Kristina McMorris is a
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal and
USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and eight historical novels, including the million-copy bestseller Sold on a Monday. Published by Sourcebooks Landmark, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Harper Muse, and Kensington Books, her novels have garnered more than two dozen prestigious awards and nominations, most notably the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, RWA's RITA® Award, and a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction.
At age nine, she began creatively expressing herself when she embarked on a five-year stint as the host of an Emmy® and Ollie award-winning kids' television program. Being half Japanese, Kristina jokes that she discovered a genetic kinship with the camera early in life and continued to nurture that relationship by acting in many independent and major films while living in Los Angeles. Later, as the owner of a wedding/event planning company, she served as the six-year host of the WB's weekly program Weddings Portland Style.
Kristina's extensive experience in media and events led her to becoming a professional emcee and contributing writer for
Portland Bride & Groom magazine. Her previous writing background also includes ten years of directing public relations for an international conglomerate.
In 2001, deciding sleep was highly overrated, she compiled hundreds of her grandmother's favorite recipes for a holiday gift that quickly evolved into a self-published cookbook. With proceeds benefiting the Food Bank,
Grandma Jean's Rainy Day Recipes sold at such stores as Borders and appeared frequently in regional media. It was while gathering information for the book's biographical section when Kristina happened across the letters her grandfather mailed to his "sweetheart" during his wartime naval service—a collection that years later inspired McMorris to pen her first novel, a WWII love story titled
Letters from Home.
Since her debut released in 2011, in addition to her novellas in the anthologies
A Winter Wonderland and
Grand Central,
Kristina's published works have expanded to include the novels
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves,
The Pieces We Keep,
The Edge of Lost,
Sold on a Monday,
The Ways We Hide, the collaborative
When We Had Wings, and the forthcoming
The Girls of Good Fortune (releasing 5-20-25). She also collaborated with her sister, artist Amanda Yoshida, on the picture book,
Ellie Mae Dreams Big! McMorris’ books have been translated into numerous languages and appeared in compilations by Readers Digest, Doubleday, the Literary Guild, and more.
A frequent guest speaker and workshop presenter, she holds a B.S. in International Marketing with a concentration in multiple languages from Pepperdine University. She splits her time between San Diego and Portland, Oregon, where she's the proud mom of two collegiate (going-on-forty) boys who continue to make her laugh daily.
(Abbreviated biography available on the Media page)
