INTERVIEW:Q1. What made you want to become an author?

KATLYN: Ah, yes. This is such a great question! It started in elementary school for me, when I was ten years old. My science teacher at the time did something fun on Fridays to lively the days and get our brains moving. She would give us a random prompt and for ten minutes we would write whatever we wanted and share it with the class. I noticed while the other kids only had maybe a few sentences, mine would span pages. From there, it became something I really enjoyed doing, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I actively pursued potentially making an author career happen.

MAY: My Biology teacher in secondary school liked me too, to the point that when I missed the day with the sheep’s heart dissection and asked her if I could do it during lunch, she agreed. My English teacher, on the other hand, told me to give up doing higher-level English, because I sucked at it. I bet she never thought I’d become an author as a career choice…

Q2. Can you describe your writing journey—the ups and downs?

KATLYN: There’s been a lot of positives—having creative freedom, delving into a world of my own making, but there are some negatives too. Being a writer of any kind is an isolating experience unless you have the right people to rally around you. Even then, it can still be daunting to take on something that hadn’t existed before you decided to mould it. It’s in times like these that I’m grateful for other author buddies who are on the same journey. It makes me feel less alone.

There have been times of doubt, especially when I first decided to publish. I was young and didn’t know much, didn’t research well enough. I made a lot of mistakes the first go around, but I feel much more confident about diving back into publishing again.

MAY: Tell me about it! I’ve been away for three years, and I feel like I’m back to square one. Everyone I knew is doing something else. Some people gave up entirely because the competition was just so great. Even AIs are writing books now.

A new genre for an author is always a blank page in terms of marketing.

Q3. Who is your favourite fictional character and why?

KATLYN: This is kind of a hard question…I don’t really have one? I love reading and I feel like I always find a character to take from books that I’ve enjoyed. It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite!

MAY: I feel your pain. It can be hard to pick from other authors’ works, so I will choose one of my own—Sir Laurence Oswald. He cracks me up so much when I write his scenes that I often feel happy just being with him.

Q4. What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?

KATLYN: This is an easy one! Either vanilla or cookies and cream!

MAY: I’m one of those weirdos who gets a pistachio ice cream…

Q5. What made you want to write Twisted Bond and how did you come up with the title?

KATLYN: This is actually a crazy story. I can’t believe I’m actually getting to tell it to someone I don’t know. The entire journey of this series started a long time ago. When I was only thirteen, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at writing an actual book. Prior to that, everything was just fanfiction or random stories of my friends.

After writing a fanfiction for two friends of mine, I was absolutely tired of it. During this time, Twilight was super big. It was also around a time in my life that I’m sure most kids experience—where you think that you’re invincible. After setting a goal, wanting my book to be a best seller before I was even an adult, my friends and I decided to make our own story. We toyed around with character names, and they told me what they wanted to happen in the book, and I ended up writing the scenes. We would get together on weekends whenever school wasn’t in session. The writing times lasted for what felt like forever.

For them, it was just a fun way to pass the time. When we got into high school, the book was no longer something they were interested in as they moved on to other things. I kept a notebook of the first draft at my house and when I was a senior in high school, I opened it up again. Sadly, all of the pages were super brown and worn, so the notebook wasn’t salvageable. But that ignited the spark for the story to come alive again.

As far as the title, I can’t remember why we chose that. But I can say that it has stuck for almost twelve years now.

MAY: That’s an amazing tale in itself. I remember doing something similar in secondary school but most of my friends back then did it for laughs. I did find a notebook of my old writing and…well…that is not something that can EVER become a book. God forbid.

Q6. As a fantasy author, is there anyone in the genre that you look up to?

KATLYN: Yes, absolutely! Victoria Aveyard is one. Her writing is phenomenal. Another is a duo—Elle Madison and Robin Mahle. Their stories are absolutely amazing!

MAY: I suddenly have an urge to read their work. I have seen their books on sale but never had the time to dive into them. As for me, I am stuck in the old days of Ann Rice, LJ Smith, and Darren Shan. Not necessarily pure fantasy authors, some are Middle-Grade Horror, but they are fantastic writers.

Q7. We all know that being an author comes with criticisms that can be hard to swallow. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors on how to deal with critiques they may not like to hear?

KATLYN: Oh, yes…this is a tough one that I’ve had to learn recently. First piece of advice is to write for yourself. I’ve had to learn this because when you put your story into the hands of another person, it’s easy to feel like they hold the weight of your book. That’s a hard thing to carry. And I feel in some way, it does diminish what you’ve poured into it. So, if you write something that you’re proud of, regardless of what anyone else thinks, your story will always be with you.

My second piece of advice is that your story will never be for everyone. But in that same breath, your story will be for someone. That’s what I cling to when I feel like people might hate my book, or that the review might be terrible. It gives me some sort of peace to know that, somehow, people just end up finding what they need at the right time. That’s what keeps me going in writing.

MAY: I still cling to the memory of a reader reaching out to me and saying that my work kept them entertained while they were hospitalised. It’s the greatest feeling in the world to know someone liked your story and that it brought them joy, sadness, and fantasy to get away from reality.

Q8. Could you tell us more about yourself? Where you’re from? Your favourite hobbies?

KATLYN: I definitely can! I currently live in Kansas with my husband and our two fur babies. Originally, I’m from Louisiana, which is about 14 hours away from Kansas.

