Jay Rayl

Biography

Besides an author of novels, short stories and poetry, Jay Allen Rayl has enjoyed working as an amateur filmmaker, in the theater as an actor and stage director of dramas, comedies and musicals, as well as an award-winning photographer and artist.
His short feature From Another Dream was screened at the Orange County Amateur Film-makers Showcase in 1975.
Prior to that, he enjoyed performing character roles in college productions and then in community theater, where he went on to direct such shows as Blithe Spirit, The Man Who Came To Dinner, My Fair Lady, Oklahoma and Camelot.
His literary works can be sampled and purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. Some of those titles include Raising Lazarus, Kilroy Was Here, The Minerva Vendettas and The Evening Meal.
When not engaged in painting, photography or writing, the author enjoys the diversion of sitting down at the piano with a go at Chopin or Rachmaninov, or simply picking up his classical guitar and playing the likes of Tarrega or Ponce.
But literature continues to be his primary focus.
Currently, he is working on a collection of miniatures under the title of The Penny Epics, which can be enjoyed on his website at JayRayl.com

Titles include:

The Girl With The Flaxen Hair- A novel
Kilroy Was Here!- A novel
The Evening Meal- A short story
The Sensibility Of The Silly Sevens- A short story
A Love Affair So Late In Life- A short story
Marevedova And The Size-Nine Enigma- A short story
Unwriting The Chisel'd Script- A short story
The Minerva Vendettas- A short story

Where to find Jay Rayl online

Books

Raising Lazarus
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 214,590. Language: English. Published: May 1, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Inspirational, Fiction » Historical » General
Raising Lazarus is the story of one man’s quest for redemption and the unlikely road he must travel to find that forgiveness. In this tale of mystery, intrigue and inner turmoil, our hero will be faced with challenges he could never have imagined. And though his life at times seems to be in the hands of others, his destiny is ultimately that which was bequeathed to him long before he was born.
The Minerva Vendettas
Price: Free! Words: 5,500. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2019 . Categories: Fiction » Historical » Medieval
Curses usually claim no victims. But when offered to the goddess Minerva and the very words inscribed upon copper tablets, no one is immune to the intent of such a curse. And now an old enemy sees a way to fulfill a vendetta he has long carried close to his heart. If his dark prayers can be answered, he will be eternally grateful. But vendettas seem to always have a way of coming full circle.
The Camera Obscura- Book One
Price: Free! Words: 9,930. Language: English. Published: January 8, 2018 . Categories: Poetry » American poetry » General
Words and Pictures A book of poetry and photography
Unwriting The Chisel'd Script
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 6,260. Language: English. Published: February 2, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Action & suspense
How can one redeem oneself for a single act of cowardice? An act of cowardice that has cost the lives of twelve innocent people. A young man now finds himself on a quest for redemption in hopes to make amends for his failure to act when most needed. But he has been told that ‘You cannot unwrite that chisel’d script. It's set in stone.' Such words he is not willing to live with. Not today.
Marevedova And The Size-Nine Enigma
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 5,940. Language: English. Published: February 2, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fairy tales & fables
What could possibly be so enigmatic about a pair of girl’s size-nine shoes? Nothing, unless, of course, you are a mermaid who has never laid eyes upon a single human being. Written in the spirit of a children’s fable for the young and old alike, Marevedova, the sea-widow, discovers such a pair of girl’s shoes and sets out to learn what these two items might possibly be. After the many mis
Kilroy Was Here!
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 113,780. Language: English. Published: May 29, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Shep Pence is a filmmaker who has long enjoyed cinematic success. But with recent failures his legacy is threatened. He now hopes with his new film, Kilroy Was Here!, to revive that career. This is his best script ever, the best production he has ever planned. Yet a series of strange events will not only transform the core of his latest film, but help to fulfill a two thousand year old prophecy.
A Love Affair So Late In Life
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 9,710. Language: English. Published: May 28, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Women's fiction » General
After her husband of over forty years passes away, Jillian Anne Gilchrest begins a new life alone, secluding herself in the large two story house she has lived in since the day she was wed. But now she has agreed to her daughter's request that she take in a lodger. And the young man who occupies the small room at the end of the hallway will come to change her life in a most remarkable way.
The Sensibility Of The Silly Sevens
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 7,630. Language: English. Published: January 22, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy
A grave marker in itself can tell quite a tale. But when the final date of a woman purportedly over one hundred and fifty years old has yet to be carved into the stone, there is indeed quite a story to be told.
The Evening Meal
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 3,850. Language: English. Published: January 14, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Cultural & ethnic themes, Fiction » Women's fiction » General
What could possibly drive the pious woman to commit a calculated act of cold-blooded murder? The Evening Meal looks at the world of the religious cult, where women are often nothing more than a commodity and their lives are often rigorously predetermined by a designing few. For one such woman trapped in this world, there seems to be no other way out.
The Girl With The Flaxen Hair
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 74,280. Language: English. Published: December 12, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General, Fiction » Science fiction » General
‘The girl with the flaxen hair’ is a woman who has a destiny to fulfill. And that destiny will eventually make her the very first of her kind. But to fulfill that destiny, she will have to undergo a transformation, one not only of the psyche, but of the body as well. And caught up in this journey are those who will risk their lives to help her, and others who will do anything to see her dead.