Kat Stiles's Blog

View from the living room of our place

I know I’ve been AWOL for some time, and I have no other excuse than life happens. I’ve been super busy during the week these days, so I’ve had little time to write, let alone all the other fun things like be social and create fascinating blog posts. >< However, since I’m on a sort of holiday, I actually have time to post something!

Right now, I’m on a writer’s retreat in Breckenridge, CO. It’s been snowy and cold – my last taste of winter before I go back to Texas and oven-like temperatures. I’ve met and hung out with several fabulous indie authors. You can see us all here at a fancy restaurant:

From down left to down right: Daisy Emory, Jayleen Doyle, Willow Hadley, Laurel Knight, Me, D. L. Blade and Avery Banks

I’ve been having so much fun – relaxing, mostly, but I got another episode of my Kindle Vella story done, which you can check out here: Her Alien King. I also got a couple of chapters of The Vampire Cure 3 written, so that’s nice. You can find the first two books here on Amazon. I plan to work on Modified: Unified Part 3 in the near future as well. There are seven books in the Modified series (eight if you count the Mara backstory book), though the first 5 are shorter books while the last two are a little longer. I’m toying with the idea of a Modified Vella story, maybe Vi’s backstory. Please comment if that’s something you’d be interested in reading.

It took me a while to acclimate to the elevation here:

Yep, that’s me at an oxygen bar…

But all in all, this trip has been a blast! We visited an absinthe bar:

Jayleen Doyle is to the left, Willow Hadley to the right in the photo.Many fascinating things were learned about absinthe…

We also had a visitor at the townhouse rental we stayed in:

He ate the bacon that was thrown out to him

It was exactly the break I needed. And I loved meeting other indie authors and getting to know them. It really is a great group of people – I had so much fun hanging out with them. Social interaction when you work exclusively from home in a one horse town is practically non-existent. I had no idea how nice it is to have conversations with other adults! And of course we’ve discussed bookish things as well, from trends in the market, TikTok, and of course marketing itself, so I’ve got some good info to run with.

I’m going to take a stab at TikTok in the near future. I have two videos on there so far, but I’m planning on doing some more to introduce my book series – just have to figure out how to do it right. Follow me on TikTok here.

That’s all I’ve got for now – please comment and let me know what you think of my Colorado adventure!

The post Greetings from Breckenridge! first appeared on Katstiles.

Check out my latest giveaway! Enter through December 17th, open to US residents only.

The post The Vampire Cure Book Giveaway first appeared on Katstiles.

Well it is getting close to my release of The Vampire Cure 2 - a new breed.
and If you have not read book one , I am offering it at only 99c
What it is about
A deadly virus, a coven of pissed-off vampires, and a new breed of hybrid vampires. Just another Tuesday for newly-turned vampire and scientist Liz Meyer. Book two on Pre-Order , coming this month https://amazon.com/Vampire-Cure-New.....
book one 99c https://books2read.com/thevampirecure

Sometimes super powers aren't all they're cracked up to be...

Modified is a funny, sexy, geeky romp about the trouble of acquiring an unexpected and inherently evil super power. Full of offbeat characters, profanity, and just enough deliciously wicked thoughts, you'll love this fun series.
Grab it Free https://www.amazon.com/Modified-1-Kat...

I’ve been stupid busy, or at least busy avoiding writing. I’ve got book 2 of The Vampire Cure in the works, as well as an offering for the new platform, Kindle Vella, so I’m not exactly bored, though life has been getting in the way as of late.

Still, I miss writing blog posts and interacting with readers. And so, I have one question for you:

What are you reading or plan to read this summer?

Apart from a book on procrastination I’ve been putting off reading, I don’t have anything planned. I’d like to finish IT in my lifetime, if it’s possible, and also the subsequent books in the John Dies at the End series. I also have a ton of awesome indie fiction on my Kindle too, that would be absolutely fun to read.

Let me know what you’re reading in the comments below for a chance to win one of two $5 Amazon gift cards. I’ll reply to the winners’ comments next Tuesday and update this post. I’ll also announce the winners in my newsletter, so if you’re not subscribed, make sure to get subscribed!

Thank you and as always, happy reading!

The post What are you reading this summer? first appeared on Katstiles.

I’ve been stupid busy, or at least busy avoiding writing. I’ve got book 2 of The Vampire Cure in the works, as well as an offering for the new platform, Kindle Vella, so I’m not exactly bored, though life has been getting in the way as of late.

