Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shelby Rae. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Shelby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

While all of my books are meaningful to me, Chasing You will always be the one that holds the biggest place in my heart.

As an avid reader in my teens, I’ve always loved love. I loved romance and getting to watch as the characters worked their way to their happily ever afters. A lot of the books I read never had characters that looked like me though. Deciding to change that, I came up with the storyline for the It Was Always You series.

Ally White was the first of my characters to be plus-size. I wanted to have a character that girls and women who weren’t the stereotypical FMC size could also relate to. She wasn’t confident in her size but she began to be the more she found herself and the more Owen loved her. I love the love they have for each other and how he always wants her to be happy and safe.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started writing back in 2016. It started with a dream I had that I wanted to expand on. When I got pregnant later that year, my writing paused and I didn’t pick it up again until 2018. I didn’t have a lot of time to write, and when we had our second in the beginning of the pandemic, things were focused more on family and less on writing.

Fast forward to 2021, I was beginning to feel like I had lost myself. I took a step back and tried to figure out what made me happy. I took a break from social media and television and focused on my writing, starting Chasing You and never looking back. The stories and my characters were my escape and the more I wrote, the more I felt like me again. I wasn’t a mom or a wife or a childcare provider, I was Shelby again.

I focused on my writing, spent some time working with other indie authors on their books, and reading. In January of 2023 I connected with an amazing group of Canadian indie authors and learned what all it took to take the stories I’d been writing for myself and my amazing Alpha reader SIL, and turn them into physical books I could publish. In March I decided I was going to publish, and by May I had my first physical proof copy of Chasing You in my hands. A month and a half later I had proofs of all five books from the series in my hands and ready to read through.

I have since released Chasing You, Keeping You, and Tempted By The Nanny.

In 2025 I plan to release Wanting You, Protecting You, Choosing You, and Pucking Blind, as well as some secret projects I have up my sleeves.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The community. I’ve met so many amazing human beings on this journey. From fellow indie authors, narrators, bookstagramers, artists, cover designers, and readers. They’ve all been there for me through all of the ups and downs of this journey and I can’t imagine where I’d be without them.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I’d say just trying to keep doing the things I love. I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and while I know it’s a long journey, the fact that I’m getting to do what I love with some amazing people by my side makes it all worth it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @shelbyraebooks