Kayla Joy Books - About the Author

Since the moment I gained consciousness, I've been obsessed with stories in every medium, whether it was watching films, reading books, writing my own, or performing someone else's. Narrative and plot devices control my whole entire life, and I continue to use my love of storytelling as a life raft during turbulence. (I'm mixing my metaphors now, but you get it.)

My author niche is what I like to call the 3 W's--whimsy, woe, and weird. These three elements generally braid into any project of mine, no matter what genre I decide to explore.

As I craft my author biography, I find it challenging to fit my bibliography into a single spot on a bookshelf and to build an author "brand," because I never want to repeat myself. I always aim to subvert my readers' expectations and surprise them just when they think they've got me figured out. You'll never guess what's coming next. ;)

Publishing Journey

During the pandemic, at age 20, I wrote and self-published my first novel, a YA historical fiction piece called Hooverville, which explores class differences in 1932 New York.

Over the next three years, I wrote and released three installments of the Morbid Tales series, speculative-horror short story anthologies, each of which became Amazon bestsellers.

In Spring of 2025, I began querying for traditional publication for my most recent novel, None of That Was Real!, an adult mystery/thriller about former child actors, a cast reunion party, and a murder. Stay tuned for future book reviews!

While I always have a few tricks up my sleeve, I'm not currently drafting a major project (unless you count my AA degree, which...I do.)

Fun Facts (to prove I'm not a robot)

-Joy is my middle name

-My current hyperfixations are: Yellowjackets, Traitors, Queen Boudicca, The Romanovs, and Sylvia Plath. RIP queens. </3

-I have a giant, fluffy, all-black Maine Coon cat named Poe, who inspired the story What The Cat Dragged In in Morbid Tales 2.

-I was once a theater kid, an Army brat, and a background extra in Mockingjay pt 2 (THAT scene)

-I fractured three vertebrae when I was a kid in a sled crash

-My favorite Disney movie is Meet The Robinsons. Keep moving forward is my motto :)

-Taurus Sun, Aries Moon, Scorpio Rising. Explains a lot, actually.