For me latest Author Spotlight, I’m joined by the fabulous K.M. Neuhold. We talked about writing something that’s a slightly new direction, starting series planning with a whole collection of ideas and vibes, and writing comfort reads full of steam and swoon.

Over to you, Kyleen…

First things first, please introduce yourself!
I’m K.M. (or just Kyleen is fine!) and I’m basically your typical bisexual, neurodivergent, hilariously awkward mess who’s always up for a cup of coffee or a new tattoo.

Tell us a little bit about your writing style.
My stories are very character focused, typically with little to no relationship angst (no big miscommunications, no 70% break-up), and lots of humor. I love to think of my writing style as “comfort reads”, they’re the books you can pick up over and over whenever you’re having a bad day, and they’ll feel like a big hug.

Describe your books in only three words.
Funny, HOT, swoony.

What are you working on right now?
For the last 8 months or so, I’ve been quietly working behind the scenes on a series that’s a pretty new direction for me. As anyone subscribed to my Patreon knows, I’ve been writing a mafia series! I’m currently hard at work on the third book (titled Desperately Delicate Viper), and I am SO excited for this series to come off of my Patreon and go onto Amazon for everyone else to enjoy! Deadly Little Sparrow (Mafia Bound, 1) will be coming on June 7th!! If you’re intrigued by unhinged, toppy twinks and the mafiosos who are oh so soft for them, you won’t want to miss it.

Out of all your books, which one are you most proud of?
Such a hard question! Right now I would probably say, Easy Does It. It’s a best friends to lovers, demisexual awakening story in my Palm Island series and it’s honestly the best friends to lovers story that I’ve always wanted to write. Soulmate level connection, a big teddy bear of a best friend who’s always been super cuddly realises that there are all kinds of new ways he wants to touch his lifelong friend. I still get all swoony just thinking about Easy and Lux.

What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
I would say all the reading I did growing up. I’ve always loved getting lost in a good story, and when I started reading in the romance genre in my early 20s, I couldn’t get enough. My husband has been a huge supporter as well, pushing me not to give up during the early years of my career. I wouldn’t be where I am now without him.

What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been writing pretty much since I figured out how to hold a pencil. When I was little, my mom would buy these blank books from the craft store and I would fill them up with pictures and poorly spelled words, trying to tell the stories that were in my head. What inspired me to start publishing was mostly sheer desperation lol. I graduated college with a degree that wasn’t going to get me anywhere, and I decided to go ahead and learn about self-publishing mostly just as a distraction and something to focus on other than my grim prospects. And now, 9 years later, here I am!

What’s your writing process like? Do you have a typical “writing day”?
I like to outline, so I try to tackle a chapter per day. I typically sit down at my desk around 7am, mess around on social media and taking care of admin stuff for an hour or so, and then I dive into whatever chapter is on my list for the day. I tend to do my first draft and “second draft” kind of at the same time, so if there is something that needs to be polished or fixed from a previous chapter, I’ll take care of that before launching into my chapter for the day. And then, I have an alpha reader (an author friend) who reads my chapter at the end of each day and gives me any feedback, like things I might need to fix the next day. 

What comes first for you – the plot or the characters?
It really depends. Sometimes it’s the plot and sometimes it’s the characters. Often with a series, it will be the characters or even just the “vibe” and then I work from there to figure out the rest. When I’m planning a new story or series, I’ll have a “planning doc” which is an absolute mess of rambling ideas, bullet points for things like vibe and things I want to make sure to include, info about the characters, etc. and then the outline comes after that as a way to try to organize the mess.

What’s a book that you wish you’d written?
From a sheer popularity standpoint, Red, White, & Royal Blue.

If you could only write one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Enemies to lovers. It’s just SO much fun. The tension, the heat, the first few times they kiss or hook up being all rough and biting and angry until they slowly start to soften towards each other. It’s just SO satisfying, plus the banter can be a blast.

What would be your three desert island books?
Where He Ends and I Begin by Cardeno C
Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
Not All Himbos Wear Capes by C Rochelle

If one of your books could be made into a movie/TV series, which would you choose and who would you cast?
Deadly Little Sparrow. It has everything: murder, revenge, the mafia, and gay love. Who wouldn’t watch that?! I’d cast Timothy Chalamet as the murdery twink and Jason Mamoa as the burley mafia hitman who is absolutely smitten with him.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Do you have a secret passion or hobby that we don’t know about?
Mostly read and play videogames. I love chill, design type games like Houseflipper!

Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
Brontosaurus. I don’t know why, but it’s been my favorite since I was a kid!

K.M. Neuhold is a complete romance junkie. bisexual and polyamorous, she often describes herself as being in love with love. She loves to write stories full of bearded, cinnamon roll men who get super swoony HEAs. Her philosophy is there’s so much angst and sadness for LGBT characters in media, all she wants is to give them the happiest happily ever afters she can with little angst, tons of humor, and SO MUCH STEAM. K.M. fully admits to her tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory that will likely always lead to every book turning into a series or spin-off. When she’s not writing she’s a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero… just kidding, she’s likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her huskies while her amazing husband brings her coffee.

For more information on Kyleen and her work you can visit her website, sign up for her newsletter, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Bookbub, and Patreon. You can also join her Facebook Reader Group for the latest news and updates.