J.L. McKenzie
J.L. McKenzie discovered her love for writing in the 3rd grade when she wrote her first short story about a sorority pledge who had to dig open a fresh grave and found much more than she bargained for. Since that day, at the age of 12-years old, she began to express herself through poetry and short stories. As she refined her craft, her readers have compared her work to that of Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, Clive Barker, Emily Dickinson and H.P. Lovecraft.
Her first book of poetry, "Vermilion Dreams", was published in February 2011 and showcased 20 years of her work. The growth of the author, both technically and emotionally, is wonderful to experience and will leave the reader forever changed. The prevailing themes in her work are despair, sorrow of lost loves, suicide, death, vengeance and all things Gothic. She shares her observations of life through obsideon-tinted lenses and ventures into the dark places of the mind and soul that others fear to tread.
Her favorite pastimes include watching (mostly) horror movies with her friends, as well as watching television shows from her homeland of America and the UK. Gaming, whether tabletop/dice games, PC or online, is something she takes great pleasure in doing with her two best friends every week. She also enjoys card games, such as Cards Against Humanity, Cthulhu Gloom, Exploding Kittens and Zombie Fluxx to name a few. Reading daily is a must for her. True crime, serial killer encyclopedias, classic and modern horror, poetry, biographies and anything tongue in cheek is sure to be found on her book shelves. Music is a staple in her life and is instrumental to her writing process. She listens to operas by Mozart to the latest singles from modern artists like The Cure, Crystal Castles, Adore Delano, In This Moment, Joji and Julian Casablancas' bands The Strokes and The Voidz. Deadpool is her spirit animal.
Covered in tattoos (with a few piercings in the mix), violet hair and a unique fashion sense, J.L. McKenzie is sure to stand out in any crowd, whether it be her unabashed style or convictions. She is an eclectic Grey witch and High Priestess of a coven in Wales who is also a licensed minister. She is an active member in the Pagan, LGBTQ, Gothic acceptance, Project Semicolon and suicide prevention communities. She identifies as Pansexual and going to drag shows is a treat for her. She spends a lot of time online when she is not writing, mostly on social media, keeping track of friends and family and posting the absurd, funny and tragic things she finds on the Internet. Facebook and Twitter are her favorite haunts.
She attended St. Petersburg College in 1997 to study Crime Scene Technology (before the advent of the abomination of a television show "CSI") The composition and creative writing courses she took helped shape her technique and time has honed her instincts and selective subject matter. Her fascination with forensics and serial killers began hen her father woke her up early the morning Ted Bundy was executed so they could watch the news coverage together. From that experience, a fascination with profiling and serial killers emerged. The characters she uses as a basis for inspiration for her law enforcement characters are Detective Robert Goren from "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", Dr. Liv Moore from "iZombie" and Abby Sciuto from "NCIS".
J.L. McKenzie lives in Pinellas Park, Florida, with her Maine Coon cat, Sybil. She is currently working on a second book of poetry as well as beginning work on a horror novel and a fantasy/horror novel trilogy.
