Elaine K. Sanchez grew up on a Kansas dairy farm.  She worked as an advertising sales manager for NBC, CBS, and Univision television affiliates in Colorado and New Mexico. She has served on numerous nonprofit and professional boards, including the Marketing Advisory Group for the NBC television network. In 1998 she left the broadcast industry to pursue her long-time ambition to become a writer.

The experience of caring for her own aging parents from a distance compelled Elaine to find a way help other families support their loved ones during the final stages of their lives. After editing her mother’s letters into the book, Letters from Madelyn, Chronicles of a Caregiver, Elaine realized how difficult it is for most caregivers to take care of themselves. Upon becoming the primary caregiver for an elderly aunt following an accident, she also became acutely aware of how important it is to be knowledgeable about the physical, financial, and legal affairs of loved ones if something happens and they suddenly cannot care for themselves.  

As a professional member of the National Speakers Association, Elaine speaks to and conducts workshops for a wide variety of groups across the country.  She lives in Salem, Oregon with her husband Alex, a professor at Oregon State University.  Together they have eight children and eight grandchildren.