Coming Nov. 17th: KEEP YOU BOTH (an MFF Holiday Novella)

What’s the first rule of wedding planning? Don’t fall for the couple…

KEEP YOU BOTH (an MFF Holiday Novella) is coming to Amazon and KU on Friday, Nov. 17th!! And this sparkly, decadent cover was designed by the immensely talented Staci Hart, who captured this story’s festive and sexy New Years Eve vibes perfectly.

BLURB:

What’s the first rule of wedding planning? Don’t fall for the couple…

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the mountains. I was going to show my best friends Beau and Flora their wedding venue, hope they said “yes,” and check another task off the long list of things to do before they tie the knot. Oh, and continue to keep my feelings for the bride and groom under wraps.

What I didn’t plan for was a sudden blizzard to trap all three of us in a cozy cabin over New Year’s Eve weekend. Just me, the dirty-talking paramedic, the flirty baker, and too many bottles of champagne.

Oops.

Talk about a disaster. Resisting temptation is the only option—because revealing my secret would ruin their relationship and our friendship.

I’m not willing to lose them both.

Even if the couple I’m forbidden to have…might want me back.

KEEP YOU BOTH is a (super) steamy MFF novella set over New Year’s Eve weekend with a guaranteed Happily Ever After.

2023 Publishing Goals + Dreams 🏳️‍🌈😍✨

It's going to be a lovely year! So here’s what you can look forward to from me, publishing-wise.

From now through April, I'll be furiously working on a Secret Project™️ that I can't share details about...yet. But I promise that it's a steamy romance, and the vibes are hot, gay and fun (!!) So even though I can't say much right now, I've been writing up a storm the past couple weeks -- and will keep doing so to hit a few spicy deadlines the next few months.

Next, I'll be writing a very smutty, very hot, very gay holiday novella (!!!) that will be releasing to KU in November! I'll be working on that special sexy treat in the spring and early summer of this year, so I promise more details will be forthcoming! Plus a very long lead-up to the book coming out, so I'll just tease ya a ton 😉

After that, I'll get started on my next standalone romance (full-length, this time) which will release in Spring 2024! Absolutely no details on that yet except that it's probably going to be uhhhhh hot, gay and fun!!

Obviously, the Secret Project™️ makes this year a little bit funky -- with releases in November 2023 and then Spring (2024). So you know I’ll be keeping things exciting this year -- with lots of sales, a new cover on an old favorite (!), giveaways, FB lives, interviews in my reader group...and (if I can pull it off) a new merch shop!

Having a year-long wait between releases isn't my usual schedule -- and isn't a decision I made lightly. But I'm in this for the long-haul babyyyy (😜) and part of that, for me, means accepting that the years will look different sometimes and it'll all even out in the end.

Because most importantly...I'm gonna be having myself a year of hot, gay, fun and queer joy...and am super stoked to take you all on that journey with me!

OFF THE MARK has a playlist and it's 🔥

Ooooh baby, we got a playlist! Some of these songs are pure Charlie, or pure Rowan. Some of them fit the story vibe — second chance, friends-to-lovers, fraught pining, heaps of yearning. Like…a lot of these songs are about being obsessed and that’s Rowan-and-Charlie to a T.

Some of these songs kept me company on late writing nights or helped me dance around the kitchen on writing breaks. Many of them shook me out of funks or helped me push through blocks. All of these songs traveled with me while writing this story — I finished the first draft in Sacramento. Wrote the second draft through the Canadian Rockies, finishing it in Saratoga, Wyoming (where I soaked in the natural hot springs every night as a treat for hitting my word count goal!)

These songs showed up on road trip mixes, or I hummed them on the hiking trail, or they gave me last-minute story ideas I scribbled down on post-it notes.

It’s an eclectic playlist, but it’s OFF THE MARK all the way — fun and relaxed and empowering and dance-y and feel good. And if you can close your eyes and picture Charlie on her dirt bike, or Rowan whistling while walking down the streets of South Philly, even better.

And if you can picture Rowan and Charlie being obsessed with each other…then you’ll love reading about it even more. 😘

Have fun!!

Surprise...it's a cover reveal!

Just know that on Friday, November 11th (so soon!!!!) OFF THE MARK — my steamy, friends-to-fake-dating-to-lovers romance — will be live on Amazon, free in KU, and ready to steal your hearts. ❤❤❤

You can add it to your TBR here. Next week I’ll be sending out Rowan and Charlie’s fun, feel-good playlist…and I’ll continue to tease you with snippets until release day, I promise. There will be a preorder but it’s usually short, about four days before release day, and I usually share that announcement in my reader group only (so be sure to join!)

