Mary (Graham) McKelvey was born and raised in the Bushnell-Prairie City, Illinois area, but has strong ties to Missouri and Louisiana. She resided in Southwest Louisiana from 2000 to 2007 and has once again made her home in Vinton, Louisiana. Mary started writing stories nearly forty years ago for her daughter Tina. She continued to write after the birth of her two sons, Josh and Morgan. She is presently the grandmother of twelve grandchildren (two sets of twins!) and writes for them as well. Hector Learns to Chirp is Mary's first published children's book.