The idea is to write it so that people hear it
and it slides through the brain
and goes straight to the heart.
- Maya Angelou
Joiya began querying in 2010 after she resigned from her job as Guardian ad Litem. Her first book, a collection of short stories entitled The Notes They Played, was published in 2017. The Impossible, a historical novel in verse, based loosely on her grandparetns' migration from South Georgia to upstate New York, was published in 2019. In 2020 her first YA in verse, Petrified Flowers, was published. And in 2021, her debut poetry and essay collection, Darker Sister, was released.
Joiya is currently working on four projects - an adult thriller, a upper MG novel, a YA fantasty, and a chapbook. She has a few publishing surprises in store for 2023.