Fake dating my hottest friend was not my smartest move…

The cocky ex-baseball player—and flirty playboy—is the one man I’d never fall for. Which is why I stupidly thought he’d make the perfect fake boyfriend.

As the reigning queen of the dirt bike racing circuit, my only goal is to win this next championship race. Except I’ve got a bit of a…reputation problem. While my fans love my tattooed, bad girl image, my fancy new sponsor hates it. And after a recent media fiasco, I’m on the brink of losing everything just when my family needs my help the most.

So I asked Rowan O’Callaghan to fake date me to rehab my image for the cameras.

We’ve known each other since I was just his favorite bartender and he was the charming baseball god who swaggered into my bar to seduce every woman in sight. And left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

Not me, though. I always knew better than to be tempted by his wicked grin and massive shoulders. Until now—when I suddenly have the huge, hunky flirt pretending to worship the very ground I walk on. Every fake kiss, every filthy promise he whispers in my ear, is starting to feel real.

But it turns out that falling for my fake boyfriend is my biggest mistake yet.

Friendship is the best ship. ❤

That one time I flew an airplane ✈

Yepppppp you read that right!!! I’m - honestly — still vibrating with happiness over this experience. Our first day in Florida, I woke up early and hit the beach with my amazing friend Avery Maxwell and our morning consisted of floating in the warm, still ocean for, like, three hours and brainstorming love stories. So I was already having the best day ever, basically.

Until my #tacotwin Lucy Score (and the very handsome Mr. Lucy) picked us up for a day at the airport, where our friend Nathan Van Coops (local author of time travel adventures and local awesome pilot!!) offered to take us up in his Cessna!

Here you can see Avery and I looking like two newlyweds about to embark on their honeymoon adventures 😂😂 Not only did we get to see how gorgeous St. Pete’s Beach is from the air (all that turquoise water!!) but Nathan gave me a mini-lesson on how to fly it — and I just about screamed myself hoarse with sheer delight. I have never, ever experienced anything like that before — I’m smiling just thinking about it even a week later!

You can watch the video that Nathan took in my FB group by clicking here. And Avery made an amazing video on TikTok you can see here!

I would say I’m a natural 😉

LITERALLY LOOK AT THESE VIEWS! ❤❤❤❤

Forever the reminder that a little bit of awe and astonishment does the heart good.

^^^ an accurate depiction of my friendship with the incomparable Lucy Score — going on five years now! ❤❤❤

The NINC (Novelists, Inc.) conference was one big, happy vibe of authors from so many different genres, there to increase their knowledge of craft, storytelling and marketing. I’ll let you in on a little secret about writers — we freaking love hanging out with each other and dishing on all things storytelling. This is a strange and brilliant and beautiful and complicated job that we do, and knowing there are folks out there who get it, who have your back and understand what you’re venting about or squealing about (and why) means more than I can say.

The theme for so many writers this year is healing from a collective creative burnout, brought on by these pandemic years and the loss, grief and disruption caused by it. One year ago (almost to the week) I was at one of my lowest points, creatively, attempting to rediscover the part of my brain that lives for the reckless, thrilling joy of a damn good story.

It has not been an easy journey for most of us, but we’re getting there. Rest, laughter, reading, messing around, being bored, learning something new, doing something fun, doing something brave, drinking beers on the beach with your writer friends just because — all of it heals. All of it paves the way forward for more stories, more love, more joy.

That’s what NINC taught me. ❤

^^^ I’m sorry but LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES!!!

And yep — that’s the lovely and talented Melanie Harlow in the middle there, who is not only brilliant, kind, hilarious and so fun to be around — but she also gave two packed presentations at NINC that were magnificent.

Besides all the learning-workshopping-brainstorming that we did, there was a fair amount of drinks-on-the-beach, tasty martinis, tacos, some tipsy Spice Girls singing, a piggy back ride from Avery when my shoes broke, an amazing attempt on my part to (tipsily) teach the Electric Slide, and so much laughter my cheeks hurt.

Not pictured here, but I was also utterly thrilled and delighted to meet authors Tia Louise, Tess Summers, Renee Rose, Vanessa Vale, K.K. Allen, Tina Gallagher, Cecilia Mecca and — of course — James Blatch and Mark Dawson from the Self-Publishing Formula!

3.5 months of joy!

3.5 months on the road! 12,000+ miles (plus a couple oil changes and a new set of front tires) and we’re home!

Rob and I made the decision to work towards a semi-nomadic lifestyle in 2017, something I’ve spoken about a lot in this newsletter. We’ve been lucky to kick around some of the prettiest places on these summer adventures (Vermont, the Berkshires, Maine…) and it never gets old or boring. There’s only more gratitude, more amazement and an endless craving to do more, see more and experience more.

