Florence Scovel Shinn (1871–1940) was an American artist and illustrator of popular children’s literature and magazines, including Harper’s, during the early 20th century. During the 1920s, she became a key member of the New Thought movement –– a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals sharing a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, creative visualization, healing, and personal power.

As a spiritual teacher at the New York Society of Silent Unity, she discovered her ability to explain her success principles and how they work in an easy-to-understand and engaging manner, which led to her first self-published book The Game of Life and How to Play It in 1925. It would become one of the most popular works of practical metaphysics of the past hundred years and influence the likes of mystic Neville Goddard and the bestselling Norman Vincent Peale, both of whom used her phraseology in their writings.

Employing the Bible as her chief point of reference, Shinn interprets Scripture as a psychological course of action for personal and spiritual development and presents complex metaphysical ideas in a widely accessible and entertaining style. .