Alice Hegan Rice was born on January 11, 1870, in Shelbyville, Kentucky to Samuel Watson Hegan and Sallie P. Hegan. Her father was an art dealer so she was born with a knack for creativity. As a child, she would entertain her family members with creative stories that she came up with on the spot. When she was in school, writing was obviously her strongest subject. She was so good at writing that she even had a submission that was published by the newspaper at the age of 15!