Joy Jordan-Lake is a best-selling and award-winning American author, well-known for her books such as "Under a Gilded Moon," "A Tangled Mercy," and "Blue Hole Back Home." She was the recipient of the 2009 Christy Award for Best First Novel for "Blue Hole Back Home."
Joy Jordan-Lake was born in Washington, D.C., and her first vivid childhood memory was watching her mother weep as newscasters reported the shooting of Martin Luther King, Jr. She grew up on Signal Mountain, Tennessee, where she observed the ways in which communities respond to bigotry and violence. Joy earned a bachelor's degree from Furman University and a master's from a theological seminary. She then moved to the Boston area, where she earned a master's and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Tufts University, specializing in the role of race in 19th-century American fiction.
Joy's varied professional experience includes working as a college professor, author, journalist, waitress, director of a program for homeless families, university chaplain, horseback riding instructor, free-lance photographer, and head sailing instructor. She currently writes full-time, teaches as an adjunct professor at Belmont University, and is a mom of young adult children. Joy is a hiker, dog-lover, traveler, gardener, and a recently-rededicated runner. She has published eleven books, including historical mysteries, bestselling novels, children's picture books, and academic books. Joy's writing is known for its sharp humor, snappy prose, wry observations, and a touch of Southern gothic sensibility.