Kate Horsley is a horror and mystery fiction author, who was born in Virginia and grew up as the youngest of five children. Her love for reading developed at a young age, thanks to her mother Alice Horsley Parker, which eventually led her to write her novels using her mother’s maiden name. Horsley was influenced by her mother’s belief that women should be passionate, refined, and educated.
During the 1960s, Horsley was part of a protest against the Vietnam War and worked with the Civil Rights movement for a few years. She later attended college and completed summer school in Paris. These experiences, along with her interest in Zen Buddhism and Native American works, contributed to her storytelling. Horsley's master's thesis had a particularly significant influence on her writing. She received her doctorate from the University of New Mexico, focusing on the American West and the women who lived there.