Black Friday

Alex Kava

Alex Kava grew up in Nebraska, outside the small town of Silver Creek (population 500). As a child, Alex wrote short stories on the backs of old calendars and scrap paper, sharing them only with her younger brother and hiding them in a shoebox under her bed.

Alex earned an art scholarship to attend college. To pay living expenses, she worked in a nearby hospital’s central surgery department scrubbing equipment, utensils and basins from the morgue and surgery departments. She graduated from College of Saint Mary, in Omaha, Nebraska, with a B.A. in Art and English. She has advanced studies and certificates in advertising and marketing.

Alex then worked in graphic design, advertising, and public relations. She designed food packages and logos for national corporations, written brochures and newsletters, created a line of greeting cards, and directed TV and radio commercials.

During the summer of 1996, Alex quit her full-time job as a director of public relations in order to dedicate more time to writing fiction and getting published. To pay the bills, she resurrected her home-based graphic design firm, Square One. She refinanced her home, maxed out her credit cards, and even took on a newspaper delivery route.

Also in the summer of 1996, serial killer John Joubert was executed. Alex’s inspiration for A Perfect Evil was drawn from her experience while working at a small newspaper in the community where Joubert’s rampage had taken place in 1983. His execution reminded her of the terror and panic experienced, not only by that community, but by many parents across Nebraska.

Alex lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her two dogs, Miss Molly and Scout.