From Office Bit To Dark Romance with KL Hill

A book goes viral on TikTok and the author isn’t even on TikTok. That’s where our chat with dark and paranormal romance author KL Hill begins, with the adrenaline of waking up to huge KDP page reads, the weird psychology of monthly dashboard resets, and how reader-driven hype can change your week before you’ve had coffee. 

From there, we get into the real story behind her debut Coded In Control and the Masquerade series: organized crime, a masked nightclub with an underground kink club, found family, forced proximity, and why choose chaos. KL shares how the entire concept started as a workplace comedy bit, then grew into a multi-book world once the characters took the wheel. We also talk writing craft in plain language, including being a pantser with quilter tendencies, living in the Notes app, and why your first draft should be written for you before it’s shaped for readers. 

If you like dark romance, romantasy, indie publishing realities, and honest creative process talk, hit play. Subscribe, share with a romance-reading friend, and leave a review so more readers can find the show.

Follow KL Hill on IG: @klhill_author

Cover Art by: moi

Intro/Outro Music: positive vibes by nanaacom on Capcut

Contact Email: spillthesmutpodcast@gmail.com

Podcast IG: @spillthesmutpodcast TT: @spillthesmutpodcast

Jordan IG: @sipsoffiction TT: @sipsoffiction

Transcript

Jordan 0:21

A dark and paranormal romance author with multiple romance books to her name, her debut novel, Coded in Control, is packed with organized crime, forced proximity, found family, and why choose chaos. The sequel, Chained in Control, drops at the end of April. She's also behind Knights of Cindervale, a vampire-filled world of fated mates, forbidden desires, and dystopian magic. Oh, and under another pen name, let's just say there might be a sentient sponge involved. Please welcome to the podcast, Author KL Hill. Hi, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

KL Hill 1:04

Hi, thanks for having me. As we like chatted for about 30 minutes, freaking out, me freaking out why I couldn't get the recording software. It was just, it's been a great day so far. You know what? I'm gonna just blame the snow and the fact that it is so frigidly cold outside. Like, how are we expected to work in such conditions?

Jordan 1:26

I totally agree. I like your thinking. I am also gonna blame the snow and not my um error in technology, which thank you for your two cents, because I was getting very frustrated, and you could definitely tell that. Technology is great until it's not like yeah, it honestly though. Honestly, like printers who printers never work.

KL Hill 1:55

I literally was telling someone the other day that you could buy an $80 printer and a like $500 printer, and they're gonna have the same problems. They're never gonna work properly, and that's what we were experiencing today. Yeah, honestly, honestly. Printer error.

The Week’s Highlight And BookTok Boost

Jordan 2:12

I I love it. I am here for it, and I'm just glad we we figured it out. Honestly, you figured it out, and then I changed it, and then now here we are. We were a team. We were a team. We were we were okay. So I do like to start each episode with what has been the highlight of your week so far. Oh gosh.

KL Hill 2:33

Um, you know, the horrors keep persisting uh around here, and so I I'm really uh, you know, I'm gonna say this morning I opened up my KDP dashboard and my have a book that is, I guess, taking off on TikTok, and I don't I don't even have a TikTok, so it's like a a reader, I guess, did this. And um, I woke up with more page reads today than I have woken up to like since my debut. So yeah, I cried this morning. Like good, good cry. Like it was a good cry. But it that so that's probably the highlight of my week. And oh a hundred percent. That's so cool. It's it's it yeah. Uh even just telling about it, I'm just like, yeah, that was a fever dream. Like I love that.

Jordan 3:32

But I feel like that is like that is so cool though, and that's like also I love like the power of social media. Yes, I love I'm not even on the one, like that that's true, but like you don't need to be no for something to take off.

KL Hill 3:49

My street team is actually one of the girls in there sent it to me and was like, look at this TikTok. And I was like, I was like, I love this, thank you. This was at like six o'clock this morning. Like, wow, great, love it. And then I'm like, you know what? I haven't checked my dashboard in a couple of days. And um, yeah, I I thought it was I realized today was the first, so this is like the most work, like the worst day for an author because your stuff resets for the whole month. And to see, yeah, like you reset to zero, so it's month by month. And so yeah, sometimes you wake up and there's a big fat zero on there, and you're like, wow, it's like a hit to the chest. Um you're like, wow, okay, I failed. My husband's like, um, it's been like six hours on to the first day of the month. I think maybe you need to take a breath. And uh yeah, no, this morning was not that. I had to double check that it wasn't like a month total, and then I saw the date. And so then I cried, but like a happy cry.

Jordan 4:49

Wait, that's so cool. I'm that's so exciting, and that's like, and it's cool too. Like you're you see that your like books are getting like the readers, like are f the readers are finding your books. That's what I'm trying to say. So that is very cool, and that is totally a highlight.

KL Hill 5:06

I told my street team, I said, Oh my gosh, like this character's being perceived, and they read it all as pierced, and they're like, I don't remember him being pierced in this book. And I was like, Y'all need some coffee because that's not not what I wrote. Or is it well and then I said taking notes for later. I always take notes from them.

