Inspired by her own life and the many colorful people she’s met, Amani Shakhete (Uh-ma-nee-sha-keet) was born in Osaka, Japan to an Air Force family. She uses the pen name Amani Shakhete (also Boss Amanishakhete), derived from an ancient Nubian Queen, Amanishakheto.

This fiction author captures the attention of readers from 16 to 60, intrigued by the unique stories she tells and characters she introduces, such as the African-American female protagonists Emmanuella Crumley in Wrong Daughter: Night of the Blood Moon and LaTonya Ellis in the LaTonya Series.

Under her birth name (S. L. McDaniel), she holds an Associate of Science (Portland Community College) and Bachelor of Science in Business and Communications (Concordia U.), Business and International Relations graduate studies (University of East London), and a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction (Lindenwood U.).