As a teenager, Kava wrote short stories on the backs of calendars, sharing them only with her younger brother and hiding them in a shoe box under her bed.
To pay living expenses, she worked in a nearby hospital's central supply department collecting and sterilizing all of the basins, instruments, and equipment from surgery, pathology, and the morgue.
Kava quit her public relations position in the summer of 1996, wanting to dedicate more time to writing fiction and getting published.
To pay the bills, she resurrected Square One, refinanced her home, maxed out her credit cards, and even took on a newspaper delivery route.
At that time, she chose to use the first name "Alex" professionally to disguise her gender, though she now includes photos and other identifying information on book jackets and in publicity materials.