Jordan 5:33

I I like it, I like it because I always make a little note, and I remember too, like this was a while ago, but I did um a reel on like bookstagram of like all the pierce ding dongs. And I was like, oh, this is this is great. But I also like when I read that, sometimes I don't even remember.

KL Hill 5:54

I'm like, it's just like another right, another weird dark thing. Like when I wrote my Krampus holiday like dark romance, I mistletoe and naughty. I like wanted him, he had to be pierced. Like, I'm sorry, he's Krampus that I already made hot, like not that like scary Krampus, like, oh my gosh, the art that I like had done, like I had a surprise like bust done, and they nailed it. I was like, yes, oh my gosh. And oh yeah, we've got nipple piercings, we've got slutty gold rings, we've got ear piercings, and then there's which you don't see this, but like, and there's even more piercings.

Jordan 6:41

And I'm like, oh my gosh, you like you come you come to the party prepared.

KL Hill 6:47

Yeah, no, I was like, you know what? The demon of Christmas absolutely has to be a huge slut and pierced. Are you kidding?

Jordan 6:54

Like, uh well, I a little side note. Um, I have a younger sister and she's very much into I don't know what it like, I don't know what you would call it, but like she loves Krampus. So instead of like the cute, cutesy like Christmas movies, like I love the Hallmark, cutesy, give me all the cheesy cute Christmas movies, and she's like, let's watch Krampus. I bout peed my pants. Like, don't get me wrong, I love a scary movie, but like, oh my god, the Krampus she made me watch. I was like, I won't say her name, but I was like, I said her name and I was like, What did you just do? Like, I uh it was terrible. It also ended like the movie that we watch ended not happy. I'm pretty sure he he he took them and like they're now living in like a snow globe or something. I was like, why did we just watch this for Christmas?

KL Hill 7:47

You're like the vibe now, see. So listen, so like my Krampus romance, that's an HEA. So like right. So we're coming out like happy, they're soulmates, like they're like faded mates, you know. But oh my gosh, like I I do love the darker side of Christmas stuff. And I I think it's just because like my mom is so obsessed with Christmas and she's like, oh my gosh, I want all the like she loves a Hallmark movie, she loves all those things, and clearly, based on my writing, I like a little bit of the darker side of things, and I love the dark Christmas lore of so many characters. Um, I actually have a planned holiday release for this year that is um Frau Percha and Mari Lode, which is like Frau Percha's a winter witch, and she um it's she does she's very gruesome. Like she will actually like gut people, like if they haven't prepared enough for the winter, like that's her lore. And then Mari Lode is really just more of like a a tradition where it's like the horse head. So if you ever see like um, especially over in like Europe, like a horse head and they go, it goes like door to door, and it's kind of like the origin of like carolers, where to like ward off the evil spirits, but I'm flipping it on its head, and so she's gonna be a vampire because when someone comes knocking at your door to ask, because they it's like an an asking to come in kind of thing, and like Mari Lode's supposed to be like the evil spirit, so it's like they're saying no, don't come in. So, what's better than a vampire? So, like I love the darker side of that stuff, so get just give me more of it, give me more of it.

Jordan 9:36

I like it, I like it. Okay, so since we dived right on into like I love I'm so sorry early all the things. No, I love it, I love it. I am here for it, but to get like since we're already talking about like writing and authoring, um, what inspired you to become an author?

KL Hill 9:56

So my authoring journey actually started out as a bit at work at my previous job. Coded started out as a bit, a full bit.

Jordan 10:07

Um so my I I worked in on what do you mean by full bit?

KL Hill 10:13

Like a comedy bit.

Jordan 10:16

Like, oh, oh, I love that.

KL Hill 10:18

Yeah, so it was just a comedy bit with my coworkers. So we were all obviously reading dark romance. I've all I've always written. I've always I've I'm maladaptive daydream, like I I was consuming a lot of books as a kid, like reading up multiple grade levels, like always been a reader and always I used to write poetry. Like I so I loved, I loved it. I loved it. Um, I also feel things very deeply. Like I have a lot of very big emotions, as they like to say. Um but uh we we like at work, we just started this whole bit of what's like a really nerdy job that you can make hot. And we we were just like naming some of them, and I was like, listen, like an what our IT guys, or like let's make an IT guy. And so it started out as just like more of like a rom-com dark romance, like, you know, it's it was a work setting and blah blah blah. And then it just took on you hear people talk about their characters control the narrative and take on this. This took on a whole life of its own. And then I realized I was like, I don't want this to be a rom-com, I don't want this to be like a workplace setting. Um, this can be so much bigger, and so then that's kind of just really how my debut was born was a bit like and I mean it went on for months. This was not like a couple days and then we let it die. No, no, no. We were fully committed to the bit, and I'm talking like at least six months. And yeah, and then like only one person worked in one department, one person worked, so like when we would convene, we would just all the ideas we had stewing would just pour out. So I have quite a few people, and I thank a lot of them in my debut and the acknowledgments because I'm like, without our like crazy lunchtime uh, you know, meet up in each other's office, like shenanigan cackle sessions, like Masquerade would have never been born. So yeah, so that's what got me into it because they were like, one of us should write it, and Kelly, you should or KL, you should write it. And I was like, you know what, maybe I will. Maybe I will write it. And uh I I so and then I just sat down and yeah, like it all just came out, and I left it. And then I gave it to an alpha reader, and she said, someone needs to die, and this needs to be two books. And then that's how I was born. Someone needs to die, yeah. It's a dark romance, like not a main character, just like not a main one, like a side one.

