Industry Bio
Kay Zempel started her career in fanfiction, filling notebook after notebook during her high school classes. Luckily for her, these early attempts at novel writing have been destroyed. She took a break from writing to pursue a PhD in Biochemistry. Her writing evolved while designing exam questions and forming teaching philosphies as an academic. She rounded out her technical writing skills as a medical writer for pharmaceutical companies.
Kay returned to her love of fiction during a severe episode of mental illness. She now writes paranormal romance, such as The Blood Pack Books. When she's not writing, she's picking up too many hobbies to count, walking her dog, or playing video games.
Her goal is to create inclusive love stories, focusing particularly on disability and mental health. As a neurodivergent, chronically ill, and mentally ill author, Kay's work is colored by her personal experiences. Her heros and heroines are loved for all their parts, not in spite of them.
A Southern California native, she now lives in the PNW with her husband and the world's laziest husky.
About the Imprint
"Some smoke and some wine is the life of a black valentine"
- Caro Emerald "Black Valentine"
With Black Valentine Press, I'm committed to telling diverse love stories. I believe that everyone deserves a happy ending, no matter their size, ability, race, gender, sexuality, and age. I am a plus size, chronically ill, mentally ill, and neurodivergent author. All of which influences my characters and the stories I tell.
The problems might be supernatural, but the solutions are human.
My books have been written on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish People, who continue to steward the lands and seas of the area. For more information on the Snoqualmie Tribe's ancestral land movement, click here.