I was created with an innate longing for inspiration. I look for it everywhere, in everything that I do, and I have a little secret to share:
So do you.
We’re all inspired by something, and that inspiration fuels our passions, our dreams, and our goals.
I want this to be a place that leaves you feeling inspired in the things that bring you joy.
This isn’t just a place for writers or mothers or photographers or creatives who spend their days weaving word pictures.
This is a place for everyone who wants to live a life of passion, however that may look. This is a place to chase dreams, to set goals, to look for the inspiration in your every day.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
I’m a dreamer, a wordsmith, and a lover of good fiction. I love to laugh, and spent my first six years as a blogger laughing with the internet at this crazy thing called parenthood.
I’m a novelist, with my first novel, Like a River From Its Course, releasing to rave reviews. Like a River From Its Course was awarded the ACFW Carol Award for Historical Fiction and was a double Christy Award nominee. Other novels include A Silver Willow by the Shore (NEIA Award for Literary fiction and IPPY silver medalist), The Fabulous Freaks of Monsieur Beaumont, and The Master Craftsman. My short story, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, is a reimagined retelling of The Nutcracker from the point of view of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
In addition to my fiction, I coauthored the nonfiction book Life Creative: Inspiration for Today’s Renaissance Mom with Wendy Speake which was written to inspire and encourage creative moms.
I am a stage and film actress and a producer. I love the collaborative nature of storytelling through performance and have met some of the most wonderful people through my work in local theatre and onscreen. Recent theatre work includes playing Maria in The Sound of Music and recent film work includes a supporting role in the feature films The Author (in which I also served as script editor), and a supporting role in the feature film, Parable (where I also served as Executive Producer). Both films are now available on Amazon Prime. Parable is also streaming exclusively on Angel Studios.
I’ve been married to Lee for over 25 years, and the path has been twisty and full of life, laughter, a little heartache and more blessings than I understand how to articulate. We have five children who are quickly growing up right before our eyes. We added our fifth child to the family via adoption through China in November of 2018. He is a gift to our family, and has taught us more about unconditional love and the mercies of the Lord than anyone else. In 2022, I was diagnosed with Stage IIb breast cancer and walked through a two year healing journey. I am now in remission, and I am grateful for each and every day.
PLACES I’VE BEEN
This writing journey has given me numerous opportunities, each of which has brought blessings and experiences beyond anything I ever dreamed. It all started back in the days of blogging where we shared our lives on an internet that felt a little like the wild, wild west.
I’ve been a contributor over at The Huffington Post where I talk about topics near and dear to my heart and try not to take any of the comments personally.
5 Minutes for Mom took me to Hollywood, to New Orleans, and to Montreal. I learned how to conduct interviews, how to write blog posts that resonated, and how to review product in a way that actually benefited the company asking for my help.
The MOB Society gave me the chance to use my voice to encourage mothers of boys that they’re not alone in this motherhood journey.
I worked for several years as a regular contributor at Pretty Extraordinary, where I marveled at the beauty of motherhood and family and I shared my love for story at Short Fiction Break.
I served time on the Board of Directors for the St. Louis Women in Media, helped co-found and run STLFamilyLife, and served as editor for the St. Louis Bloggers Guild back in the day when it seemed necessary to have a guild for bloggers. My family and I moved to Florida in 2011 where we no longer dread winter and I work to the soundtrack of seagulls in the background.
I’ve been a feature speaker at several conferences speaking on such topics as faith, parenting, the power of social media, writing and editing, and using your online voice to impact the world.
Interested in having me speak at your event?
Perhaps the opportunity that has had the greatest impact on me as a mother, as a writer, and as a daughter of God, was my trip to Tanzania in May 2012 with Compassion International Bloggers. This is the place when God began to work a shift in my heart – when He began to teach me that a life of impact meant a life of sacrifice.
I learned in that short week that Hope is Slow, and change takes time, but God, the author and designer of this world and everything in it, is in complete control. He was in Tanzania before I got there.
He felt the pain of my failed adoption before I experienced it. He knew there would be moments of heartache so great that I’d have nothing left but empty hands raised high to Him.
It was in that surrender that I found the greatest inspiration of all.
THE FANCY THIRD PERSON BIO THAT MAKES ME SOUND COOL
Kelli Stuart is a writer and a storyteller at heart. A graduate of Baylor University with a degree in English Professional Writing, and a minor in the Russian language, Kelli has honed her skills in the written word through editing, ghostwriting, blogging, and traveling the world.
An award-winning novelist, Kelli’s first book, titled Like a River From Its Course, is a historical fiction novel set in World War II Soviet Ukraine. Like a River From Its Course won the ACFW Carol Award for best historical fiction, and was a finalist for The Christy Award in both the Debut Novel and Historical categories. She has also written A Silver Willow by the Shore (2020 recipient of NEIA Award and IPPY Silver Medalist), The Fabulous Freaks of Monsieur Beaumont, The Master Craftsman, and the short Christmas novella The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Kelli has written for, and represented, such brands as The Huffington Post, 5 Minutes for Mom, Tonic.com, Disney, American Girl, The MOB Society, Extraordinary Mommy, God Size Dreams, Short Fiction Break, and (in)courage. Kelli has also served as editor-in-chief for the St. Louis Bloggers Guild and as a board member for the St. Louis Women in Media. In 2012, Kelli traveled to Tanzania with Compassion International as part of their blogging team to raise awareness on how the organization is benefiting children worldwide.
In recent years, Kelli has expanded her storytelling through the collaborative art of filmmaking and theatre. In 2021, Kelli was cast in a supporting role in Walker-Cable Production’s feature-length film, The Author. In 2023, Kelli teamed with Portal Pictures to Executive Produce the feature-length film Parable, in which she also starred in a supporting role. Parable was widely recognized on the film festival circuit with several nominations (including her own Best Actress nomination at the International Christian Film Festival), and awards, including Best Picture, Audience Choice, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Parable is now streaming exclusively on Angel Studios and is available for purchase/rent on Amazon Prime.
In 2024, Kelli returned to the stage after a long hiatus with the role of Maria in The Sound of Music. Since then, she’s taken her talents to different theatres in the Tampa area, stretching her acting, singing and comedic chops after many years of performing for her family alone in her minivan.
Kelli is a fierce advocate for adoptive/foster parents, as well as mothers raising children with special needs. Kelli has also advocated for Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Kelli and her husband sponsored a family of eight Ukrainians and, alongside their church body, facilitated the raising of nearly $100,000 to help support the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in Florida. Kelli is a breast cancer survivor. She and her husband live in Tampa, Florida, and are the parents of five children.