Nellie Suydam Cowley was raised in both Southern California and Arizona. She grew up filled with a love for books that eventually led to her love of writing. Nellie chronicled her life and dreams through her diaries and letters. As one of two children, Nellie and her family moved to California in 1885 where she spent the majority of her life in the city of Glendora. Her writings are based on what she considered her "ordinary" life and the "ordinary" events that encompassed it. Cowley had dreams of becoming a writer and going to college but ultimately was never able to achieve these goals. Unable to become a writer, Nellie became a printer and in 1913 set up a printing shop in Arizona with her husband Harry Cowley. After the death of her mother, the failure of the printing shop, and the dissolution of her marriage Nellie relocated to Glendora, California. She continued to write stories, some of which were published; participate in civic events; and completed twenty-nine diaries detailing her life before dying of cancer in 1946.