Kelly Irvin’s writing career in nonfiction and fiction spans the last twenty-five years.

Represented by agent Mary Sue Seymour, Kelly recently signed a contract with Five Star Publishing for her romantic suspense novel, A Deadly Wilderness, which will be available in hardback in January 2010. Her mainstream suspense manuscript, “ The Dead Parent Society,”  finished second in the 2007 Molly Contest sponsored by the Denver Heart of Romance Chapter of Romance Writers of America, while her romantic suspense manuscript, “Mine to Avenge,” was a finalist in the 2006 American Christian Fiction Writers national Genesis Contest. Other fiction-writing credentials include publication of the short story, “Fast Food,” in HiCall  Sunday School Magazine. Her poem, “ Twenty-Twenty Vision,”  was published in theSan Antonio Express-News. The Kansas native is a member of ACFW, Sisters in Crime, and Alamo City Christian Writers. In addition to the ACFW annual conference, she has attended the Glorieta Writers Conference in Glorieta, New Mexico.

A graduate of the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism, Kelly has been writing nonfiction professionally for twenty-five years. She studied for three semesters at the University of Costa Rica, learning the Spanish language.

As a journalist, she worked six years in the border towns of Laredo and El Paso, where she was exposed to culture and language that serves as fodder for her fiction writing. She has written hard news, features, entertainment pieces, restaurant critiques, editorials, and weekly columns. Writing awards include the Silver Star Award from the Texas Mental Health Association for articles pertaining to mental health and numerous awards in news, feature, and editorial writing from the Texas Press Association and Texas Press Women.

For the last fifteen years, she has worked in public relations for the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, where her duties include writing, designing, and editing an employee newsletter, writing news releases, coordinating press conferences, and acting as a media spokesperson. Living in this multicultural city gives her additional insight into the Mexican American cultural heritage.

Kelly has been married to photographer/editor Tim Irvin for twenty-one years, and they have two teenagers.