Jordan 13:23

Oh my god, I'm not doing that. Like, I guess that's kind of where my mind went.

KL Hill 13:28

Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Like a side character that was impactual to the main character, so yeah.

Jordan 13:34

So I I love it, and I I always this is like my favorite question to ask people because I feel like everyone's story is so fun and unique, and I feel like yours might be the best one I've heard of like these your like group of colleagues just coming together, chatting, and then poof, this like story debut was born.

KL Hill 13:58

It was it was a wild time, and the the way that it was supposed to be one book, and now that it's plotted and planned to be four, is I think what is the most like craziest development out of it. Like, oh my goodness, yeah. It was supposed to be a one and done standalone, and the character said, Just kidding, psych, psych, we need more.

Jordan 14:23

I I think it's I'm like not a writer at all, so I think it's so interesting, but I can understand because I know some people are like, How how are characters talking to you? You're like writing these characters down on paper, but I'm like, I get it. Granted, I don't write, but I get it because like so many authors are like, no, no, no, like my characters take me. And I but I get it to a degree because like if you stay true to the character, your characters should take you, and not you taking your characters. Cause I have read books where the character either does something or says something that I'm like, whoa, that's like not that's weird, like, and then it takes me out of the story, and you can tell it like makes a huge difference.

Daydreaming Stories In The Pool

KL Hill 15:03

And I'm I'm like, oh, it was a big like it so I'm maladaptive daydream, which is like I just create these stories in my head. I was a swimmer growing up, and I mean I'm still a swimmer now, and I'm a swim coach as well. Um, so I'm watching children swim for two hours plus, and so I do also still have a lot of time in my head whenever like they're just they're just going to. And I mean, obviously I'm engaged, but at the same time, like there's like this part of my brain that can still the hamster's still on the wheel. Um and I spent a lot of time as a kid, and then especially into high school, staring at the bottom of a pool and developing stories in my head. And there's actually I have a fantasy story, like a romantic, what is now considered a romanticy, because it was just the newest term, like within the last, you know, like five, six years or so. That's really been um this story has been with me since I was like 15 years old, and it would actually like be a be appropriate for the romanticy genre. Um, and I don't know if I'll ever release it, write it. It it has grown over 15 years, but it was like the first story that I was like, oh, okay, like from start to finish. I I basically like swam hundreds of miles and wrote a book in my head, like as a kid. So it's so cool. Like, I feel like that's it was crazy, and so now as an adult, I'm like, oh, oh, I mean, I have obviously I have undiagnosed ADHD. Like, let's like let's be clear. But like it wasn't crazy without it. That's right, that's right. And oh yeah, and I mean it it would, and I would get excited to like just sit, like sit, I say sit, but like swim through and just more things unfold and and happening, and but I was always afraid to actually put it on paper because I was I was like, I I can't do this the same justice I can do in my head. So uh it and it's I mean I've had it in my head since I was a teenager, and I will tell you that sometimes the characters come back out. Ooh. So I'm like they they're banging on the door, but I don't know if I'm gonna let them out. At least not for a long time.

Jordan 17:39

Fair. And like the thing too is it's like this story that's in your head, you can tell it at any time. So it's like it's not like it's you have to tell it right now or it's never getting told. So I think that's like it's it's in its own, it's in its own journey. It's in it's marinating in your head at first.

KL Hill 17:56

That's what it is. It's it's maturing, it's it's a fine bottle of wine. Because I think that's the thing, is that I started thinking about these characters as a kid. And uh as an adult now, uh what I have them fantasized as a kid, would I be able to give them what they deserve? You know, like would my kid self like the characters I write now is is how I is why I think I'm so afraid of that story specifically of ever putting it out.

Pantsing Quilting And The Notes App

Jordan 18:30

I I get that, I like that. And it's like it can kind of be like that barrier of whether you want to get it out or not. Um, okay, so then you kind of like talked about like writing, but how you started to write, but I'm curious what your writing process is like, especially because I know you also mentioned you're a swimming coach. So how do you kind of do both?

KL Hill 18:55

Um my writing process is is I'm what you would consider a pantser. Okay. Um however, I I one time I had a conversation with Lexi Ryan, and it was um it was very eye-opening for me that she described herself as a quilter. So she like could plot out different scenes and then put them together. And and so she wasn't necessarily pantsing. She's like, sometimes the scene wouldn't stay the same as what I had like you know, woke up in the middle of the night and plotted. So I'm somewhere between like a pantser and a quilter. Um, I do like a little bit of if an idea comes, I get it out. And um, like one time I woke up at 1:30 in the morning and I plotted an entire book um in like an hour in my notes app. Boop.