In early May, the trip started with one of my lifelong dreams —- a solo road-trip! Well, solo plus Walter, the most important canine travel companion I coasted down the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to the Great Smoky Mountains, then all the way to Nashville to pick up Rob from his weekend trip. (I wrote about the 570 mile journey here if you missed it).

From there, we stayed in Sacramento (our former home and Rob’s hometown!) for a whole month, soaking up love from friends and family we hadn’t seen since 2018. Then we had a fun weekend in Oregon with a family wedding before heading up to Vancouver Island for a week of gorgeous beauty I’ll never forget.

After, we saw Vancouver, hiked big mountains in Whistler and Squamish, returned to our favorite places (Banff, Jasper and the Icefields Parkway), hung out in the chill lake town of Coldstream, kayaked down a giant river in Golden and stared, wide-eyed, at the Canadian Rockies.

We saw family in Montana, drove through Yellowstone (twice) and finally saw the Grand Tetons for the very first time (I cried!). We soaked up sunrises in Pinedale, Wyoming, celebrated my birthday in Cody and then spent our last week enjoying the natural hot springs of Saratoga. (12/10 recommend soaking in hot springs every night when you’re on deadline!)

Nothing makes me happier then the sound of boots on a hiking trail, the smell of campfire smoke in the morning, the freedom to drive without a destination. This world is astonishing, regardless of the view — and we owe so much to each other, so much to this earth and to the communities that have lovingly stewarded this land long before it was stolen from them.

I’m no expert when it to comes to the cultures and communities of indigenous, native and First Nations people in the US and Canada. But I’ve learned so much (and continue to learn) from indigenous creators, from writers like Robin Wall Kimmerer and Stephen Graham Jones, podcasts like This Land and TV shows like Reservation Dogs. If you’re an outdoorsy person like me, I highly recommend studying land acknowledgement projects and checking out organizations like Recreate Responsibly.

On our travels, we visited the ancestral homelands, traditional territories and unceded/stolen land of many people, including the Shoshone, Treaty 6, 7 and 8 and the Métis Nation homeland, the Squamish First Nation, Lil’wat and Coast Salish people, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation and the Nuu-Chan-multi First Nation. This is definitely not a comprehensive list and any mistakes are absolutely my own.

Every single time we return from traveling, the same truths are revealed: leave no trace, do no harm. Caring for each other and every being on this earth (plant + animal) in radical abundance is the future. Collective liberation is how we do it.

ON THE ROPES is live in audio!

ON THE ROPES is now live in audio and I am over-the-moon about it! Plus, it’s whisper-synced, so if you own the e-book you can grab the audio on the cheap.

This sample chapter features Dean and Tabitha's adorable meet cute, when she accidentally falls into his lap and he sees the entire solar system because (spoiler) he's been crushing on Tabitha Tyler since foreverrrrr.

Haven't read (or listened) to ON THE ROPES yet? Dean and Tabitha are the cutest -- and steamiest -- friends-to-lovers on the block, and I promise this feel-good romance will put a big, happy smile on your face. (And the e-book is free in KU!)

One-click if you love: Yearning, pining, horny friends that really wanna kiss, hot-sex-during-a-thunderstorm, a sunshine-y bisexual heroine, a broody ex-boxer hero, more yearning, Parks-and-Rec vibes, a cozy neighborhood, summer time nostalgia. ☀️🏳️‍🌈❤️

ON THE ROPES means *so much* to me and getting to hear Dean the Machine, Tabitha and the 10th Street neighbors come to life is so heartwarming. It's narrated by the fabulous Lila Winters and Wayne Mitchell (Wayne also voiced Max Devlin in NOT THE MARRYING KIND and I just knew he'd make a great Dean) -- their performances are truly amazing.

Hello from Canada!

*tumbles out of the van, pulls leaves from hair* We made it back from our off-the-grid week in Vancouver Island! (more on that down below) And we spent the past few days in gorgeous Vancouver (which I’ve wanted to come to since I was a horny teenager and learned that parts of The X-Files had been filmed here)…but now we’re packing up (again!) and heading back into the woods for three days of camping and hiking. I promise even more pictures when I return!

I’ve got literally so many pictures to share with you the next couple weeks (and sooooo many book recommendations!) and some fun updates. A few things:

  • RIVAL RADIO has been out for six whole weeks already…and has almost 700 reviews, which is sending my heart into full-on rainbow mode. If you’re looking for a steamy, fun, feel-good story to escape into this weekend, you’ll find this beauty free on KU!

