Kathryn Helstrom was born in Camp Carson, Colorado, in 1953, to a young Air Force Officer. She grew up in a military family traveling around the world, visiting museums and attending a variety of schools, before her father retired to southern California in 1969.
Kathryn launched into the aerospace field in the 1970s, and continued her career in diverse venues including medical equipment marketing in the 1980s. From there she had the opportunity to travel on extended medical missions to Africa, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
In the 1990s, Kathryn sought out her teaching degree in history, graduating magna cum laude from Northeastern State University. She took her experience and education to teach history to at-risk teenagers in rural Oklahoma.
In 2005, Kathryn was chosen to participate in the teacher exchange program through the Confucius Institute, and taught English in schools in Chengdu, China. She has been a participating member of the living history organization, Society for Creative Anachronism, won many awards for teaching, and now pursues a career in writing, editing, and art. She lives with her husband on a one-acre piece of heaven in rural Oklahoma.