Elizabeth "Elli" Carlton began her writing career as a freelance journalist with a knack for finding the soul behind a story. She covered the music beat for two national magazines and multiple local and online publications for four years. However, fiction steered her in a new direction in 2011 when she drafted her first novel: The Royal Rogue.​

Published in October 2012, the book replaced the heroic protagonist cliché with a morally ambiguous rogue named Jaspur Clovenhoof who stumbles into an adventure of epic proportions. Readers found themselves hooked by Jaspur's emotional trials and the sharp wit that he wields as well as his sword.

In 2015, Elli released her second novel, Chivalry’s Code, which combined two stories from different timelines into a dueling parallel full of twists and ultimatums. It, too, was embraced by her readers, as was The Rogue Trilogy's emotional third installment, Lost Prince of Nevaharday, published in 2018.

Despite the trilogy's success, Elli eventually found herself at a writing crossroads. She wanted to continue writing about her protagonist and the cast of characters she had created, but she'd outgrown her love for the YA genre.

Thus, in 2024, she made the bold decision to pivot her target audience from YA to adult. Since then, she's been focused on rewriting The Rogue Trilogy. The remastered first book is set to release in August 2025, with the other two expected to follow soon afterward.

Beyond journalism and novel writing, Elli’s 17+ year career includes writing research, marketing materials, and SEO content. She has also provided developmental editing and writing coaching services to individual clients.

She currently works as a principal writer for a global research company.