The Desert Nights, Rising Stars
Writers Conference

Kay Hartford writes literary and speculative fiction and mysteries. Her first byline was ‟The Puzzle Cube,” published in 1982 in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s Department of First Stories. That short story turned out to be a springboard for nonfiction assignments in local magazines and newspapers, which in turn took her to a staff job at a business journal chain and a two-decade newspaper career. Her first novel was published in 1998. After two decades as an editor and writer for regional newspapers, she turned back to writing fiction. She publishes under her own imprint, Nineteen Cents Press. Kay grew up in Southern California; she now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her most recent book is "All the Colors," a literary novel published on Jan. 8, 2019.