Michele Jakubowski

Raised in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Michele Jakubowski has the teachers in her life to thank for her love of reading and writing. Appropriately enough, it all started in the fourth grade when her teacher read the class Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Michele was so entranced, in fact, that when a class assignment that same year had her writing a letter to someone important, she chose to contact Ms. Blume; she couldn’t wait to tell her of her plans to become an author someday as well. After reading the rest of Judy Blume's books while in grade school, Michele was introduced to the classics by her seventh grade English teacher (Ernest Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea was a favorite). Two exceptional high school teachers motivated Michele to keep reading and To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye were the books that inspired her to write. Although she grumbled her way through Algebra and Chemistry while at Northern Illinois University, Michele loved her creative writing and literature courses. It was while completing her BA in English that a friend turned her on to the works of John Irving, a must-read author for her still today. While writing has always been a passion for Michele, she believes it is the books she has read throughout the years, and the teachers that assigned them, that have made her the storyteller she is today. It is in appreciation of these great works and wonderful people that she strives to create relatable and entertaining characters that may one day inspire a budding new author.

Michele lives in Powell, Ohio with her husband John and their children Jack and Mia.