Kelli Martin
Kelli Martin was, is and always will be a book editor. She loves collaborating with writers and helping make books, and considers it her calling and a love of her life. When Kelli is not editing books or working on the SAL board, she can be found reading, browsing in bookstores, hiking, going for long walks, and spending time with her family and friends.
One unforgettable SAL event Kelli attended was experiencing Liz Gilbert share her life experiences. Kelli says, “I will never forget when Liz responded to a patron’s question about what Liz wanted for her future: ‘I want to be love in the room.’ Hearing that was wondrous and touching and inspiring.”
Kelli’s ideal Sunday sees her at church, followed by brunch and a walk, catching up on TV shows or going to a movie, dinner with her family at a favorite restaurant, then reading for pleasure to close out the night.
On her favorite book as a child, Kelli says, “It’s almost impossible to choose! I remember loving The President’s Daughter and White House Autumn, books #1 and #2 in a series by Ellen Emerson White. I loved that the novels envisioned a woman president, and that the novels subverted stereotypical household roles of that time… Most of all, I loved how the author didn’t shy away from real issues or big, tumultuous feelings. Meghan, the teenage protagonist, was honest and real and vulnerable about what she was going through: her experiences with her first boyfriend, with her mother’s intense devotion to her career, and in determining who her real friends were…. Meg has this quiet strength about her, this sense of self, even with her teenage insecurities. I’ll never forget her discoveries what she wanted – and didn’t want – for her self and for her life. It seemed wondrous and comforting to me for a person at that young age. It still does.”