Kellye Garrett was born in New Jersey sometime in the last millennium. She attempted her first novel at five years old, but abandoned it a few days later to focus on decorating a newly purchased Barbie Dream House.

Though she eventually got rid of the Dream House, she kept her love of writing. After graduating with a B.S. in magazine production from Florida A&M University, she had the requisite crappy first job, working as an assistant at a daily newspaper. Thankfully, her next gig was much, much cooler. She became an assistant editor at Vibe magazine.

Her Vibe duties included seeing free movies, bossing around poor freelance writers, and spearheading the magazine’s film and television coverage. But writing about so many amazing people inspired her to do something amazing herself. So she swapped her AP Stylebook for Robert McKee’s Story and spent two years as a graduate screenwriting student at the University of Southern California’s famed School of Cinematic Arts.

Since graduating with her M.F.A. in 2005, Kellye’s participated in NBC’s inaugural “Writers on the Verge” program for new writers and worked as a staff writer on the CBS crime drama Cold Case. Her episode about Japanese internment camps aired in December 2007. She also sold a procedural to Lions Gate Television and developed a cable show with the actor Idris Elba.

A few years ago, Kellye not only returned to her home state, but also to her first love – writing books. Currently a communications writer for one of the country’s leading media companies, Kellye considers working for a P.I. firm as her most unusual professional writing gig. When not writing, she can be found sitting in Lincoln Tunnel traffic blasting early ’90s R&B on her iPod, feeding her candle addiction, and obsessing over any reality TV show with “Wives” in the title.

You can find out more about Kellye by visiting her website: KellyeGarrett.com.