Still, I miss writing blog posts and interacting with readers. And so, I have one question for you:

What are you reading or plan to read this summer?

Apart from a book on procrastination I’ve been putting off reading, I don’t have anything planned. I’d like to finish IT in my lifetime, if it’s possible, and also the subsequent books in the John Dies at the End series. I also have a ton of awesome indie fiction on my Kindle too, that would be absolutely fun to read.

Let me know what you’re reading in the comments below for a chance to win one of two $5 Amazon gift cards. I’ll reply to the winners’ comments next Tuesday and update this post. I’ll also announce the winners in my newsletter, so if you’re not subscribed, make sure to get subscribed!

Thank you and as always, happy reading!

The post What are you reading this summer? first appeared on Katstiles.

I was once fooled by this asshat character, the love interest in Sixteen Candles.

Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, and I feel the timing of this couldn’t be more apt, what with tomorrow being Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all about love. The healthy kind, anyway.

But what I want to bring to light is the kind of love that we thought was innocent and pure and wonderful, but is really kinda screwed up. I want to talk about one of my favorite classic coming-of-age romance comedies, Sixteen Candles. And more specifically, why love interest Jake Ryan sucks.

This all started after watching To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix. My daughter and I loved it, but I felt like she needed to watch Sixteen Candles, so she can get why Lara Jean loved it so much. It had been years, possibly decades? (damn I’m old) since I’d last seen the film. I remembered the ever wonderful Molly Ringwald, the hunky dude she was after, and the loveable nerd character, who always seemed to be played by Anthony Michael Hall in the eighties. I remembered liking it, maybe not as much as The Breakfast Club, but still thinking it was fun.

Then I watched it again with my daughter.

We got up to the scene where Jake and the loveable geek are just chatting away in the kitchen, talking about girls. Jake starts pontificating about how it isn’t just about the sex, and says this:

“I got Caroline in my bedroom right now, passed out cold. I could violate her ten different ways if I wanted to.”

Chet from Weird Science is starting to look good right about now…

My jaw dropped open a little. I rewound it to make sure I heard it right. If he’s such a catch, why the hell would he even think that, let alone say it out loud to someone? But my problem with Jake doesn’t end there. It’s what he does next that kinda totally horrifies me.

He sends off his grossly inebriated girlfriend with a underaged, unlicensed driver he just met. A guy he spoke with moments before, who asked him in an incredulous tone why he wasn’t violating his incapacitated girlfriend in ten different ways. A guy who made it clear he was basically just a desperate horn dog.

What in the everloving hell? Even if you’re on the verge of a breakup, do you really have a total stranger leave with your girlfriend? And he’s the good guy? The hunk Samantha (Molly Ringwald’s character) wants to share her fragile little heart with?

Not only that…if you watch closely, you’ll notice he places a six-pack of beer in the car with them. So the underaged, unlicensed driver can drive her home intoxicated, to boot. Wow, that’s one hell of a catch.

Am I pissed at the loveable geek character? Yeah, he totally took advantage of that poor girl. I felt betrayed when they made it clear they’d had sex – I think in my mind, I had remembered it as just a fun adventure he had, but didn’t actually do anything with her.

And this girl that was violated…she’s so broken she actually thanks both the geek and her (ex)boyfriend. I want to hear her back story. What the hell happened to her that she allowed herself to become so drunk she wasn’t aware of her actions? And then when she finds out the truth, to somehow be cool with it?

Poor, broken Caroline… What does this say about Jake and how he treated her?

My husband just reminded me about one of the earlier scenes in the movie, when he was talking about Jake’s interesting choice of boots. The scene in which Jake is creepily staring at Samantha in class, and then intercepts a note intended for her friend.

That’s when you realize Jake Ryan is not really just going after her merely for a “serious relationship,” when he reads the note and realizes she wants to have sex with him. He even admits in a subsequent scene that he’s interested in her because she’s always looking at him. How narcissistic is that? I think he wanted someone to fawn over him, someone he can lord over. Caroline (the ill-fated girlfriend) had her own friends and wanted her own life. She had fun, and because she wasn’t totally focused on him, she paid the price.

Jake Ryan not only sucks, he’s a fucking monster.

