Featured Author: Abby Woodland (Jinger Tylee Ertel)
Kayla smelled the alcohol before she saw her mother. Bottles lined the table, her mom collapsed on the couch, wedding photo clutched in hand. Every time her dad “worked late,” the house fell apart, and Kayla was left to hold the pieces.
Some stories are written to entertain. Others are written because they need to be.
Abby Woodland, pen name of Jinger Tylee Ertel, is a single mother, advocate, and storyteller whose life experiences shape every page she writes. Living with agoraphobia while raising a daughter with special needs, Abby understands isolation, resilience, and the fragile strength required to hold a family together when everything feels like it’s splintering.
Writing has always been more than a dream for her: it has been survival, expression, and truth. Inspired in part by the haunting emotional tone of Doll House by Melanie Martinez and by her own family experiences, Abby crafts domestic thrillers that peel back the glossy surface of “perfect” lives to expose what’s quietly unraveling underneath.
Beyond her own 18 published books, she works closely with indie authors, helping them bring their stories into the world, a reflection of her belief that stories matter, especially the difficult ones.
About Perfect
In public, Kayla’s life sparkles.
Beauty pageants. Glitz. Glamour. Smiles that look flawless under bright lights.
But at home, everything is cracking.
Her father’s affairs are no longer secrets. Her mother drowns herself in alcohol night after night. Her brother disappears into shadows Kayla doesn’t understand. And somehow, she becomes the one responsible, caring for her baby sister, managing the chaos, pretending everything is fine.
When an elderly neighbor begins offering help, it feels like a blessing. Until strange, unsettling events begin to unfold, things Kayla can’t explain.
As the illusion of perfection begins to shatter, Kayla must confront a question far more dangerous than family scandal:
When the spotlight fades, what’s really left?
Book Excerpt
Kayla knew her mom had been drinking again. She could see the liquor bottles and smell the alcohol the second she walked into the house. There were wine bottles sitting next to vodka bottles, next to rum, next to her mom's unwashed, col-lapsed body on the couch.
Kayla set her backpack down and took her mom's pulse. She was alive at least, but stunk of sweat, alcohol, and unbrushed teeth. Every time her father had to 'work late' her mom would stay up and drink all night long. Kayla would come downstairs to find her mom passed out on the couch, clutching her wedding photo and watching her old pageant videos more often than not, mascara streaks on her face from crying herself to sleep and greasy hair stuck to the side of her face.
Perfect is a domestic thriller about appearances, dysfunction, and the quiet terror of growing up too fast in a house full of secrets.
Website:
www.abbywoodland.com
