Kayla Perrin is the author of eighteen novels. Some novels include The Sweet Spot, Tell Me You Love Me, and the Essence bestseller Sisters of Theta Phi Kappa. 

A certified teacher, Kayla also works in the Toronto film industry as an actress, having appeared in many TV shows, commercials, and movies, and was the 2002 recipient of the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Multicultural Romance.

She has received an Arts Acclaim Award for her writing from the city of Brampton, Ontario, and has twice won a spot on RWA's Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year list. Kayla spends her time between Toronto and Miami, Florida.

Urban Reviews:  Tell us about We'll Never Tell.
Kayla Perrin:  We’ll Never Tell, in essence, is a story about ordinary people getting caught up in extraordinary emotions. The main character, Phoebe Matthews, is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Henry. Everything’s going fine until a man-stealing pledge named Shandra sets her sights on Henry. And what Shandra wants, Shandra gets. She’ll stop at nothing to steal Henry from Phoebe. Phoebe, overwhelmed by feelings of anger and jealousy, decides to teach Shandra a lesson that will have her staying away from her man. With the help of her two best friends, Phoebe plans a special initiation for Shandra that is supposed to involve humiliation and nothing more. But things take a tragic turn and Shandra ends up dead, and suddenly Phoebe and her friends’ lives are thrown into a tailspin. And when a couple other girls from their sorority are attacked, they start to wonder if Shandra’s death wasn’t part of a bigger mystery.

Urban Reviews:  This novel takes place on the University of Buffalo campus. Are there any elements of the storyline that's real?
Kayla Perrin:  Yes, definitely. One key part of the story that is real is the element about the rapist and murderer who had attacked and killed some women in the past, and had not been caught. Incidentally, earlier this year, the rapist and murderer was caught—after many, many years of eluding captivity! This is great, of course, but now that element of my story won’t exactly be true, since as I wrote it the killer was still at large. Of course, my story is fiction, and the real-life capture of this menace doesn’t change my story, but locals will know and understand what I was referring to.

Urban Reviews:  Did you have to do any research for this story?
Kayla Perrin:  Because I set this book at a university campus, I did a lot of research to make it real and credible. I went to the University of Buffalo with a friend of mine who attended UB. She showed me around, and answered the endless questions I had. One thing she told me was that UB doesn’t allow any sorority or fraternity houses on campus. For my story, I changed that aspect because I needed to for the book I was writing. I live close to Buffalo so I know the city fairly well and was able to drive by the areas where the initiation takes place. That helped, because I could see and visualize how the story would unfold. I also talked to sorority members.

Urban Reviews:  Will there be a possible sequel or will these characters pop up in a future book?
Kayla Perrin:  That’s something I’m deciding right now. I can see there being a sequel—it could be very interesting. But, I’m also working on another story idea right now that doesn’t include these characters. That said, you never know!

Urban Reviews:  Tell our readers how you got your start in the literary industry.
Kayla Perrin:  I have been writing since I could hold a pencil. I’ve always wanted to tell stories, and sent my first book to a publisher when I was just 13. At 14, I sent two more fully-illustrated books to the publisher and came close to a first sale (according to the publisher). As I grew older, I started writing longer works, but with longer books I ended up starting a lot of projects and not finishing them. Then I discovered the romance genre, and learned that there was a new subgenre of African American romance, and I realized that this was likely my opportunity to get a book published. It was. After the sale of my first book in 1996, I have been publishing steady since then.

Urban Reviews:  How do you come up with fresh ideas after writing 18 novels?
Kayla Perrin:  For me, ideas are not a problem. I constantly come up with ideas. I try, with each book, to pick an idea that is different from the last one I worked on, which helps me to stay fresh. Also, jumping from one genre to another—like going from writing romance to writing mainstream fiction—really helps.

Urban Reviews:  You write romance and mainstream books. Which genre do you enjoy writing the best?
Kayla Perrin:  Oh, that’s hard to answer. I like both for different reasons. I love the romance genre, and all the trials people go through trying to get to that happily ever after. But I think I enjoy mainstream a little more, only because as a writer it gives me more room to play. I can have a love story that doesn’t end happily, or characters that are more flawed, or more a mystery/suspense plot. In my opinion, writing in both genres helps keep my ideas fresh, which is a good thing.

Urban Reviews:  Can we get a sneak peak at your next novel?
Kayla Perrin:  My next novel for St. Martin’s Press is going to once again take place in the world of sororities, although this time on Spring Break. Interestingly enough, I just got back from the Bahamas where there were lots of Spring Breakers, so I got a lot of research in on the trip! They were great. The next book will also be a suspenseful story, so you can be sure there will be some murder and mayhem during the spring break trip.

Urban Reviews:  Is there anything that you know now that you wish you knew at the beginning of your writing career?
Kayla Perrin:  Yes, definitely. One of the main things I wish I knew was just how important it was to have no agent than a bad agent. I learned that quickly, however, so things could have been worse for me...but thankfully they weren’t. There are always things you learn as you go along in your career, and you can’t dwell on the bad. You just have to take the positive from the experience and move forward.

Urban Reviews:  Name one thing that the world does not know about Kayla Perrin-the person?
Kayla Perrin:  Hmmm…I’d have to say that the world doesn’t know that I am a shy person! Yes, I can be very outgoing and often am in social settings, but then I can have days where if I don’t talk to people, it doesn’t matter. I am a shy person at heart, and a private one. I have a feeling that no one will believe that, however.