K. J. McKenzie is a Scottish author best known for creating the Still Standing series. Her work blends fiction with lived experience, offering readers a window into the quiet resilience and complexity of growing up and living in a world of chaos that doesn’t always make sense.
K. J. writes to make sense of things: for herself and for others. Her first book Why Change to Vodka? began as a personal project written over twenty-five years ago. It’s shaped by memory, imagination, and the need to give voice to the kinds of stories that often go untold. Her stories are honest and brave, and for people who have lived through challenges and storms and for those who have learned to dance in the rain.
Through Zoe Fitzgerald’s journey, K. J. explores the messy intersections of family, identity, survival, and self-discovery with tenderness, humour, and unflinching honesty and grit. It’s a mixture of lots of stories from different people and all walks of life, all stitched together into one. Her stories aim to offer unique insight and experience to show readers that their possibilities can be endless and that they can be who they want to be.
When she’s not writing, Kate can often be found exploring and exercising in Scotland’s beautiful countryside, or helping others navigate life’s winding roads with kindness, care and resolve.
K. J. McKenzie 