Author: Deanna Keller

Growing up under the hot Kansas sun, Deanna Keller spent many hours sitting under the apricot tree with her nose either in a book or writing in her scruffy notebooks, carefully composing stereotypically bad teenage poetry with a number two pencil. Exploring writing as an adult, she found her voice blogging about her observations and musings surrounding life under the pen name, Avie Layne, which she has done for the past five years. Additionally, she has been blogging for The Journey Seeker and has been a guest blogger for OMighty Crisis. Creative Writing classes at college opened her eyes to the idea of short stories for young adults and ignited new writing passion--many based on the stories of her parent’s poor childhood growing up in the Ozarks of Arkansas in the late 40s early 50s, while others have been based on her own crazy life. Deanna completed her undergraduate at The College of St. Scholastica in English I 2017. Taking a 1-year break, she will continue on to a Master’s in English then on to an MA-TESOL at Arizona State. She plans to pass along the love of reading and writing to future students and assist young writers in finding their own writing voice. Currently, she provides free community writing workshops geared towards journal and personal story writing. Deanna’s motto is, “Never let anyone prevent you from reaching for your dreams. The only failure is in not trying.”