Vivian M. Kelly was born in a small town in Mississippi. She attended a private historically black college, Tougaloo. After college she joined the United States Navy and traveled abroad. After her tour of duty, she returned to Mississippi to make it her home. Her love of reading and writing began her career at an early age. Though this is her first published work, it one of many she has written. Authors such as Nikki Giovanni, E. Lynn Harris, Langston Hughes, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Maya Angelou helped to carve indelible imprints on her soul.