Who is S.E. Zell?

I don’t remember the first time I sat down and actually wrote a story. I think it might have been for a class in school. I do remember that teachers who always thought I never paid attention were shocked when I produced something of quality. This theme continued throughout my school years. After a long hiatus where I tried to find a “sensible career,” I came back to writing with a vengeance.

It’s always been writing. Even when I didn’t know it.

I am an ordained cantor in the Jewish faith, and work as a Chaplain in the US Navy. If you don’t know, the Cantor shares many duties with the Rabbi, but adds the musical aspect and worship leading.

I grew up in the tiny town of Great Falls, Virginia. I swear it really is small, but it’s sandwiched in between the two bustling towns of McLean and Reston, so it seems a lot larger. It’s about forty-five minutes northwest of Alexandria, Virginia where I was born in 1994. As the second child of four, I was often on my own and prone to flights of fancy.

Whenever my mother couldn’t find me, she would check my bedroom where she would invariably find me curled up reading something by Tamora Pierce, JK Rowling, Tolkien, Garth Nix, or Neil Gaiman among others.

I started narrating audiobooks to earn a little extra cash (for books, obviously) and found that I loved it. It’s fun work and I hope to continue doing it long term. Until the next novel is finished, you will find me manically typing away at my computer with one or both of my cats on my lap.  

My collection of books eventually grew so large, that I converted my closet into bookshelves. The books still managed to overflow from the shelves onto the floor and under my bed. Not the best way to treat a book, I know, but it couldn’t be helped. You can probably guess what my credit card statement looks like at the end of each month: food, amazon, barnes & noble, amazon, food, gym membership…you get the picture.

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