Press Kit

Deonna Kay Biography

Deonna Kay—author, nonprofit volunteer, and mentor—takes her writing prowess, mixed with her Texan roots, and dispels it in her need to tell deep stories to encourage readers to develop empathy and understanding. 

Her debut novel: The Measure of Enough, was featured in BookTrib’s list of personal crises tales that will stay with you long after the final page. Her novel tells the story of Kacee Robinson, suddenly forced to face her childhood trauma of mental health and abuse amidst the high stakes of family and friendship with life-or death consequences in this psychological narrative.

Kay says of The Measure of Enough: “As women, we empower each other in different ways. It’s important for each of us to support the mental health of one another, and to be able to recognize signs of abuse and be bold enough to confront those and report when necessary. I feel we don’t see the topics of domestic and sexual abuse or eating disorders portrayed in a realistic fashion. As a domestic abuse and eating disorder survivor, it was important for me to tell this story of Kacee both with honesty and care.” 

Her novel was a finalist for the 2024 Somerset Award for contemporary fiction.

Kay has had her work published in multiple magazines, and was an editor for a small publishing press. She is involved with the manuscript critique organization, The Spun Yarn, and her work has been featured in Life Inspired, The Connection, and The Wylie News. In addition to her writing, she volunteers in her community, runs a local book club, and tutors youth in writing. Some of her favorite organizations include: local children’s advocacy centers, state and local PTAs, local domestic violence organizations, and the National Stroke Association. 

Kay has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in physical therapy from Texas State University, and is a business owner as a Certified Public Accountant. 

Born and raised in North Texas, she is a single mom, who uses her personal experiences to bring truth and transparency to her fiction. Mother-daughter themes run strong throughout her writing, as well as lively animal characters, too much coffee, and the occasional dash of Southern sass.

About Deonna Kay Brief Bio

Deonna Kay is the author of the novel, The Measure of Enough, a psychological narrative about facing childhood trauma amidst the high stakes of family and friendship with life-or-death consequences. Kay is a writer and editor; her work has been featured in Life Inspired, The Connection and The Wylie News. She holds degrees in Biomedical Science and Physical Therapy and is a Certified Public Accountant. She resides in North Texas with her daughter. 

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About “The Measure of Enough”

Thirty-four-year-old social worker, Kacee Robinson, runs a non-profit agency helping women and children move away from bad situations. Kacee moved away from her own bad situation years ago and pledged never to return to her hometown of Glendale, Texas, or to the mother who abandoned her right smack in the middle of her hateful pre-adolescent years—just when she needed her most. Now it is Kacee’s mother who needs something from her. With the entire town rallying behind the cry, Kacee has a decision to make. She can put aside everything she thought she ever knew about this woman who made a feeble attempt at raising her, return to the town, and conduct the necessary business like the grown-up professional she knows she is. Or she can stand her ground, continuing to struggle with the nagging questions and residual scars of her childhood. Before she can decide, Kacee fears her life may be in danger and a rapid turn of events prompts resolutions that cannot be undone, setting into motion a slide of events as slick as the oil-engendered family from which Kacee was born.

Reviews

“The author subtly foreshadowed the coming truths behind Kacee’s well-being and that of her mother, steadily building a tension that made it impossible to put the book down.”

— Guatemala Paula Loves to Read 

Goodreads Reviews

“The author’s writing style is compelling; I was immediately absorbed by this story.” 

Amazon Reviews

“This book pulled at every emotional thread I have. Kacee’s journey back to her hometown is raw, complex, and so deeply human. The family drama, the tension with her mother, and the journal revelations were gripping. I couldn’t stop reading once the secrets started to unravel.”

Excerpts

Excerpt 1:

Therapy and I have a love/hate relationship. The battle runs way down deep, growing in the pit of my stomach like some putrid, perverse fungus. After each session I’d tell myself it was useless and that it wasn’t going anywhere, yet some unknown magnetic force drew me back for the following week’s opportunity to pick apart my pitiful life and “get to the bottom” of the bane of my misery.

The answers to my own questions—those which have thrown me into therapy for half of my life—just might be hidden in Glendale. The thought turned over in my mind after Edna’s phone call–-even before I spoke it aloud to Margaret.

Margaret’s lobby walls were bare, save for the single faded watercolor painting of a man holding a young girl’s hand and wading through an empty wheat field. You’d think she’d opt for something a bit livelier. After all, most folks come to visit her trying to find a recipe for that life goulash they managed to dang near destroy on their own. 

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Excerpt 2:

Aunt Jackie rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, but it was clear she enjoyed his company. “You got it!” she said, matching his twinkle with hers. I heard the front door close, and it was just the two of us girls again. An old familiar feeling cast over me.

I followed her round figure to the back bedroom, admiring her thick curly hair as it swooshed from side to side, falling over the side of the wide neck of her housecoat.

She stepped aside at the threshold, and I stopped abruptly as I saw inside the room that had always been mine when I came to visit. She’d tidied up and put fresh linens on the bed, and sitting square in the middle was Bob the Unicorn, my prized possession and childhood confidante. The scene before me took me right back to my teenage years on a weekend getaway to her house. Time spent at Aunt Jackie’s meant following none of Mom’s rules and all of Jackie’s (which involved a lot of late, giggly nights and equal amounts of ice cream). Our days together stretched in sticky taffy ropes of brownies for breakfast and entire fall afternoons spent painting and napping, junk shopping and then creating the most fantastic art pieces out of that junk—just because.

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