And yet, everyone remembers him like he’s such a good guy. Like Samantha had her dreams come true when he was waiting for her by his douchey sports car. Sure it’s happily ever after, until she wants to do something with her friends without him. Then she may find herself the next day in a stranger’s car (or maybe even Jake’s car), violated ten different ways.

I know the 80s were a different time. A time when it was okay to sexualize and demean women. I remember getting bummed out re-watching Revenge of the Nerds, when they had a picture of one of the girls naked at the bottom of a pie. I remember thinking, damn, isn’t it the jocks the nerds have the real problem with? Did the girls just being mean to them warrant the humiliation of a naked picture?

The Nerds disappointed me too…

I remember feeling when I watched these the first time, that whenever you saw a movie with a woman doing anything bad, she somehow deserved whatever happened to her. And now I watch those movies again and think, damn…we’ve come a long way.

Now in the movies, when you see an inebriated woman who wants to have sex, the good guy refuses. She gets pissed, sure, but he does the right thing and they eventually build a relationship out of mutual respect. I’m just amazed at how we didn’t see that only a few decades ago.

Perhaps it was like a warning to women, designed to get us all to behave or suffer the consequences. Like the sin factor in horror movies – you better be good if you want to survive. I don’t know, but much like watching original series Star Trek episodes, I can’t help but be offended. And in a sense, relieved, too. That we’re evolved more now to not have that mindset anymore.

My advice? Don’t rewatch the classics. It will probably piss you off and ruin your happy little memory. I’m honestly afraid to watch some of my older favorite romance flicks in fear of discovering some other date rapey scenes that hadn’t registered the first time.

On a more pleasant note, I’ll end with this: Have a Happy Valentine’s Day! And please…love responsibly. ><

The post Jake Ryan SUCKS!!!! first appeared on Katstiles.

I was once fooled by this asshat character, the love interest in Sixteen Candles.

Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, and I feel the timing of this couldn’t be more apt, what with tomorrow being Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all about love. The healthy kind, anyway.

But what I want to bring to light is the kind of love that we thought was innocent and pure and wonderful, but is really kinda screwed up. I want to talk about one of my favorite classic coming-of-age romance comedies, Sixteen Candles. And more specifically, why love interest Jake Ryan sucks.

This all started after watching To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix. My daughter and I loved it, but I felt like she needed to watch Sixteen Candles, so she can get why Lara Jean loved it so much. It had been years, possibly decades? (damn I’m old) since I’d last seen the film. I remembered the ever wonderful Molly Ringwald, the hunky dude she was after, and the loveable nerd character, who always seemed to be played by Anthony Michael Hall in the eighties. I remembered liking it, maybe not as much as The Breakfast Club, but still thinking it was fun.

Then I watched it again with my daughter.

We got up to the scene where Jake and the loveable geek are just chatting away in the kitchen, talking about girls. Jake starts pontificating about how it isn’t just about the sex, and says this:

“I got Caroline in my bedroom right now, passed out cold. I could violate her ten different ways if I wanted to.”

Chet from Weird Science is starting to look good right about now…

My jaw dropped open a little. I rewound it to make sure I heard it right. If he’s such a catch, why the hell would he even think that, let alone say it out loud to someone? But my problem with Jake doesn’t end there. It’s what he does next that kinda totally horrifies me.

He sends off his grossly inebriated girlfriend with a underaged, unlicensed driver he just met. A guy he spoke with moments before, who asked him in an incredulous tone why he wasn’t violating his incapacitated girlfriend in ten different ways. A guy who made it clear he was basically just a desperate horn dog.

What in the everloving hell? Even if you’re on the verge of a breakup, do you really have a total stranger leave with your girlfriend? And he’s the good guy? The hunk Samantha (Molly Ringwald’s character) wants to share her fragile little heart with?

Not only that…if you watch closely, you’ll notice he places a six-pack of beer in the car with them. So the underaged, unlicensed driver can drive her home intoxicated, to boot. Wow, that’s one hell of a catch.

Am I pissed at the loveable geek character? Yeah, he totally took advantage of that poor girl. I felt betrayed when they made it clear they’d had sex – I think in my mind, I had remembered it as just a fun adventure he had, but didn’t actually do anything with her.

And this girl that was violated…she’s so broken she actually thanks both the geek and her (ex)boyfriend. I want to hear her back story. What the hell happened to her that she allowed herself to become so drunk she wasn’t aware of her actions? And then when she finds out the truth, to somehow be cool with it?

