I'm Starting A Blog

What year is it? 2025 or 2007? I don't think I've had a blog since the days of yore (Tumblr). But in my quest to find more space on the Internet, with the impending doom of TikTok, I've somehow decided that I'll add THIS to my plate, too. Is this just another outlet for me to procrastinate current manuscripts? Possibly. Yet here we are anyway!

I figured this first post should be a warm introduction (though if you're on my website, I have a sinking feeling you know who I am already) and a little peek into what I have for this upcoming year.

First and foremost, hey, hi. My name is Kristin, and I'm an author! If you're new to me, I primarily write contemporary fiction and romance, though I often straddle the line between both in my work. The one common thread I pull in all of them is a deep reflection of life in the hopes that I help my readers feel seen and understood in the messy parts of themselves and their circumstances. I don't shy away from hard topics like grief, mental health, women's rights, and navigating this crazy thing we call life while integrating our pasts into our present.

I have published 6 works in the 3 years I've been doing this thing, and up until now, I've been a self-published author. However, in 2025, I'm looking to change things in my career and step into the wonderful world of traditional publishing. And maybe that's where I want to start, with this turning page. In this new year comes a goal I've had for a while that I continuously push off.

Not many people know this about my publishing journey, but before I decided to self-publish my debut novel (Remember Me) I had queried it to many an agent. And I think at the time, I just wasn't in the headspace to receive so many rejections. It was my first book, and so selfishly, I think I was searching for some external validation--some unknown powers that be (a big 5 publisher) to tell me that I was good at this thing I liked to do for fun, this passion that I couldn't seem to shake. And if anyone has been in the query process before, you know it can be ruthless and unforgiving. Most agents don't have the time to read all of the sample pages they've been sent, let alone send out a heartfelt rejection saying, "Keep going! You'll find your way!" Instead, they use form rejections, and they all say the same thing: "This isn't for me, but I wish you the best on your journey."

And the more of those I racked up, the more I started to question how badly I wanted the book to be seen by the publishing industry and how badly I just wanted it to be seen. And even though I did acquire one request for the full manuscript (and ultimately was ghosted), I decided to take matters into my own hands and go the self-publishing route.

For a while, it was new and exciting, and I had all the power and, therefore, felt like I could achieve all my dreams and more. With every finished manuscript, every cover designed, and every reader leaving a review, my confidence grew. I learned so much within those first few years, not just about how books are made and sold but about myself as well. Making art, when remaining a hobby, is fun; it's cool, technicolor, and all flowery things. But when it becomes a job, when you thrust yourself into the public eye and show everyone yourself in one of the most daunting and vulnerable ways... well, let's just say, it's not for the faint of heart.

And I'm proud to say that rather than crumble to the cruelty of the world and all the chaos life threw my way, I withstood the test of time and kept pumping out stories, carving out a humble space for myself in my tiny corner of the internet and the industry. I think it was when I met some of you in October (shouts to the homies that came to see me in NYC!) that something shifted in me.

I've always had this spark in me that wanted to reach for more, and I felt like my books could have more of an impact on a greater audience if only I were given that chance. It was in hosting my own book signing that I realized I wanted more of that--more chances to talk to my readers, more opportunities to grow and expand, and potentially one day go on a book tour. But ultimately, I couldn't do it on my own, nor could I afford to.

Thus, this brings us to where I find myself today, sitting on a bed starting this blog and effectively not working on the book that I plan to query to agents this year. (Old habits die hard!)

But I will say that I am more than halfway through it. For transparency's sake, and so we can all be on this joy ride together, agents like to see manuscripts in the romance genre sit somewhere between 85k-95k words. If you've read any of my previous work, you know I'm a chronic over-writer (high five! I think it makes it far easier to edit when you're reducing rather than adding). And my current work in progress is at a humble 54k words (I just had to check lmao).

I'm aiming to have it come in somewhere around the 90k mark. That's usually where a good, full, well-rounded story sits for me (both in what I write and what I like to read). And for once in my career, I'm feeling good about this one!

For those who don't know, I'm working on a book inspired by Happy Place by Emily Henry because that book just did something to me. It was probably one of the first second-chance romances I ever read where I kept thinking, "These two characters were made to be together, and if they're not kissing by the end, I will riot," and in true EmHen fashion, she made us readers work for that happily ever after (HEA) but that it was worth every second.

When I closed that book, two characters popped into my mind. That's usually where I start with any given book. Sometimes, I have plot ideas, but usually I don't. I am character-driven in all the ways, and I had these two characters in my brain for over a year before I put them to paper (computer screen).

But I think stories find us writers at just the right moment. Because this one requires a much more mature version of me than the person who wrote the Remember Me series. And a much more forgiving person than the one who wrote The Patron Saint of Holy Sinners. And a much more evolved writer than the one who wrote If I'm Being Honest. That's not to say I don't love and cherish those books any less, and I certainly have the utmost respect for each shade of me who has been able to crank out books so courageously without a care as to how the world will receive them. Because that's maybe where I feel myself getting tripped up in this process.

My brain has been doing this really cool thing where it knows that this manuscript will find its way into literary agents' hands, and so I keep trying to make it perfect. Even though, on a very logical level, I know that even if it gets an agent and a publishing deal, it will change between this first draft and the very final version. But, because of all the rejection I've experienced before, I find myself hesitating. And maybe it's also because I'm comping it to one of the GOATs (Emily Henry, if you see this hi, you are the writer I aspire to be!) that I'm second-guessing the way my characters are moving and speaking. I'm finding cracks that I am not convinced I can fill.

Yet, this is all part of the process. While I look back on every publishing experience I've had with kindness, it's also important not to paint them all in rose gold. Every book has had its stilted moments when I've had to let the story sit for weeks and months before breaking through the writer's block. Even as I re-read them today, I could find places of improvement. Still, I did the thing, trudged forward, and made it happen.

And that's what I plan to do with this next one! My goal is to have it finished by Feb- March so I can start querying sometime in the spring. I also hope to take you on that ride with me. So you can see the ins and outs of the process, the many, many (many) rejections I'll receive (and subsequently, how that takes a toll on my soul). And then, hopefully, I'll bring you into the uncharted territory of the traditional publishing industry!

I've heard that it's a slow grind, so fear not that I still plan to write more books on the side while I wade through the waters of waiting. My email newsletter picked my next indie-published book for next year, and it's a hefty one, so it will certainly give me something to work on while I wait for whatever is to come in my career.

As always, thank you so much for being here, for supporting me, and now for listening to these ramblings. Here's hoping I remember to continue publishing these pieces and not let this be a one-off.

Xoxo Kristin