Check Out K.T. Jay’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to K.T. Jay

Hi K.T., we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Writing and books have always been part of my life. My parents instilled love of books and reading in me from a young age. I remember they’d read to me every night before bed. I looked forward to it! My passion for books and stories started when I was young. I always wanted to write a book, but I didn’t think about making a living from them until 2020.

Some of my earliest memories of writing include me sitting in my second grade classroom, furiously writing while everyone else had gone out to recess. I told my teacher I needed to finish my story. I didn’t move from my desk until I completed it. I asked how long my story was allowed to be, and thankfully, my teacher didn’t give me a limit, so I wrote to my heart’s content.

I’ve always kept a journal where I’d chronicle life events in addition to writing pages of stories. As I grew, I continued to write stories, poems, even songs (I cringed when I looked at them years later). I’m also a voracious reader and have been known to disappear into a book for a day or so to finish it. My genre of choice is Fantasy, which is what I’m currently writing.

Once I started college, I stopped writing for fun and immersed myself in school and extracurriculars. I was the weird person in college that would be excited for writing assignments whenever they were assigned. When faced with the choice of a multiple choice test or an essay, you bet I’d choose the essay every time.

It wasn’t until a couple years after college in 2020, when I decided I wanted to write a book. When I start new things, I like to do as much research as possible to gain insight on all the ways it can be done, analyze the information I’ve gathered, then decide what is the best way to do said project. As I began putting together ideas for my book, I found that I wanted to start by outlining and potting my novel from a high level before I dove into the writing. Some people are plotters and others are discovery writers, choosing to just write from the get go and figure out where the story will go as they write.

For me, I need a plan, so I spent several months outlining, refining, and researching for my novel. I gathered images for settings to help me visualize and better describe the places I want people to see when they read my book. I created what you call a character sheet for my characters and found pictures for each person to help me visualize them as well.

Once I finished outlining, the drafting (writing) stage began. I participated in Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which is an international challenge in the month of November where people commit to writing 50,000 woods in one month. This really helped me get words on the page and chunk through about half of my book.

From there, I did self-edits, then sent my book to a couple editors for feedback. While the editors had my manuscript, I started planning the launch for my author platform through social media, then my website. I have a great team of friends that helped build my platforms. I couldn’t have done it without them! 

As I write this, I’m in the final read through for my book and plan to publish it this year. If you’d like to stay updated, you can sign up for my newsletter on my website and follow me on social media. I’d love to have you along on this journey!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Writing a book has been a lot more challenging than I realized it would be. There is a reason only 10% of people who set out to write books, actually write them. It’s a lot of work and a much longer process than I realized.

Since I’m working on first book, it’s taken longer because I’m learning the process of writing and publishing a book as I go. I’ve learned a lot about how to outline and plot, how to take edits on my manuscript and utilize them to make changes, how to set up a website, work with a cover designer, and so much more! As an indie author, there are lots of back end things to learn. It’s been challenging, but also fun to learn so many new skills.

My timeline for publishing my book has not been at all what I expected. It’s gotten pushed back a few times. I’ve made many changes and rewritten different parts of my book several times. I’m constantly thinking I can improve things, so I edit more and more. It’s hard to get to a place where I feel it’s good enough to be out in the world. We are getting there!

I also had a baby June 2024, so that has pushed back my timeline as well. People liken writing a book to having a baby. I can see many of the overlaps, but I have to say, being a mom is much harder! My baby boy is nine months old, and I’ve been dedicating my time to him these past months, so my publishing timeline has altered. Being creative and being a mother is a new dynamic that I’ve been trying to figure out how to balance. Before I was a mom, I had endless blocks of time to dedicate to being creative. Now, I try to fit in creativity when I can. This looks like squeezing in book edits while my son is sleeping, or enjoying independent play. I take the minutes I can before it’s interrupted by my crying baby needing me. Though this diminished time to work on my book and be creative is difficult and often discouraging, I keep doing it because I find when I get to be creative, I feel more myself. More alive. I feel like I can be a better mom.

The other day, a mom friend shared with me that while I’m in this new season of motherhood, my capacity for anything outside of mothering has diminished. She told me gradually, it will increase, but for now, I’m learning how to lower my expectations for what I can get done in a day. After all, my son is only a baby once, and I don’t want to miss out on these precious moments. I want to be able to say that I gave him my all and was present for him.

So I will keep writing in the pockets of time I can eke out, and move ever so slowly towards the end of my book project, all the while working to enjoy the ride.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a YA Fantasy author. I write about hard things cloaked in magic and fantasy to help people feel less alone. I’m in the final stages of editing for my debut book which is the first in a duology. Look out for the launch later this year!

Growing up, I read a lot of fantasy books. I dove into different worlds, met people, and learned lessons in every book I read. I resonated with the pain that many of the characters went through but, in reflecting back, often times these stories did not offer healthy and hopeful ways of dealing with the hardships. Fantasy deals with lots of darkness, which is very real.

In my work, my goal is to empower young adults in their dark times, help them know they aren’t alone, ensure they know they are loved, and show them what working through dark times in a healthy way looks like.

I work to show the hard realities of life in my writing while also showing examples of how to work through it healthily. At the same time, I explore how not working through the hard things in life can have unintended consequences.

I’m proud of the way I try to balance that in my book. I don’t want to shy away from the hardships of life. I also want to provide a positive example for young adults who are looking to books and stories as they trudge through challenges. Books are one of the things that got me through hardships, and I hope to help others in a similar way.

What are your plans for the future?
I’m planning to keep writing books! I want to finish the duology I’m working on, and write many books thereafter. I have a plethora of ideas I’m excited to dive into. One of my big business goals that will take a couple years to accomplish, is to replace my office job income with my author business income. It takes a few years to build a backlist of books and establish a fanbase, so this is long-term goal I’m excited to work towards.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ktjayauthor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ktjayauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554680073128

Image Credits
Cheryl Cummings – Sage Wave Media