About Me
When people ask me where I am from, I am usually stumped for a moment or two on how to answer. I was born in Mississippi, raised in Southern California. But, I think, the more salient part of my identity is where my family is from, not where I physically sprouted.
My mother is from Thailand, my father is Norweigian but raised in South Africa. Growing up in a bi-racial, multi-cultural household and extensive travel has shown me just how powerful a lens (and blinder) culture can be in shaping our worldviews, perceptions of ourselves and each other, values in life and interactions with the world. Too Asian to be white, too white to be Asian, I grew up understanding completely both group identities, but never fully identifying with or being accepted by either. I suppose, in a way, my experience gave me a somewhat Chekhovian perspective on group identity: view everyone with an ironic twist, and still love them all the same.
As an only child, I spent a lot of my childhood around adults–and trying too hard to grow up faster than I should. The rest of my time, I spent reading books. I read as if my life depended on it, and to this day books provide comfort and an escape essential to my sanity and well-being. And so, it is almost inevitable that I would find my passion in writing.
Fatima in Corinth is my first novel. It still amazes me how easily the words flew from my fingertips, and once I unlocked the gate of ideas, new ideas for new novels starting flooding forth. I’m already beginning the second in the series, while still working on publishing the first.
In the meantime, I am enjoying life as a graduate student. I live with my husband and mint plants in a shoebox apartment in Santa Barbara as I finish up a doctorate in Political Science.
School and Work Experience
After graduating in 2002 with High Honors from UC Santa Barbara with a double major in Art and Communication, Jade Keller worked for two years for a regional magazine publishing company, assisting in marketing. She handled Churm Publishing, Inc.’s charitable sponsorships, ad accounts, and assisted with copy-editing.
In 2004, she returned to school to pursue a Master’s Degree in International Relations, and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Political Science. Her dissertation focuses on political socialization, or how where you stand now depends on where you’ve been. She expects to complete her degree in 2010.
