About Shelly

The Quick Scoop

USA Today bestselling author Shelly Thacker has earned lavish praise from Publishers Weekly, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Detroit Free Press and The Oakland Press, who have called her historical romance novels “innovative,” “addictive,” “steamy” and “powerful.”

A two-time RWA RITA Award finalist, Shelly has won numerous other honors for her novels, including a National Readers’ Choice Award, several Romantic Times Certificates of Excellence, and five straight KISS Awards for her outstanding heroes. The Detroit Free Press has twice placed her romances on their annual list of the year’s best.

The Full Story

If Shelly Thacker had listened to her middle-school guidance counselor, she’d be perched in a pine tree right now, chatting with Smokey the Bear.

At the age of 12, Shelly confessed her secret dream of a career in writing to her school counselor – who promptly assured her that writers don’t make any money. To point her in the right direction, he gave her a Career Interest Inventory test, which revealed the occupation she should pursue: forest ranger.

The young scribbler ignored his advice, since she didn’t aspire to any job that involved hiking, camping, bugs and bears. To this day, Shelly’s idea of “roughing it” is a hotel without HBO and a Jacuzzi. Rather than attend forestry school, she studied literature and journalism at a small liberal arts college and, after a brief career in corporate PR, jumped into full-time freelancing. Her articles soon began appearing in major magazines including AAA Living, Country Living, Entrepreneur, Fit Pregnancy, Interweave Knits, Mpls. St. Paul and Writer’s Digest.

At the age of 26, Shelly sold her first novel to Avon Books less than a week after her agent submitted it. Her nine books for Avon and Dell went on to earn widespread acclaim, appearances on national bestseller lists, and worldwide popularity. Translations have been published in China, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and Thailand.

In 2011, she joined the digital publishing revolution and now works as an indie author—without an agent, a publisher, or a net.

When she’s not at the computer, you’ll find Shelly knitting in local cafes or kickboxing at the gym. She and her husband and two daughters live in Minnesota…where they enjoy the occasional hike through the woods.

Shelly is a member of Novelists Inc. and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.