, I was addicted to the written word, and my exhausted mother finally taught me to read when I was 4 years old so that I could read to myself. I learned to write shortly after, and wrote my first book at the age of 6. It had a red cover (my favorite color) and was held together by duct tape. I wrote it for my mother.

A passion for books became a passion for plays, and I was heavily involved in school and community theatre while growing up. I studied Theatre and English at Brigham Young University-Idaho, but left my studies when I married my sweetheart and started a family. We have four beautiful children and live in southeast Washington, along the banks of the mighty Columbia River.

While I am widely read in various genres, my favorite books to read (and consequently write) are historical fiction, especially romances. I love stories that carry me away to a foreign place and time, and if they can make me laugh and cry, that's even better. A hopeless romantic at heart, I also enjoy reading love stories, but squirm inside when they're too risque. My goal is to write vivid, well-researched historical novels, and when romance is involved, I am determined that they be clean enough to let my teenage daughters read them unashamed.