About Michelle

RITA® Award Finalist Michelle Willingham grew up in a military household that took her all over the world, including Thailand, Germany, and England. She wrote her first historical romance at the age of twelve and was delighted to fill up eight pages of a legal pad. As her binders of stories grew, she was convinced that one day she would achieve her dream of being an author. Thankfully, most of her early stories have been destroyed and are unavailable for blackmail.

She attended the University of Notre Dame where she thought about studying medicine. Since Michelle passes out at the sight of blood, she decided that this was not a good career move. She studied English instead and taught school for eleven years before retiring to stay home with her children and write full time.

Michelle writes contemporary romance under the pseudonym Avery Chandler and children's books under the name Grace Mallory.

When she isn’t writing, Michelle loves to bake, read, and snuggle with her cats. To be notified when her new books are available for sale, please sign up for her newsletter.