Kaye Kelly's biography

Kaye Kelly

Text Box: Ever since I can remember I’ve always had this thought running through my mind that I should write books and I always did my best to ignore it. Let’s face it—if a person hates even writing letters and hasn’t a great deal of stickability (yep, that’s me) then writing isn’t exactly the best career choice they could make. A dreamer, not a doer, in my imagination I’ve travelled the world zillions of times, climbed mountains, won Olympic Golds, and written loads of novels. In reality, I’ve had a trip to the UK that was so rushed I blinked and almost missed it, several quick forays to Australia, stood at the foothills and gazed at the mountains. Came last in a primary school sack race. But my only attempt at things literary, an essay competition the whole class had to do in form two, was my coup de grace—damned if I didn’t win. That still puzzles me. However, over the years the little gremlin thought in my mind grew stronger, and one day—very much against my will, I might add—I sat down at the computer, spent five minutes flexing my fingers in the manner of a concert pianist then thought it might be a good idea to actually turn on said machine. Since then, several short stories and three historical novels, Mecca’s Gold, Cross the River to Home and A Secret Mind have been published. Currently, I’m working on a fantasy novel which may never see the light of day, but I’m having a ball writing it. Born and bred on the South Island’s West Coast, I’ve used its stunning and rugged terrain as a backdrop for all three of my novels to date. These days I live in Blenheim, a pretty town situated at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, known for its sunshine, fine wines, and magnificent Marlborough Sounds, with my—according to him—long-suffering husband, Tony. Our two adult off-spring, daughter and son, fearing being rather roughly pushed out of the nest, wisely, fled it years ago.