Jordan 19:54

Okay. Honestly, the notes app is that comes in clutch.

KL Hill 19:57

And you know what? I woke up the next morning and it was comprehensible. So hey, yeah, I know. I was like, yes, um, good job, sleeping KL. Because let me tell you, sometimes they're not. I'm like, what was I even trying to say? Um, what is that word? Um yeah, and so that is like a fully fleshed out plot, so which is crazy. Um, and so then and sometimes I just sit down and I'm just let them flow. So I very chaotic. Um, but a lot of notes app.

Jordan 20:33

I honestly like I love my notes app. I have so many like different tabs open, and I know I don't write, but I'll do like content creation and stuff. So I'm like writing down any ideas that I come up with and like things like that. I love the notes app so freaking much.

KL Hill 20:49

Like it's so handy. I well, and so I have a no phone rule at practice, okay. Except for me. I don't apply. Yeah. Um, but I am not one that is hello, I make the rules. Um, I am not the I'm not the one that I'm not a coach that's like on their phone all the time, right? Um, I'm I am very engaged with my athletes. Um but sometimes there's just an idea that just is screaming inside of my skull. And so I have to watch the kids because they will listen, I primarily coach high school. They will call me out. What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you on your phone? Your phone. I and then they want to know if I'm talking to Mr. Hill, and then then they want to call him. Yeah, that's not what I'm doing, kids. So sometimes I have to lie and say, no, no, no. I just thought of a really great set for us to do for tomorrow or later or blah blah blah. So I lie to these kids. Um for the good of it.

Jordan 21:59

It's for yeah, you gotta do you do what you gotta do. Yeah, it's understandable.

KL Hill 22:03

I'm I'm lying in the sense of um, I don't need to share this part of my life with you guys. But sometimes I feel so guilty because I'm like, this shit is dark that I'm putting in here. And they're like, Are you talking to Mr. Hill? Um No. Actually, no. I'm literally like, this man got gutted. Um no. No. He got it. What is it that sound by his arms were cut off or like her legs were cut off. Oh my god, yes. That's what I'm typing. Am I like playing in the background?

Coaching Teens While Writing Dark

Jordan 22:41

I love the my my favorite is the real or like the videos where it's like, bye kids, have a good day at school. I'm just gonna listen to my audiobook. And then it was like, and she got railed, like in the like, and I like all these things, and I'm like, oh it's so good.

KL Hill 22:59

And so sometimes my swimmer, so one of my swimmers is my baby cousin, and so it's kind of one of the reasons why I'm like really involved with this high school. I said I mean baby cousin, she's a senior in high school this year, which I'm like gutted about, but um I mean she was my flower girl at my wedding. Like so she, yes. Um so sometimes the the girls will be like, will you go to Target with us? Will you go to Target after practice with us? Yes, I'll obviously I love Target.

Jordan 23:34

Any excuse to go to Target.

KL Hill 23:36

I'll do a lap, okay? I'll do a lap with you. They immediately go to the book section. Oh, I love that section. Which, like, since my day, especially whenever I release coded, and the way they're picking up some of these books, and I have to be like, no, no, no. Too dark, too dark. When one of them held up not hunting Adeline, so they picked up book two first. Yeah, they can't do that. I saw this on TikTok, and I pulled it out of her hand, and I she was like 15. I said no. Oh my gosh, no, no, she's like, I saw it all over TikTok. And I said, Well, first off, this is book two, so don't play me. Uh, second off, you can't fool me. That's how that's how I talk to these kids. Like, don't they like to they wrote down the other day some of my like famous lines, and don't play me as number one. Um, yeah, so you love it. Don't play me.

Jordan 24:35

Wait, do they know you are an author though? Maybe not your like name, but like not a clue.

KL Hill 24:41

Oh, okay. Maybe cousin's mom knows. I told her, I actually just told her at Christmas this past Christmas. Yeah. So she knows, and once she graduates, then she can know. But until then, she cannot know. Because I don't, I don't need it to go around the school.

Jordan 25:01

And I not saying that she like would tell people, but I feel like I could see the likelihood of a lot of people finding out.

KL Hill 25:09

Right. She would she would be, I think, really excited. I think she is gonna be really cool. And she I mean, it is totally cool, and she I'm over here, like it's lame as hell. And oh my god, no, no, that's not true. I fucking love this. Uh but like I'm trying to play it down. I'm like, no, girl, it's lame as hell. And then it's like in your head, I'm like, fuck yeah. Um, and I know she'll be excited about it. I actually told Mr. Hill that probably for her graduation present, I will um wrap up every book that I have released at up to her graduation press like point and gift it to her. Um, just so then that way it's kind of one of those like, all right, now that you're 18 plus. Wait, even the sponge one? Um no, I might hold that one back. Just because I feel like she I feel like the dark romance would she would be like, oh, cool. I um listen, sentient stuff, people you're either really, really think it's cool and funny and fun, or like people about it.

Jordan 26:26

Yeah, I mean that door one took off.

KL Hill 26:28

That door one door hinge unhinged is incredible. Unhinged.

