Born in New York, Roy obtained his Bachelor's degree from Beloit College and his Master's Degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan. 

As a graduate student, Roy’s work was among those selected by Poet Laureate Robert Hayden for inclusion in the year’s Best American Poetry anthology. During this time he also wrote and directed Persona Non Grata, an Ann Arbor International Film Festival prize winner.

Roy previously worked as Associate Editor for the Beloit Poetry Journal and for the national desk of The New York Times. 

Under the pseudonym Roy Freeland, he worked as a songwriter for Warner Music Group and EMI, penning lyrics sung by Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson. Roy also wrote soundtracks for films such as A Goofy Movie, Donnie Brasco, and Top Gun. He received numerous BMI Most Performed Song Awards, Million Performance Awards, and gold and platinum certifications, with songs in the “top ten” on the Billboard charts. He was also nominated for Best Album Or Original Score at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.

As a novelist, Roy wrote Winged Creatures (St. Martin’s Press, 2008), exploring the aftermath of a random act of gun violence. Published in five languages, the novel was one of five fiction finalists for the Southern California Independent Bookseller’s award 2009. 

Roy also wrote the screenplay adaptation for the film release of the novel (re-titled Fragments). The 2008 psychological thriller stars Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson, Josh Hutcherson, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, and Walton Goggins.

As a screenwriter, Roy has written screenplays for Fox Searchlight, Warner Bros, and DreamWorks.

For the stage, Seattle 5th Avenue Theater has commissioned Roy and his wife Debrah Neal to adapt Anne Rice’s Cry to Heaven. 

Roy's most recent novel Deprivation (Meerkat Press, 2020) has been named Finalist for Best Thriller 2020 by Foreward Reviews, and has been optioned for film by Branded Pictures Entertainment.