Kay Oldham Cornelius

Background

Kay Cornelius was born on January 14, 1933, in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

Career

At the start of her career, Cornelius was a teacher, mostly in the English department at Virgil I. Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1956 to 1986 and at a magnet school from 1986 to 1990. As Cornelius once commented: “Like most authors, I was read to long before I started to school. Born Southern, I was surrounded by natural storytellers, and since my father ran the local "picture show." I also absorbed hundreds of movies. I loved working with words and finding new ways to express myself, so it was only natural that after winning a four-year college scholarship for a 750-word essay in a national contest, I should major in English and become a teacher." Her first novel, Love"s Gentle Journey, was published in 1985.

A young-adult author, Cornelius has had a passion for words ever since she was a little girl growing up in the south. She became the author of novels for both adults and younger readers as well as works of nonfiction reflecting her interest in history. Her books include the juvenile biographies Francis Marion: The Swamp Fox and Chamique Holdsclaw as well as the historical novels Love's Gentle Journey, Anita's Fortune, and Twin Willows, all of which are Christian romances. Carolyn Janssen, writing in School Library Journal, praised Francis Marion for its “lively” narrative focusing on the man who led the British cavalry into the muck and mire of a South Carolina swamp during the American Revolution.

Achievements

• Kay Cornelius published more than a dozen of her novels. She also wrote test units for PSAT - a college test, and reviewed examinations, helping to educate people.

Works

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  • Sign of the Spirit

    (Kay Cornelius' talent for research and detail brings us t...)

    1995
  • Pennsylvania

    (The pristine woods of Pennsylvania beckon and adventurous...)

    2002
  • Alabama

    (Nestled in the northeastern mountains of Alabama is the f...)

    2005
  • A Nostalgic Noel

    (This volume includes four all-new Christmas love stories ...)

    1998
  • Chamique Holdsclaw

    (Exciting, fast-paced stories of the biggest names in wome...)

    2001
  • More Than Conquerors 1994
  • Twin Willows 1999
  • Dixie Hearts: A Matter of Security 2009
  • Love's Gentle Journey 2002

Views

Quotations: "It is satisfying to conduct writing workshops and mentor authors. I tell them writing is hard work, but seeing their name in print on something that will live on after they are gone is well worth the effort."

Membership

Cornelius is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Authors Guild, National League of American Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists association Women, Alabama Writers Conclave, Alabama Writers Forum, Phi Delta Kappa, and Delta Kappa Gamma.

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  Cornelius was a member of the Romance Writers of America.

  Romance Writers of America , United States

• National League of American Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists association Women , United States

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  Cornelius was a member of the Alabama Writers Conclave.

  Alabama Writers Conclave , United States

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  Cornelius was a member of the Phi Delta Kappa.

  Phi Delta Kappa , United States

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  Cornelius was a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma.

  Delta Kappa Gamma , United States

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  Cornelius was a member of the Authors Guild.

  Authors Guild

References

• Contemporary Authors vol. 233