Born to multiracial heritage in the same Honolulu hospital as Barack Obama, A. J. Payler earned his English degree from the University of Hawai'i, then eked out a living variously as a musician, technical writer, radio broadcaster, military contractor, audio engineer, comic store clerk, short order cook, press clipping agent, music journalist, and congressional archival assistant, shaking hands with everyone from Motörhead's Lemmy to Kurt Vonnegut along the way.
Since turning his attention to writing full-time, he has released the novels The Killing Song, World of Heroes, Lost In the Red, Terror Next Door, and Bank Error in Your Favor; his short writing has been published by Suspect, Twenty-Two Twenty-Eight, Flipside, Songwriter's Market, Creepy podcast, Cloaked Press, Short Story (Substack), Flash in a Flash, EYE, Tailspins, Razorcake and more. He has also recorded and released several well-reviewed albums of original songs and opened for artists such as Silkworm and the Schizophonics, continuing to perform live as often as time permits. 
He lives in Southern California with his family. Further detail on his writing and music is available via linktr.ee/ajpayler and ajpayler.com, where readers can get free stories by signing up for the A. J. Payler newsletter.