My favorite hobbies are reading, binge-watching shows, and eating snacks. I’m super introverted so doing things outside of my comfort zone is a bit hard for me to do, but my husband is more adventurous, so I feel like that’s helped a lot.  My goal is to get more out of my comfort zone now, so if you have any recommendations on things to do, I’m all ears.

MAY: I am pretty much a cave troll at this point in terms of my introversion. Worry not, things could be worse My friends either have to startle me by arriving spontaneously or giving me a one-month notice. Plus, I spend all day socialising with a baby and a toddler. I cannot hold a human conversation with an adult anymore.

Q9. Cats or dogs?

KATLYN: This is a tough one. I’m personally a huge dog fan. But my husband got us a cat last July. She’s become a huge part of our family, and I adore her so I guess it’s a tie!

MAY: Cats. Dogs have too much energy.

Q10. Feel free to advertise shamelessly, and tell us why fantasy readers will love your book, Twisted Bond.

KATLYN: If you love stories that involve friendships that span over a decade, with history, memories, secrets, and fae-like creatures, then my story may be for you.

MAY: You’re too shy, Katlyn. I love you and big hugs! I hope your journey to success is as smooth as butter.

Now let’s check out the blurb and the wonderful preview of your book below!

TWISTED BOND (the twisted series #1):

Three Girls.

Three Lives.

One Bond.

After almost a decade apart, Cammie, Hannah, and Sabina never expected their paths to cross again so suddenly. But when Cammie is plagued by memories of a person she has never met, she has no choice but to reach out to the friends she lost touch with years ago.

A charismatic stranger—by the name of Caelan—claims he holds the answers to her mounting list of questions. Instead, Cammie winds up in a comatose state. With Caelan’s help, Sabina races against time to find the man in Cammie’s memories who holds the key to an unseen world… before her friend is lost within her own mind forever.

Meanwhile, Hannah finds herself fighting for her life after being thrust into the middle of a war between beings rumored to be myth. In the midst of the chaos, one element holds true… fate pulled them back together for a reason. Will the trio uncover the truth they seek? Or run from an answer they fear will shatter their world as they know it?

EXCERPT

Sabina’s mind was never more cluttered, but she knew she had to do something, anything to ease the discomfort and confusion her friend was carrying.

“What do we do now?” Cammie asked, her bottom lip quivering.

“We’re going to go home, and you can shower and calm down. Maybe we can talk about a strategy after. Maybe we can get in touch with Hannah. She was in the picture with us. She’d know what to do or maybe where to look.”

Cammie solemnly nodded and got up from the table. Her nose pinched upward, and then she blinked once, twice. “Are you okay?” Sabina rose to her feet, arms outstretched toward Cammie.

The color of cherries dotted Cammie’s cheeks and splotched her forehead. Little beads of sweat were slick against her eyebrows, small droplets dripping into her eyes. Her hands began to shake. Her eyes were a glass pane that seemed to have no focus, and a small moan fell from her lips.

“Cammie? Answer me. Are you okay?” Sabina’s voice was higher than usual, the panic etched into her voice. It only took a second for Cammie’s knees to buckle and her eyes to roll back before she was sprawled on the floor.

Within seconds, Sabina was cradling Cammie’s head in her hands, crouched to the floor. Gasps of concern scattered amongst every table, and then the crowd formed. Sabina tried to lift her, but Cammie’s body was too heavy, as limp as it was. And there it hit her.

Cammie was unconscious.

The scream of horror was loud against her ears, and it took a few moments to realize the scream was hers. And then she was crying so much that breathing was like taking skips that never seemed to touch the ground. An arm yanked on her shoulder, and she pulled her fist backward. No one was going to take her away from her friend.

“I can help.” Caelan’s eyes were full of horror to the same degree that bubbled in her gut. “What do we do, Caelan? What do we do?” The words were like a spilled drink, but no amount of wiping would clear it up. “She was fine, and then she stood up, and now she’s—is she okay? Is she going to be okay?” The bubbling in her throat was thick, no matter how many times she swallowed. “Do we take her to the hospital?”

Caelan shook his head. “No, a hospital won’t fix this.”

“How do you know?” Sabina said, her voice above a whisper.

When he turned to her, she could finally see it. His eyes were wise beyond her years of existence, and they could offer an answer to the plea in her heart. “You’re going to have to trust me,” he said, hoisting Cammie in his arms. “We need to take her home, where she can fight this in her sleep. It’s the only way to go through the process of reclaiming what was lost.”

Sabina’s head moved faster than her mouth. “Reclaiming? Reclaiming what?”

“Her memories,” Caelan said matter-of-factly. It was as if he were discussing something as simple as the weather or what dinner would be. It was as natural as breathing.

“You know what happened to Cammie?” Sabina breathed. “But how?”

“It’s like I said,” he replied. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

TROPES INCLUDE: HIDDEN ROYALTY FRIENDS TO LOVERS ENEMIES TO LOVERS (LATER IN THE SERIES) FADE TO BLACK (LATER IN THE SERIES. BUT EVERY BOOK HAS ZERO SPICE) FOUND FAMILY PORTAL TO ANOTHER WORLD FAE-LIKE BEINGS Pre-OrderFollow the author on:

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