Here’s the new book trailer:
I started out writing humorous woman’s fiction but then took this wise adage to heart: Write what you’d love to read, and historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.
https://www.amazon.com/When-Were-Brave-Karla-Jay-ebook/dp/B07QHGVPPN?ref_=ast_author_dp
In 2019 I published When We Were Brave, a WWII story that involves a Jewish boy and his mother, a conflicted SS officer, and a German-American family in Pennsylvania who are rounded up and put in a camp because of their nationality. The characters all face unjust treatment as the war grinds on. In the end, family and bravery might be the only things that can help them survive.
A few reviews:
“Combining excellent historical research with a compelling storyline, the hard work of author Karla M. Jay really pays off the more deeply involved you become with the characters in her plot…As the plot threads and connections slowly come together, the conclusion marks the realities of war and sticks in your mind for a long time after.” ~ A Five Star MUST Read! -Susan Violante for Reader Views
When We Were Brave is not a novel about suffering, although suffering certainly makes up much of it. Rather, it is a novel about perseverance, the will to survive and push back against cruelty and death… It is what makes the novel exceptional and compelling. -Daniel Casey, San Francisco Book Review
Jay’s…account is impressively ambitious, offering a sprawling view of the wages of war from three distinct perspectives. She ingeniously braids them into a coherent narrative tapestry, and along the way, she realistically describes the human degradation experienced by prisoners in the Nazi camps…Kirkus Reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Happened-Silence-Karla-M-Jay-ebook/dp/B08M9VBDVL?ref_=ast_author_dp
In October of 202, I published It Happened in Silence. Set in a world where women of the KKK betray their neighbors, where horrors of unscrupulous foundling homes come to light, and buried mysteries are not all that hidden. It’s Georgia 1921. Mute since birth, fifteen-year-old Willow Stewart has one task to complete—to leave her Appalachian homestead and find a traveling preacher and her brother, Briar. When a peddler kidnaps her, she escapes only to face an unjust arrest and penal servitude. The laws are not on her side. Or her brother’s.
I’ve been honored to have won the following awards (and the book has been adapted into a screenplay that is currently being pitched. Fingers crossed!)
- 2021 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award
- 2021 Distinguished Favorite Historical Fiction, Independent Publisher Award
- 2021 Runner-Up Historical Fiction, Top Shelf Award
- 2020 Finalist for The Book Excellence Award
- 2020 Wishing Shelf Finalist
In February of 2022, I published The Puppet Maker’s Daughter. It’s Hungary 1944. The war comes late to Budapest. Nineteen-year-old Marika, forced out of nursing school, believes she and her Jewish family will remain safe, even as Nazi soldiers fill their cobbled streets. With Russians to their east, the Allies to their west, everyone assumes the war is nearly over. Her father, once a prominent engineer, returns to his passion for puppet making. Soon, she is pulled into the resistance to rescue orphans and displaced Jews while keeping her family one step ahead of Eichmann’s extermination plans.
One day, as peril intensifies, she must make a decision that puts her in extreme danger to save herself, her family, and the orphans she’s sheltered.
Will she regret that moment for the rest of her life?
Awards and a review:
2022 New York City Big Book WINNER
2022 Independent Author Network (IAN) FINALIST
2022 Shortlist for the Selfie Award by Publisher’s Weekly
2021 FINALIST Self-Published Review Contest
“What makes this novel different is its depiction of the way the local population turned on their neighbours and the murders carried out by the Hungarian Fascist party, the Arrow Cross…The human spirit cannot be crushed, and those who died will live on in the hearts of those who survived and their descendants.” ~ Alan Bardos, reviewer for The Historical Novel Society
https://www.amazon.com/Shot-Justice-Vigilante-Story-ebook/dp/B0BX77V56D?ref_=ast_author_dp
In February of 2023, I wrote A Shot at Justice, a vigilante story, a cross between Dexter and the Equalizer. Wyatt Dardin is an artist and successful junkyard operator, with a girlfriend and two beautiful dogs. He believes his violent childhood is behind him until a child shows up with a broken arm and a story about his abusive father. Unable to stand idly by, he confronts the man and inadvertently kills him. He briefly befriends a young man, who’s mentally broken due to his father’s abuse. Wyatt takes pity on him and helps him. This act of kindness sparks a series of events that puts everything and everyone Wyatt holds dear in grave danger.
Has his shot at justice been worth it?
Review and award:
“I recommend this story to anyone who loves action-packed thrillers.” 5 stars! – Readers’ Favorite
2023 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite for Thriller
And onward.
I’m researching the 1960s now, creating my next historical fiction. Stay tuned.