Kayliani Shi writes fantasy with an eye for the quiet, dangerous spaces between loyalty and betrayal. Her debut novel, The Sinuous Bargain of a Cowardly Prince (October 21, 2025), opens The Shadowed Throne Chronicles, a series where courage comes not from perfect heroes but from flawed characters bound by secrets and unexpected alliances.
Raised in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Kayliani began telling stories before she fully understood what it meant to be a writer. One of her earliest creations was a bound kindergarten tale about her cat, Shadow, proof that imagination had always been her language. She later studied Japanese and traveled to Japan, experiences that deepened her love for culture, language, and the subtle ways identity shapes storytelling.
Now based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she balances writing with life alongside her husband, daughter, and a household that includes cats, a dog, and the lingering memory of eight college-era guinea pigs. Away from the page she savors small rituals such as crafting lattes, sketching, tending her yard, and listening to J-ROCK bands like Official Hige Dandism. These moments, both ordinary and luminous, often echo in her work, where worlds brim with intimacy as much as magic.
Her fiction leans into upper YA and adult fantasy, weaving together tense political landscapes, personal transformation, and relationships marked by wit and vulnerability. She writes as a “pantser,” following the story’s lead rather than rigid outlines, which gives her narratives a sense of discovery that allows readers to experience the unfolding at the same time she does.
With a background in marketing and publishing, Kayliani also understands the mechanics of bringing stories to readers. She applies that expertise not only to her own books but also by helping other indie authors find their voice through design and strategy.
Whether she is crafting a prince’s reluctant journey to the throne or sketching out future tales waiting in her notebook, Kayliani Shi writes with a belief that courage is most compelling when it grows out of imperfection.
