Jessica Grace Kelley is an award-winning fantasy and horror writer. Her fiction has won several contests and awards, including the YA Molly Award, the Emma Merritt Award, and the YA Authors.me Contest. She is (always) working on her next novel and is represented by Christa Heschke at the McIntosh and Otis Literary Agency. 

 

Jessica’s passion for story flows directly into her work as the Director for Youth Literary Programs for The Muse Writers Center, where she leads creative writing programs that have served 5000 young people in the past three years. She especially enjoys working with teens and is the founder of Musings, the Muse’s youth-led Teen Zine, as well as a founder and fiction teacher of the Muse Teen Fellowship Program, where she has mentored over 80 young writers.

 

As a writer who believes in positive writing communities, Jessica decided to help build one. She is the Co-director of The Muse Writers Conference, bringing together hundreds of writers, literary agents, editors, and publishers for two days of writing education, reading events, and pitch opportunities. She’s been a repeat panelist at the AWP conference alongside Grubstreet, The Porch, and the Wits alliance. Her literary education work has been featured in Coastal Virginia Magazine, Spotlight news, and local media.

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When Jessica's not buried in books, she spends her time reading (obviously), writing songs, collecting antiquities, and baking food-sensitivity-friendly treats for her family. She lives by the beach with her G.I. Joe husband, two rambunctious boys, an over-sized lap dog and one very spoiled Pekinese rescue.