Andrea Paul grew up in the middle of the mitten state, where her childhood was rich with family, the outdoors, and literature. At an early age, she started walking with God and began to discover what life abundant is. She reaped a heritage of creativity from a grandma who still loved polka dots and coloring; a brother who built things from LEGOs, scrap lumber, and snow; and a dad who made up fun and witty birthday cards for family members. Between cooking, baking, and gardening with her mom and grandmas and projecting with her dad and grandpas, she developed an appreciation for the beauty of the natural world and the satisfaction of making things in it.
In fifth grade, she had to write her first poem…and then rewrite it because her teacher thought she could do better. And then she never stopped writing poetry. In seventh grade, she had her first creative writing unit, and then it was in her blood.
She always spent a lot of time reading, and books such as the Redwall series, by Brian Jacques; Caddie Woodlawn, by Carol Ryrie Brink; the Trixie Belden series; the Great Brain series, by John D. Fitzgerald; and the Anne series, by L.M. Montgomery, were formative to her love of language and literature. In more recent years, the authors Jane Austen, Gene Stratton-Porter, and Georgette Heyer, have become favorites as well. And though her poetry doesn’t tend quite so strongly towards the silly, her favorite books of poetry will likely always be Falling Up and Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein.
Andrea's love of math, science (especially chemistry), and creatively making things, drew her into engineering, and after trying out a few colleges, she settled on Michigan Tech for her degree, where she completed a bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering. She then went on to spend a couple years working at a technical center for an engine components company and then several more for an industrial equipment manufacturer, but all the while, the stories did not cease, and she decided to seriously embark on a writing career.
Now, she lives near the coast of beautiful Lake Michigan and stays busy building friendships, strolling the beach, hiking wooded trails, learning ballroom dance, and running a Christian social group. And of course, she’s still reading and writing and now also podcasting. Add in a little pickleball, some cooking and baking, and a sprinkling of knitting and sewing, and you about have the picture. Well, that and engineering – she's doing that again too.
Silly, serious, or science-y, her work is always full of wonder at the world and what could be. Just a Rainy Day is her first novel, and her debut podcast is Something More.
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