About Shelly Beach

Shelly Beach, Author

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer, but I’d been told that trying to support yourself as a writer was a lot like trying to earn a living as a juggler. So I went for the big bucks and became an English teacher instead.

I met my husband Dan when he was a youth pastor making fifty bucks a week and living in a church basement. I wasn’t daunted. He wrote wonderful poetry and had a gorgeous Yamaha 650. He took me for a ride on our second date, and I knew I was in love. For over 30 years, Dan and I worked together in churches and Christian schools. I eventually earned an M.R.E. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary (1990) and, to my knowledge, was the only woman in the seminary who commuted to classes on her motorcycle.

God blessed us with two phenomenal children. Nate (now married to Allison) lives in Iowa and works as a construction supervisor. He and his wife Allison are active in their church and community. They have two beautiful boys—Gabe and Liam—and sweet daughter Emma.

Our daughter Jessica was born with a suitcase in one hand and a day planner in the other. Her love for God and people drew her to orphanages, hospices, churches, schools, and camps across the world. She’s the Development Director at Warm Beach Christian Camp and Conference Center north of Seattle. She and her husband Mosiah have three children: Kadeem, Kia, and Josiah.

I began publishing when my children were small, and I discovered people were willing to pay me for doing what I loved. I submitted to secular and religious publications and regularly sold articles, features, fiction and nonfiction. I eventually began consulting with small businesses and conducting writing seminars. When our family moved to Iowa, I helped found the Cedar Falls Christian Writers’ Workshop, an intimate, hands-on conference for aspiring authors. I also travel nationally speaking at conferences, retreats, and seminars.

Like most writers, I’ve mined my life as the basis for much of my writing and speaking. My health challenges, caregiving struggles, family, fears, and aspirations are all woven through my fiction and nonfiction. Central to everything I write and speak about is my passion for sharing the truth that Jesus gives purpose and meaning to all we do and who we are. My goal is to help people more deeply understand God’s love and to encourage them to be all He created them to be.