Jordan 26:33

Okay, I've never read anything.

KL Hill 26:34

Incredible, like Vera's so cool.

Jordan 26:38

I I just I know of that story, and then I think she wrote other ones. Like, I think there's like other ones.

KL Hill 26:46

Um balloon, um, oh hold on. The balloon animal.

Jordan 26:50

Yeah.

Sentient Object Romance And Community

KL Hill 26:51

Um, like the dog. Um one of them is squeak. And I can't there, there's there's a it's a duology basically. Um there the sentient object romance community is so much fun, and it crosses over into like the alien community as well. Ver so some of the coolest, funniest people I have ever met in my life, and they're so welcoming to everything. They have absolutely just loved all over my little sponge novella that was a I love that literal joke with me and my husband that it just it brings me so much joy to be a part of that community, and everyone there is also just so supportive of every basically everything that you do. It it's so the author community when you find those niches is so incredible and it's so uplifting. That the tides rise and we raise each other, and it it's so it's so cool and so fun. And it was something that you're always told writing and authoring is a lonely thing, and it is. Uh it is very, it can be very, very isolating and very lonely because you're lost in your thoughts, you're trying to hit these deadlines, you're trying to get these words out. But then to have like discords or have group chats or be a part of shared worlds and so much fun, and it it breathes life back into it. And I love the sentient object romance community. It the dark romance girlies, like we have so much fun, but there's just something different about sentient object authors that just they just hit so good.

Indie Publishing Versus Indie Press

Jordan 28:45

Okay, okay. I like that, which I do kind of want to ask too, because I feel like you self-publish and you work with a small press.

KL Hill 28:56

Yes.

Jordan 28:57

So I'm kind of curious like the difference. Do you find that there's a big difference between the two? Do you like one more than the other, or there's certain things that you like of one that maybe works for XYZ book versus working with a small press? And I'm kind of curious, like just your overall thoughts or whatever you want to like mention about both.

KL Hill 29:23

Okay, so I debuted, coded, um, I self-published, so I indie published it. Um Azala Press is um owned by um MK Aheron, um, who is also an author. Um, so it is it is an indie press. So it's not a vanity press. So I have paid $0.07 for anything that I have done. Um they have been wonderful to work with. Um it was a little bit harder given that Coded was already published. So there were like some transitional things. Um, some of the bookstores that I had like creative relationships with and like consigned with, um, I kind of had to end that for Coded just because now Azala owns the print rights for the Masquerade series. So any any print publication of it has to go through them, which is totally fine. Um, I mean, I I I actually kind of like that. Um, for like signings and stuff, I'll just say, hey, I need this many and we'll order it. Um, because I have some signings at the end of the year. So just the buildup for that. Um it has been there is a lot of support that comes with that that makes it feel a little less lonely. Especially since Coded is not a standalone. Kind of having that support for a series um is gonna go so far. Um indie publishing is I enjoy it just because I can just, I mean, I all right. So we talked about my the sentient sponge. So like scrub me daddy, I just woke up one day and I was like, oh, it's up. And I just let it be up. Oh my gosh, wait, that's like promo it. I didn't have arc readers, I didn't do any of that, and I just threw it out in the world and was like, here you go. Um, and so that's kind of fun, and you can just pick your own timelines. Where with Azala, they're like, girl, you gotta tell us when you want some stuff done. So they make me use my brain and make me look at a calendar instead of just being like, and I act like it's whimsy indie. Here's how it feels. Like, no, like, I mean, it was a lot of footwork for coded. I mean, I was screaming into the void for arc readers, uh, where Azala has a little bit more of that kind of already just like set up for me. Um, you know, they they support me for getting my covers, for editing, for so there's a lot of the indie publishing costs that I don't necessarily have to foot the bill for. So, and that's nice because that allows me a little less stress to be able to write. Where indie publishing, like, you know, I'm in charge of the you know, the bill for the covers, for the editing bill, for um if I want to promote any like ads or anything. And so it's kind of nice to be hybrid. Um, my new college series is is also going to be published under Azala. Um, so they're they are acquiring like quite a bit of my works. Um, but what's nice about them being an indie press is that it is owned by an indie author. And then it is um like collaborated with the fiction fix. And I don't know if you have ever like heard of Alexa on like threads or she's a editor and also an attorney, like in the bookish space. So to have her on our side helps like if I did want to acquire audio rights, if I did want, I have um legal backing too, which oh that's nice.

Jordan 33:27

So any contracts, yes.

KL Hill 33:29

So any contracts, she will look over for, you know, if I'm trying for audio, if there's and then even just being a client of hers is helpful in the long run for any questions that I might have. Like if I want to try to get into a book box, what someone else to just look at that contract and see, because unfortunately, there are a lot of things in the bookish space that are very predatory. And so to have somebody that look at that to look at it and make sure that I'm getting what I deserve for the work that I did is a is a breath of fresh air. It makes it a little scary.

