About the Author

Nancy Kelly Allen’s route to award-winning writing has more twists and turns than a winding mountain road. She worked as a social worker, elementary school teacher and school librarian. After spending days introducing books to children, she spent nights writing books for them.

Nancy grew up in Kentucky, where storytelling is a way of life. Her father entertained the family with humorous stories. Each time he told a story, he embellished it a little more. Nancy’s mother encouraged her young daughter to write stories even before Nancy could read. Nancy pecked away on the keyboard of an old Royal typewriter, writing nothing but jumbled letters and numbers. She proudly handed her work to her mother, who read it aloud as if Nancy had actually written a masterpiece. The early influence of her mother’s literary interpretations and her father’s humorous storytelling set Nancy on the road to creating worlds through books.

Nancy has a master’s in education degree from Morehead State University and a master’s in library and information science degree from the University of Kentucky. She lives in Kentucky in the log cabin in which she grew up. Nancy shares her cabin with her husband, Larry, and two canine writer assistants, Jazi and Roxi.