Kay Jennings
AUTHOR

Kay Jennings

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Former PR/Marketing professional is now an award-winning published author.

Thank you for visiting my page. A writer and editor for other people most of my career, I started a new chapter in my life as a published author in 2019 when I created the Port Stirling Mystery series.

I became an award-winner in the first author contest I entered when MOURNING BAY was selected as a Killer Nashville Top Pick as one of the best books in 2023. I was gobsmacked when PHANTOM COVE followed that by WINNING the Writer’s Digest best self-published book in the Mystery/Thriller category for 2024. And, in 2025, COLD ROCK ISLAND won the Nancy Pearl Award for best Mystery (judged by nationwide librarians!) I now write full-time.

My focus during my years in the corporate world was PR, corporate communications, sports writing and editing. I've been a writer/writing coach for Bleacher Report. Previously, I directed Internal Communications at Nike, Inc. I founded Paris Communications, a full-service communications firm in Portland, Oregon, in 2000.

I was born and raised near the Oregon coast in a small town not unlike my fictional Port Stirling. I now live in Estacada, Oregon, with my husband, Steve, and spend much of my time in our six-acre garden. I love the outdoors, particularly in the beautiful Pacifc Northwest, and I'm happiest enjoying our beaches, rivers, and lake. Traveling the world, playing bad golf, cooking, reading, hiking, and following several sports teams takes up the rest of my time.

Like many Oregonians, I'm passionate about gardening, and earned Master Gardener status. A true plant nerd, I'm obsessively zealous about growing vegetables, although with 39 roses and counting, one could also make the case that I'm a tiny bit obsessed with roses, too.

A determined, avid traveler since my teens, I've visited dozens of countries around the world. While every place has its charms if you look hard enough, I include Scotland, New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands, Switzerland, and France’s Dordogne region among my favorites, but there is still a big world out there to explore.

What's one weird thing you should know about me that might surprise you? I'm a whiz at NFL Fantasy Football and often beat the boys! And football season is my favorite time of the year.

I'm a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters In Crime, Independent Book Publishers Association, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Willamette Writers, and Oregon Writers Colony.

With my debut novel, SHALLOW WATERS, I introduced a thrilling new mystery series set in my native state of Oregon, alongside our rugged Pacific coast. The second installment, MIDNIGHT BEACH, continued the excitement with a story based on a real-life crime. CODE:TSUNAMI, the third book in the series, is, I desperately hope, NOT based on a real-life future event. DARK SAND, the fourth installment, picks up the action one year after the earthquake and tsunami, and is in the spirit of a classic British whodunit. PHANTOM COVE, book 5 in the series and my personal favorite (so far!) was published in late 2022. It was followed by bestselling MOURNING BAY in 2023 which is set on a real-life Pacific Ocean bay on the southern coast of Oregon. COLD ROCK ISLAND, book 7, published in 2024, and still scares me. HUNTER'S BOG, book 8, was a bit of a departure with its dual setting in Scotland and Oregon, and was great fun to write. Book 9, WAVE'S END, takes us back to Port Stirling with a timely story, and published in September 2025. VENGEANCE FALLS, book 10, will publish in September 2026.

Sign up for my author newsletter at my website, and follow me on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, BlueSky, and LinkedIn.

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