Joyce K. (Krohne) Ellis, popped onto this world’s scene in St. Louis, Missouri, born into a family with a strong faith and–obviously–a great sense of humor. “I loved the laughter at home and at extended-family gatherings,” she says, “where uncles tried to outdo each other with the funniest jokes and puns.” So it’s no wonder that faith and humor permeate much of what she has written in more than four decades of writing articles and books, including The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman. And it’s that quirky sense of humor that makes what she teaches in her writing classes and seminars stick with the attendees, they tell her. One conferee recently told Joyce, “Only you could write a grammar book that’s a great ‘beach read.'” This woman was referring to Joyce’s recent book Write with Excellence 201: a lighthearted guide to the serious matter of writing well for Christian authors, editors, and students.

In 1968 Joyce’s family moved to the “tundra of Minnesota,” whereupon her St. Louis relatives quipped that “the only reason there are any people in Minnesota is that people move there, their brains freeze, and they don’t have the sense to move back.” She married Steve Ellis, a civil engineer (“at least most of the time he’s civil,” she says), in 1969. They have three grown children and seven extraordinary grandchildren. Currently living in suburban Minneapolis, they love sitting by a lake, river, or ocean–reading.

Joyce K. Ellis has published hundreds of magazine articles and short stories and more than a dozen books. And her writing has garnered numerous awards, including the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for The One-Minute Bible for Kids. She loves travel, needlework, and making short-term mission trips whenever she has the opportunity.