  • I did my big read-through of Rowan and Charlie’s messy first draft and freaking loved it so much — rare for me, since during this stage I usually hate it. I also had some great chats with both of my story editors and I’m officially starting the second draft next week. Rowan is the ginger, cinnamon-roll hero of my dreams and Charlie is the kind of tough-as-nails, take-no-shit heroine I would crawl on my knees for (and lololol guess what that’s Rowan’s thing too 😉) so I’m excited to dive back in.

  • I’ve got some ON THE ROPES audio news to share with you…probably next week (!!!) So if you haven’t read this one yet, it’s a great time to start my sweet and sexy friends-to-lovers romance (sunshine-y, bisexual heroine + serious, soft-grump ex-boxer have hot make-outs on a South Philly stoop)

Also — the world is on fire all around us but we can still take care of each other. Maryhouse Sacramento has some new items they are seeking for their drop-in center...and if you're not local, you can order them from their Amazon wishlist (click here)!

Maryhouse will always have a special place in my heart -- I can personally speak to the safe, welcoming space it provides for unhoused women and their children. A hot breakfast, mail services, showers, diapers, hygiene items...it's a place that honors each person and meets them where they are, standing together in community always. ❤️

With love from the road,

Kathryn

Hitting deadlines while on the road...

It's our second-to-last morning here in sweet, sunny Sacramento. Next stop: Oregon for a weekend, and then we're trekking up to Canada for a week-long vacation out in the pretty wilderness. And I'm extra giddy (and sleepy/unshowered) because last night I heaved a messy, kinda unwieldy, first draft into my developmental editors' inboxes (it also, maybe, was missing 20k words of an ending, but don't worry it )

While this draft was extra messy, I was immediately obsessed with my charming flirt of a playboy/giant golden retriever hero (Rowan) and my tough, tattooed, Bad Girl/bad-ass heroine (Charlie). Obsessed, as in, this-close to making them both a bunch of sexy mixtapes and declaring my undying devotion, obviously!

This love story will change a lot in the drafting process, but *so far* I can say we've got some fake dating (!!!!!!!!), a touch of reverse-grumpy-sunshine, and some wholesome friends-to-lovers magic. By which I mean one friend (Rowan) is like "I don't care that you turned me down, I'm here for a good time, ladies, so excuse me while I DON'T try to smell Charlie's hair or stare at her pretty face, I am super fine with this hahahahaha" and then the other friend (Charlie) is like "As if I ever have time for Rowan's nonsense, I am much too busy being a cool, confident Bad Girl who Doesn't Have Feelings and I'm definitely not jealous when Rowan dates other people, who am I to say anything, I'm just here, being Really Hot and Not Caring."

That's it...that's the book so far. Subject to change dramatically -- and really, isn't that what makes this 'writing a novel' thing so breathtakingly beautiful?

Lighting up the airwaves with my gratitude ✨

RIVAL RADIO has been out for almost a week already (can you believe it?) and it's #154 in the Amazon store with over 150 reviews already. I'm sitting here in Sacramento, absolutely blown away and full of gratitude!

RIVAL RADIO is 350 pages long, about 100,000 words, and let me tell you, all 33 chapters (plus epilogue, plus the bonus epilogue!) took a beautiful village. I want to light up those airwaves with my abundant thanks to the community that made this book possible:

Jessica Snyder, my story and line editor, who has a knack for plot, stakes and detail that continues to amaze me (and always leaves hilarious comments, sprinkled throughout the manuscript). This book had way less sleep-deprived voice mails involved then ON THE ROPES, but if it had I know she’d have listened to them – and responded with kind yet brilliant suggestions every time.

Faith, my best friend and also my story editor -- many of you have had the pleasure of meeting her at Indies Invade Philly, where she's always my assistant. We've been best friends since we were 18 years old, connected over our love of writing, storytelling and The X-Files, and let me tell you, is there anything better in this world than a friendship that spans half of your life?

Jodi, Julia, Bronwyn, Mel and Lizette -- my beta readers and sensitivity readers, who all manage to be incredibly stellar human beings while also making receiving revisions and feedback fun. How do they do it? I DON'T KNOW THEY ARE JUST PERFECT PEOPLE.

The giant support system that gets me through every book: the Hippie Chicks, Joyce and Tammy (also the literal best), Lucy, Claire, Pippa, LJ Evans, Avery Maxwell and Stephanie who continue to be some of the best people in our romance community. Plus the team at TWSS, who are directly responsible for the beautiful book you hold in your hand. When I say I couldn’t do this without them, I absolutely mean it.

In my acknowledgments, I mentioned that almost every memory I have as a kid involves the indie radio station WXPN playing in the background --- long summer days, long drives, concerts in Philly, festivals at the pier. My mom told me she sent a picture of it to my brother, who wrote back that he and his fiancée have WXPN playing in the background every day in their house too.

Radio stations, man. What would we do without 'em?