Meet Author Kalleigh Royn
- Kara M. Zone
- Oct 10
- 5 min read
BIO: Kalleigh Royn is an author who lives in a small mountain town in Southern Alberta, where she balances work as a middle school administrator with her passion for writing.
Drawing from her experiences, she weaves themes of resilience and leadership into her stories.
When she’s not writing or working, she can be found hiking, running, biking, or spending time with her partner and their adventurous corgi, Corgmander Riker.
Meet Kalleigh Royn:
If you could be friends with one character in your debut novel, who would it be? Why?
I’d be friends with Bradger because he doesn’t take life too seriously, but would do anything to support his chosen family. He has an incredible sense of humor and an uncanny knowledge of all things mechanical (an area I have no skill in!)
What is your favorite food?
Pizza (because I’m a child at heart).
What is your preferred drink?
If you would have asked me three months ago I would have said wine, but since I’ve given up alcohol for health reasons, coffee is the next best thing
If you could live in any fictional town, city, or world what would it be?
I’d want to live in the Court of Dreams (ACOTAR) or Narnia.
What’s your biggest fear?
Yikes, this one is a personal one, I’m in the process of figuring out an autoimmune illness and I am afraid that I won’t ever feel better again
What’s your favorite genre?
Light fantasy. I’m not a big epic fantasy fan, but I love books with knights/warriors, assassins, and pirates
Do you have any inspirational quotes you live by?
“I can do hard things.”
What’s one piece of advice you wish you’d known when you first started writing?
I wish someone would have told me how valuable it would have been to map out all of my characters (beyond description) after my rough draft I realized some of my characters’ motivations either didn’t make sense or were superficial. Luckily that’s what a rough draft is for, working out the kinks!
What was the first piece you ever wrote?
I wrote a short story about an experience I had on the playground as a nine year old. It was titled The Leap, and it essentially describes how I thought I could be just like Silvester Stallone in the movie Cliffhanger - but that was my gateway to writing.
What’s your favorite board game? Cards? Group activity?
I love board games, especially Settlers of Catan. I also really enjoy playing disc golf, we have two amazing courses in my small mountain town, which is more than many places can say.
What is a goal you’re still waiting to start?
I want to keep writing. I don’t want my first series, The Scattered Seeds, to be it. I want to keep going and share all of the stories that take up rent in my head with the world.
Was there anything else you wanted to be, besides a writer, when you were a kid?
I once wanted to be the Prime Minister of Canada, until I learned I had to be bilingual in French and English, and French was never strong enough. I settled for being a school principal instead.
Did you have an invisible friend in your childhood? If so, what was their name?
I did, his name was Tommy (named after the Green Power Ranger) and we got into all kinds of mischief on my trampoline (as I am writing this, I noticed I’ve identified with a handful of male characters, maybe that’s why I love writing badass female characters so much, I needed more adventurous female role models growing up)
What is one kind of character (baker, ghost, strong female character) that every book you enjoy has in it?
The morally grey character all the way. I have always identified with these characters, regardless of age/race/gender. There is just something so compelling about them
If you had to go up against one villain in a novel, what villain would you pick?
Probably Bevin Conner from the False Prince--I’d love to use my wit like Jaron to outsmart him.
What’s the biggest plot twist you never saw coming? (In any form of media)
Season two of White Lotus… I didn’t expect Jennifer Coolidge's character to have the fate she did
What’s your favorite show to binge-watch?
RuPaul’s Drag Race
What do you do to unwind from stress?
Writing, reading, and walking my corgi!
What are some helpful tips you would give a fellow writer who’s having a hard time plotting, developing, etc.?
I would suggest writers think about their goal for writing. What do they want to achieve, what do they want their audiences to feel? Once they can get a feel for that, they to hone in on characters and character motivation
What would you tell your younger self not to care about?
Your sense of worth is not determined by your achievements (something I still have to tell myself daily)
What is something that you’ve learned and grown from over the last year?
It’s important to set healthy boundaries; it's impossible to do everything and impossible to please everyone, and that’s okay!
What’s the best way to tackle challenges?
I love making lists and taking things one step at a time. I also use mantras like “be brave” and “what’s the worst/best that could happen?”
Indoors or Outdoors?
Why can’t it be both?!
You’re a new character in the town you’re currently writing, who do you meet first and how do they react to you? (How do you react to them?)
It would probably be a guard at the gate of Echelon or General Nash (which would be bad news…) I’d probably try to run away, because she is terrifying
If you had a soundtrack to your life, right now, what would the first five songs be?
Middle - Jimmy Eat World
Inner Ninja - Classified
Anti-Hero - T Swift
Confetti - Charlotte Cardin
Meaningless - Charlotte Cardin (yup, second song because I just love her).
Do you swear? If so, what’s your favorite curse word? If not, what’s your go-to exclamation when you’re mad/happy?
Yes, and it’s fuck, more specifically…. “So, and so, can fuck right off.”
If your core main characters could say one thing about you, what do you think (or hope) they would say?
I think they would say there’s a fierceness in me, a resilience that they would admire.
What is your loftiest goal you’d like to reach as a writer?
Become a full-time writer (make enough from my books to support myself).
Do you have any words/tropes you won’t write in your genre?
I hate pregnancy tropes; those will never, ever, ever make an appearance in any of my writing. More often than not, if I see one in a book I’m reading, I stop reading it.
Was there ever a name you wanted to use for a character, but it didn’t fit their personality, so you had to change it?
Not yet, but I am sure it will happen eventually
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Want to learn more about Kalleigh Royn and her writing journey on Instagram @kalleighroynwrites or visit her website: www.kalleighroyn.com
Find her books:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/16gcZ3f
Everywhere Else: https://books2read.com/u/bax1eL
What questions would you have for other authors? I'd love to know!
Are you an author or writer? Would you like to be part of the Meet an Author Spotlight? Let me know, and I'll send you some questions so we can get started.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
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