Jordan 34:10

Yeah, no, I was thinking about it too, because especially like if you've never done audio rights or you've never done a book box, like you don't know what is, I don't want to say normal, but like what is like what you should get in that area. So to have somebody even with the experience of okay, this is normal, or if it's not normal, being like, okay, we need to ask for XYZ. And I feel like not knowing that, you wouldn't know to ask for it because how would you know? Exactly.

KL Hill 34:40

I would have no idea.

Jordan 34:41

Yeah, so that's like really nice.

KL Hill 34:44

Yeah, it does, and it makes it makes a difference. Um, because then for to know that those things for my bigger series um are covered and protected, it it just makes being able to throw out some indie publishings more fun. Uh, you know, like my Krampus Mistletoe and Naughty was was indie, was me. So I just picked a date, threw it out there right for the holidays. Um it was serialized on my Substack. It yeah, I mean, so to be able to do those things is fun. And then it makes the bigger projects, knowing that there's that back end support like more manageable and fun as well. It's always fun. Let me tell you. Just acknowledge that. Yeah, it's always it has it it fuels you when it drains you too. So okay, I get that. But I like that hybrid idea because oh yeah. Um, and then just having it be an indie press. Because then I can just literally text MK and say, hey, what's going on with this? And I don't have to jump through a lot of channels. I don't have an agent. I haven't ever queried for an agent. Um, I don't know if that's something, you know, I don't know if that's something I'm interested in. Everybody's journey is different. Um, but to to be able to do that with any questions and then just industry questions in general is is nice to just have. I'm very, very lucky.

Jordan 36:19

Yeah.

KL Hill 36:19

Um, I I can't I can't thank them enough for the support that Azala gives me.

Jordan 36:27

And was there anything that surprised you the most about the publishing like process, whether it was through Azala Press or through self-publishing?

Amazon KU Risks And Predatory Deals

KL Hill 36:38

Um, I think I and it wasn't really a surprise. I think it was just more of holy shit, this is this is really is um uh Amazon and um like the wide distribution companies like Ingram. How difficult it is to work with them. Yes, and how how they they really do hinder a lot of things for authors. Um sometimes Amazon will accept your cover and then you go to upload your manuscripts later, and then it decides that no, your cover's wrong, even though it was already approved. Um and then some and then sometimes they'll just randomly cancel pre-orders if they don't, you know.

Jordan 37:28

I've heard about I've heard that happening to authors.

KL Hill 37:31

And they're very if you know if you're enrolled in KU, which KU is a wonderful thing, I would not I would not be able to do the things that I do without being enrolled in KU. Um if they find any pirated copies, yeah, you can get suspended from KU because that becomes your problem and not theirs. Um so it does every day you kind of just wake up and you're like just making sure that nothing nothing's happened in the witching hours. Um it it that is, I think, the biggest thing is just when I say like the predatory stuff, that even includes kind of just even the industry standards. Um and to just know that like if I'm panicking to have a community to be like help somebody that people are always willing to, you know, we're we're always willing to fight the Zan about anything. And so I think that's the I think that is the the biggest thing is just one minute things can be totally fine with you know, even even like on Ingram or and then the next thing you know, like everything's being taken down, you don't know why, you don't know what's happening, um, the dashboard doesn't upload. It it it's those little things that really just won't make your hair fall out.

Jordan 38:55

Oh, yeah, I I yeah, yeah, I can I totally get that, even though I don't write it. It's gonna be okay. We got this. Yeah, that's true. It's just like I feel like it's kind of nice to have that backing. And even too, like they have the this community of authors too that they've published, and and knowing like MKs also published books, I feel like it's nice to even for something that like may have never happened to you, like happened to somebody else, so you get like their thoughts and ideas of like how to handle it. And I think just having it's like having someone in your corner.

KL Hill 39:35

And it's so nice, the Azala authors like that little tiny community itself is so nice to just have. Um, because I mean, we have group chats, and so if anybody has any questions, or you know, even if it's just I'm looking for X, Y, and Z, can someone help me with this? Like, what was your process for this? Uh, it's so it's so nice to be able to bounce those ideas off of because, like I said, it is a very lonely industry, and unless you have found some of your people, you're just kind of just blindly trying to figure it out on your own.

Jordan 40:14

Um what advice do you have for like a newbie author that's trying to like break out?

