Bio

Karen Bayly is the author of several novels, novellas and short stories. She began telling stories as a child when she wrote soap operas for her dolls to perform under her creative direction. These days it’s her zoology PhD, research background, and general dismay at the state the world that informs her writing, an eclectic mix of speculative fiction, alternative history, noir and mystery. Her tales are often garnished with a touch of horror. She also writes the occasional dark fantasy story for younger folk.

However, she dabbles in literary fiction and screenplays as well. She received an Honourable Mention for “The Waiting” in the Mainstream/ Literary Short Story Category, 73rd Writer’s Digest Competition. In 2016, she reached the quarterfinals of Screencraft’s Cinematic Short Story Competition with “Daphne’s Dance”. In the same year, her short science fiction screenplay, “The Reconciled”, reached the quarterfinals of Screencraft’s Short Screenplay Competition. “Tesato’s Code” was long listed in ScreenCraft’s Cinematic Short Story Competition for 2023, and remains in the top 20% of discoverable projects on Coverfly.

Her short stories, flash fiction, and poems have appeared in journals such as Toasted Cheese, Overland, Yellow Mama Webzine, Skive Magazine, Voluted Tales, and Every Day Fiction. Her stories have been featured in anthologies from Black Beacon Press, Black Hare Press, and Crystal Lake Publishing.

In 2022, Black Hare Press published her novelette, Tesato’s Code.

In 2024, Black Beacon Books published Karen’s two alternate history adventure novels Fortitude and Courage. Mary Celeste Press originally published Fortitude in 2019. Two companion stories followed: “Foul Beasts” in Black Beacon Press’s anthology, Murder and Machinery, and “The Clockwork Witch” in Black Hare Press’s Punk anthology.

In 2025, IFWG Publishing released her Middle Grade novel “The Witch Who Wasn’t”.

She lives in the outer suburbs of Sydney, Australia, with two cats, two guitars, and two ukuleles. Occasional dancer and photographer.