Kathleen Kelly Martin was born July 14, 1947 in the Central Valley of California. She obtained a degree in Anthropology and History from the University of California in Santa Barbara.She is an American writer of romance novels under the pen names of Kat Martin, Kathy Lawrence and Kasey Marx. Martin is a member of the Romance Writers of America. To date, she has been published in England, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, Russia, South Africa, China, and Korea. She has written several series which include Southern Series, Garrick Family Series, Kingsland Series and Litchfield Series. Her novel titles include Magnificent Passage, The Secret, and Secret Ways.