KL Hill 40:23

One of the one of the things that I like to tell people and is whenever you're writing your first draft, write it for yourself. Don't try to make it perfect the first time around because then you will become discouraged and you could potentially not finish something that would be wonderful and resonate with a lot of readers. Write it for yourself. That first draft is for you, and then whatever version comes after, then you can start forming it for readers. Um, most of the time I will write my first draft, and I I don't even really, I rarely have an alpha reader that I share chapters with, unless it's through my editor. Like where I know a lot of authors are like, oh yeah, I dropped chapters for my alpha readers, and I'm like, I that is I have to let it marinate. I have to let it sit before I can go back in and do version two or version three or version four, because then it starts morphing for readers. That first version is the most fucking disgusting looking, like like you turn you turn on, you you do spell check and you're like, holy shit, what even is this? Also, I'm a hoe for a comma. I'm just gonna tell you guys like me and I I'm an Oxford girly ho. Okay. And when I mean Oxford, I'm talking like there might be 13 commas in a sentence, and I I love a comma. So to go back and look at my version when I'm like, whoa, okay, we were either the comma button broke or you were just really losing your shit. Like I'm no one needs to see that. Like I promise I'm a competent person. No one needs to see that. But that is one of the things I I want authors to know is that version that is for you. That is your brain child being born. Um, uh, you know, when babies are born, they are not they are not born cute, okay? They are not meant to be birthed cute. You have to clean them up, you have to do all of these things. So imagine when we say our book, babies, treat it like that. Like that baby is that, yes, hideously. And you know what? Babies, babies are cute. I'm not over here like someone's like, my baby's adorable. Your baby is adorable, but whenever you can't tell me that that wrinkly little thing that came out of you was always the cutest thing you ever saw. That's like puppies, like freshborn puppies. No, kiddies, yeah. You're right. You are right, yeah. And they gotta dry off a little bit. Let them sit, bundle them, you know, love them on a little bit. Like it's so true, it is so true, and then you kind of send them to the world. Say, look how cute. Yes.

Jordan 43:38

I I agree with you. And I have zero children.

KL Hill 43:45

It works. You're not wrong, though. You're not wrong. I'm a lady, I know how it works. I have all the parts. Gosh, darn it. I watched them. I walked in that hotel not long afterwards, and I'm like, oh, they're still cleaning this baby up. Okay. Come back later. I'm gonna go down to Panero right now. You want anything? Do you need anything now? Like a sandwich, like extra towels, coffee.

Masquerade Series Setup And Cliffhangers

Jordan 44:22

Oh my gosh. I love it. Okay. So I kind of want to get into a little bit about like your books. Wanna give me like a spoiler-free rundown of like your series, like your different series, like where, like what it, what it wow, can't talk. Um like what still can't talk. Just tell me about your books, gosh darn it.

