Kelly Hayes-Raitt

Kelly Hayes-Raitt traveled to Iraq in Feb 2003 just 5 weeks before the US-led invasion. She returned a few months later to find the people who had so deeply touched her. Their stories begin her forthcoming book "Unveiled: How I Found Myself Among the World's Forgotten," a journalistic memoir about her experiences with Iraqi and Palestinian refugees.

This collection of loosely connected essays also chronicles Kelly's summer volunteering in Syria to help Iraqi refugees, her reporting from Israel and the West Bank about the innovative and inspiring peace efforts there, her meeting with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon whose families were devastated during the 1982 war, and her interviews with American "refugees" - residents of New Orleans' Ninth Ward who evacuated during Hurricane Katrina.

Several chapters from "Unveiled" appear in the anthologies listed here. Additionally, several chapters have won a total of 19 literary awards and appear in literary journals.

Following a successful 30-year career as a political consultant, spokesperson and commentator, Kelly now travels full-time -- and has been for the past decade! (She jokes she sleeps around to write.) She was awarded 5 residential writing fellowships (including one in Bialystock, Poland) in her first 5 years of nomading and now housesits internationally. She shares her experiences and tips in "How to Become a Housesitter: Insider Tips from the Housesit Diva."

Her column in Los Angeles' "The Argonaut" newspaper was named "second best" by the Southern California Journalists Association.

When not looking for an agent, Kelly works closely with authors by coaching and editing their books. She offers tips for overcoming writer's block at www.JumpStartMyBook.org.