Poor, broken Caroline… What does this say about Jake and how he treated her?

My husband just reminded me about one of the earlier scenes in the movie, when he was talking about Jake’s interesting choice of boots. The scene in which Jake is creepily staring at Samantha in class, and then intercepts a note intended for her friend.

That’s when you realize Jake Ryan is not really just going after her merely for a “serious relationship,” when he reads the note and realizes she wants to have sex with him. He even admits in a subsequent scene that he’s interested in her because she’s always looking at him. How narcissistic is that? I think he wanted someone to fawn over him, someone he can lord over. Caroline (the ill-fated girlfriend) had her own friends and wanted her own life. She had fun, and because she wasn’t totally focused on him, she paid the price.

Jake Ryan not only sucks, he’s a fucking monster.

And yet, everyone remembers him like he’s such a good guy. Like Samantha had her dreams come true when he was waiting for her by his douchey sports car. Sure it’s happily ever after, until she wants to do something with her friends without him. Then she may find herself the next day in a stranger’s car (or maybe even Jake’s car), violated ten different ways.

I know the 80s were a different time. A time when it was okay to sexualize and demean women. I remember getting bummed out re-watching Revenge of the Nerds, when they had a picture of one of the girls naked at the bottom of a pie. I remember thinking, damn, isn’t it the jocks the nerds have the real problem with? Did the girls just being mean to them warrant the humiliation of a naked picture?

The Nerds disappointed me too…

I remember feeling when I watched these the first time, that whenever you saw a movie with a woman doing anything bad, she somehow deserved whatever happened to her. And now I watch those movies again and think, damn…we’ve come a long way.

Now in the movies, when you see an inebriated woman who wants to have sex, the good guy refuses. She gets pissed, sure, but he does the right thing and they eventually build a relationship out of mutual respect. I’m just amazed at how we didn’t see that only a few decades ago.

Perhaps it was like a warning to women, designed to get us all to behave or suffer the consequences. Like the sin factor in horror movies – you better be good if you want to survive. I don’t know, but much like watching original series Star Trek episodes, I can’t help but be offended. And in a sense, relieved, too. That we’re evolved more now to not have that mindset anymore.

My advice? Don’t rewatch the classics. It will probably piss you off and ruin your happy little memory. I’m honestly afraid to watch some of my older favorite romance flicks in fear of discovering some other date rapey scenes that hadn’t registered the first time.

On a more pleasant note, I’ll end with this: Have a Happy Valentine’s Day! And please…love responsibly. ><

Eternal Bite is on sale now. Isn’t the graphic below cool?

Okay so I’m not usually this pushy when it comes to buying my books – I know my stuff isn’t for everyone. However, I REALLY would like to make the USA Today Bestseller’s list, and to do that I need US sales between now and October 24th.

If you’re like me, you tend to procrastinate. A LOT. So you may not have purchased this wonderful box set yet.

With NINE full-length Vampire Romance Novels. For a single dollar.

You can’t even get a shitty gas station coffee for a dollar anymore. Or a pack of gum. Or a Coke.

But when you buy this book, you’ll get three hours of amazing book adventure time. At least that’s what my Kindle tells me on the time estimate.

And when you spend that single dollar, you’re not only making me super happy and grateful, but also eight other authors super happy and grateful. That’s a lot of good karma.

I promise my book, The Vampire Cure, will cost more than that when I launch it as a solo book in a month or two.

So if you’re even a little interested, please BUY IT NOW! With any luck and some help from the pink pixies in the sky, we’ll make the list and I won’t have to do this again (this is my second list-aiming box set).

Because it’s a lot of work. And a LOT of marketing. And so many Facebook posts. It’s making my little introverted brain ache.

Here’s the URL: https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Bite-Limited-Collection-Vampire-ebook/dp/B087R7SZYS

Comment below if you get it, and I will send some happiness vibes your way. And anyone who knows me can tell you, my happiness vibes are totally awesome.

Thanks so much for being a reader and supporting a pushy author from Jersey. Oh, and let me know what you think of The Vampire Cure.

Apologies in advance to any Republicans I offend with my book. It was too easy not to exploit, I’m sorry. ><

The post Eternal Bite – Buy it Now!! first appeared on Katstiles.

Eternal Bite is on sale now. Isn’t the graphic below cool?