Tell us about yourself.
I’m a little bit chaos and a whole lot of heart. I wear many hats, mom, small business owner, esthetician, content creator, and author, and each one feeds the stories I tell. I write like I live: with grit, honesty, and zero interest in sugarcoating the truth. If you’re looking for fairy tales, I’m probably not your girl. But if you want messy, magnetic, and unforgettable? Let’s talk.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in Louisiana, where the heat is thick, the stories are wilder than fiction, and survival is a skill you learn early. That kind of environment shapes you. It taught me to find beauty in the broken and poetry in the chaos. It’s why my characters are often sharp-edged and soft-hearted, because that’s the world I came from.
What was your journey to getting published like?
Nontraditional and stubborn, just like me. I didn’t wait for a green light. I wrote, rewrote, learned everything I could, and published on my own terms. Every step, every mistake, every late-night upload, made me more confident in my voice. I didn’t take the easy route. I took the one that let me keep my fire.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
Someone once told me, “It felt like you wrote that just for me.” That’s the goal, isn’t it? To make a stranger feel seen, like they stumbled across a page and found a piece of themselves in it. That’s not just feedback, it’s fuel.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write the story that won’t leave you alone. The one that feels too raw, too loud, too much. That’s the one worth telling. Don’t let fear of judgment silence your voice. The right readers will find you, and they’ll thank you for your honesty.
What’s a fun fact about you that your readers might not know?
I used to ride dirt bikes as a kid, hair flying, no helmet, just me and the wind. It was the freest I ever felt. That same rush? That’s what writing gives me now. A throttle, a release, and just enough danger to make it exciting.
What’s your guilty pleasure book or genre?
Give me all the dark romance. The more twisted, the better. I want enemies with chemistry, dangerous secrets, and consequences that sting. Bonus points if there's a power shift and someone walks away wrecked, but better for it.
What’s your favorite quote about writing?
{Write hard and clear about what hurts.” —Ernest Hemingway.Pain is personal. But on the page, it becomes universal. I don’t flinch from the hurt, I use it. Because someone, somewhere, needs to know they’re not the only one bleeding.
When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
I’m deep in mom mode most days, snacks, snuggles, chaos. Outside that, I’m creating content, planning my next creative leap, or sitting in my studio with a notebook and a playlist, thinking about what my characters are doing when I’m not looking.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I don’t remember the book, but I remember the feeling, the first time words made me cry. That moment cracked something open. I realized stories could hold people. I’ve been chasing that kind of impact ever since.
What has inspired you and your writing style?
Real life. I write the way people feel, unfiltered, complicated, vulnerable. I’m inspired by scars, survival, and the parts of love that don’t always look pretty. I don’t aim for polished. I aim for real.
How do you deal with negative reviews?
Not everything is meant for everyone. And that’s okay. I let it sting if it needs to, then I move on. I don’t write to be liked, I write to connect. And the people who get it? They’re who I write for.
How do you connect with your readers?
By being human. I show up online as myself, unfiltered, sarcastic, heart-on-display. Whether it’s TikTok, messages, or live chats, I want my readers to feel like they know me, not just my characters.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More stories. Wilder arcs. Books that punch you in the heart and leave you wanting more. I’m building something bigger than one genre, romance, thrillers, poetry, non-fiction, I want readers to grow with me.
Are there any Easter eggs or hidden messages in your work?
Always. If you’ve ever loved me, hurt me, or shaped me, you’re probably in a book. Sometimes it's a line, sometimes it’s a whole character. My stories are built on truth, even if the names have changed.
How do you approach writing dialogue for your characters?
I speak it out loud. If it doesn’t sound like something someone would actually say, with emotion, sass, or silence, it gets cut. Dialogue should feel like eavesdropping, not editing.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
I see you. Your messages, your quotes, your tears, they’ve kept me going more than you know. If my words gave you strength or made you feel less alone, then just know: you did that for me too. We’re in this together.
Kayla Gerdes’s Author Websites and Profiles
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.