Kathy Keller
Kathy Jean Keller (nee: Billman; born 1950) is an American author, mostly of historic fiction and romance novels, who has recently written in science fiction..
Biography
Keller was a journalism major at American University when she first decided to write a novel. Like many writers, thinking about writing and actually writing a novel can be separated by years. She completed her first novel in 1986 and submitted it to publishers. A friend, a fellow novelist, encouraged her to submit Homeward Heart for consideration for the Golden Heart Award. In that same year Homeward Heart was named a Finalist in the Historical Category for the Best Work by an Unsold Romance Novelist. In 1989 her second novel, A Love Too Proud was awarded Third Place for the Maggie Award of the Georgia Romance Writers of the Romance Writers of America as An Outstanding Work by a Published Romance Novelist in the Historical Division. Her first two books were published under the Dorchester Publishing Leisure Books imprint.
Keller then took a break from writing, busy raising her daughter, before undertaking her next book. Destiny's Shadow was released in 2001, although it was essentially finished several years before. Keller has said that she is rarely satisfied with the historic detail of her books and tends to research all details. Destiny's Shadow was published through iUniverse, a print on demand publisher which was becoming popular at the time. Also released in 2001 through iUniverse was Millionaires' Row, a novel Keller co-wrote with her mother A.J. Billman, a short story author. Millionaires' Row is a 19th Century historical novel based loosely on the history of the authors' home town, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, formerly known as the Lumber Capital of the World. Keller and Billman followed up Millionaires' Row with a second book in the series, Millionaires' Row: The Legacy which follows the original characters, the Douglas family, into the early 20th Century.
Keller's most recent book released in 2015 departs from the previous genre. The Paradox is a science fiction/time travel genre. In 2014-2015, Keller re-released all of her books, all at the time out of print, in eBook format through Smashwords. In 2015 she was busy writing screenplays for the Millionaires' Row series.
Kathy Keller was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After graduating from college she worked in magazine journalism. She is married to a well-known security consultant and for a number of years worked in the family consulting firm as business manager before deciding to write full time. She has one daughter. The family moved to Florida in 1986. She has traveled extensively, generally to conduct research on her books.
Bibliography
Single novels:
1. Homeward Heart (1986)
2. A Love Too Proud (1989)
3. Destiny's Shadow (2001)
4. The Paradox (2015)
Two of Keller's novels are arranged in the Millionaires' Row, Douglas Saga Series:
1. Millionaires' Row (2001)
2. Millionaires' Row: The Legacy (2013)
Awards
Homeward Heart: Golden Heart Award Finalist, Historical Category, Best Work by an Unsold Romance Novelist.
A Love Too Proud: Finalist, Maggie Award of the Georgia Romance Writers of the Romance Writers of America; An Outstanding Work by a Published Romance Novelist in the Historical Division.
References
1. [1]
2. [2]
- ↑ Kathy Keller Official Website http://www.kathykeller.com
- ↑ Smashwords Kathy Keller fan website and Smashwords interview https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KathyKeller