Knights Of Cindervale And Romantasy Scope

Dark Swim Team Bully Romance Tease

KL Hill 44:45

You're like, Jesus, just say stuff. Um okay, so oh my god, spoiler-free is very hard for me. I need people to understand that I am a blabber. Oh my god. I want to tell everybody everything all the time. And my PA, my PA and I have known each other for over 20 years. She is like, she her sister was in my wedding. Like, she's the oldest, she's the eldest daughter of her family. And so she has been like my big sister since I was like 12 years old. Um she yells at me a lot. She's like, hey, stop telling people shit. Okay. You gotta, I'm she's like, I know that you're side messaging people, stop it. Okay. So um we've kind of okay. So my debut, um, Coded and Control is an MMF um Dark Romance and is the first book in the Masquerade series. Um, Masquerade is a nightclub with an underground sex kink club that functions inside the club. So it and it is a very dark organized crime world. Um, you know, it's there's a lot of like money, there's a lot of powerful people. Um, one of the things that is important about Masquerade when you go to the club is you have to wear a mask. So that is part of the stipulation of getting in. And so it creates this space of these baddies feel safe that they can go in there and you know, and they pay a lot of money for like a private booth for them. So, and the people that run it, like our man Devin, our man Tony, they are privy to those secrets. Um they have a whisper network within there of their employees, like it, it so it is it it's a world within the world. Um, and it's very, very dark world. So coded is an MMF of Tony, Devin, and Lena, and they are our three leading people for books one and two. Um, chain will release April the 28th. Uh, so chain to control it will follow their story um because book one ends on a cliffhanger. So everybody knows because I learned very early on with beta readers. My PA forgot to tell them that it was a cliffhanger, and she got yelled at. Yep. Not me. She got yelled at. You picked the beta, and she was like, So there's probably some notes in your beta reading that you might just want to ignore because I may or may not have forgotten to tell them that it was a cliffhanger. So some of the stuff that you were setting up towards the end of the book, um yeah, they didn't know that it was gonna need to carry over. I was like, oh no, um Masquerade is um plotted to be four books, so it is going to be a very extensive world. Um then this is like a non-spoiler thing. Um, books three and four will follow a different couple, but there's the same, it's an overarching story. So our main characters don't go anywhere, they just are not necessarily in the spotlight the entire time. Um, so it's a big world, it's a big, big world. Um I have um a kind of like a dystopian fantasy um like dark romance series that um I started on my substack. I I love like serializing those chapters. Um so it's Knights of Cindervale is the series. Um book one is a Legion of Bane and Embers, and that is an MM Vampire Mortal um love story, Forbidden Desire. Um Cindervale is a city that is warded off from the rest of the world. Um, it is full of magical beings. Um the it is formed, they are considered modern knights. So a lot of their um training, a lot of their um hierarchy is based off of medieval knighthood. Um, so it's like the whole city is ran by the grandmaster, the they have chancellors, um, you know, the knights are trained from a young age for squires, they become a knight, like they're knighted if they pass their final test at like 21. So I did a lot of research on knighthood and and like knightings and what that looked like. They don't wear armor, but like the the concept of them is like basically being um kind of that like authority in the city. Um and we come to and there are a lot of beings that are suppressed, that are have been um removed from the city, have that the grandmaster he is a fay, he is a very old fee that is has power trip. And it it kind of is I have it plotted for about five books. Um they were supposed to just be novellas, and then I can't shut up. So I don't know when I exceeded in novellas, novellas to five books, right? Um, and so I was like, oh, this will be a cute little series of novellas. I'll just you know wrap it up in an omnibus at some point. And um, the book that is currently serializing on my Substack is like 75,000 words, and a um a novella stops at like 40. So it's like everyone, everyone's like, um, yeah, you can't call that a novella. I've gone to multiple groups and they're like, Kale, stop trying to make it. It's basically stop trying to make fetch happen, but it's I was oh my gosh, I was thinking that I was just thinking that. Um The Knights of Cinderville were just supposed to like scratch an itch in the fantasy world for me while I'm writing dark romance. And it has slowly just started to become an even bigger thing. Real life. Like demons come through rifts from hell. Um, you know, there are allegedly bad things outside of the city, but then there are literal demons coming through and ripping through from hell inside. So that's kind of who they have to protect from. Um each each book will show a different couple and a different like being. Like book two is um a demon lord and then the bounty hunters of the city. And um book three, I I'm I'll go ahead because like I'm gonna announce it by the time this will come out. I'll have probably already announced it. Um is book three is Wolf Shifters and a character from Bane and Embers. So like and it and it slowly is showing that that dystopian world, kind of the dark underbelly of it, and how it may or may not slowly people are catching on. And it's it's not as this like glorious knights that are protecting the city as they try to make it out to be. So it is very fun. Sometimes it lets me get some feminine rage out. Um yes, the stories, um, so like book one is Atlas and Amelion, and vampires are um they're not welcome in the city. Um, there's a small coven that is allowed to stay, and that's just because they are watching the like warded walls. Um, and so Amelion is essentially a an illegal vampire. He was turned, and um Atlas, the knight, um, he is he saves Atlas, and so then Atlas brings him in and says, like, I I completed my final deal, and I I also captured this vampire and I want to keep him. And so then that is where it and it it's so then like Emilian's illegal, but um, you know, he is an asset to the knighthood, so then he resides with Atlas. They have a very forbidden desire situation. Emilian is muzzled a lot. Oh yeah. Um, and it is very, very Atlas. I think Atlas was was a lot of fun for me because he struggles with the idea that he is in love with a vampire, and he's not supposed to be. Okay. Um he will never he doesn't admit it, obviously, for a very long time. It's very clear uh from the get-go how he feels about Emilian. Um, but he he can't because I mean he'll be removed, he'll be stripped of his title, he'll be all these things. And so obviously it's an allegory for a lot of things. Um, and but it's it was very fun to write. Book two is uh um serializing on subdeck right now. Um, and I think by the time this episode comes out, it'll probably be in the world. Um, because I dropped a lot of chapters during whenever half the country was under snow. So I'm ahead of schedule. And like I said, it's a demon lord, his bounty hunter. Um Sinclair is a hottie. We love him. He's he's so much fun. And then Gwen's just a badass. She's a badass bounty hunter, and she takes no shit from anybody. And you know, there's a lot of hidden secrets for each character that I think is very fun um to hint about and reveal. So, like I said, it scratches a nice fantasy part of my brain for all the dark romance that I write. Um, and then I'll just finish with my last thing of I have a new series that is going to start in July. Um so July 28th, it's don't hold your breath. Um we'll release it is a dark college bully romance that is swimmers. Um it is uh Galeo Cove is a fictional city in South Florida, um, and it is an elite college where athletes um it's kind of a nice um mixture of a few really big prominent swimming schools. Um, and then it's toned down, so then it's like the elite of the elite get chosen. So yeah. So it's very fictional. Um, I well, I have been swimming my entire life um and coaching. I did not swim in college. I chose to step away from the sport after high school because I didn't want to hate it. I was like on the verge, and then I got into coaching like a year after. So uh yeah, so I was like, oh wow, today I took a respite and then I never left. Um but I so that college experience, especially as an elite athlete, I don't have a lived experience for. And one of the most important things that I want to make sure I portray in this series is not only the sport of swimming, because I I I feel like that it is definitely an underrated sport in the romance world, because I'm sorry, everyone is half naked and wet all the time. True, very true. A lot of hours together, a lot of hours. So um, you know, you travel, you do. I mean, your home almost your whole school year is devoted to your team. Most of the time, and this is just like with any college sport, that is your, you don't you don't really rush for sororities or fraternity. That is, that is your whole life. Everything you do is with them. They they are your people. So it it's it's like that found family situation. Um, so I have actually uh made sure that I've hit this right and not only done my research, but also um I am have like connections and friendships with a few like national team members and Olympians. And so I'm like, hey, um, what did this look like for you juggling college, the national team, and prepping for the Olympics? Because that's a lot of what they're gonna do. And it's more of just like climbing inside my friends' brains to see, make sure I'm hitting all the notes right. Because oh, I like that. Obviously, it's the romance is the plot, but you want to make sure everything else is also accurate, right?

Jordan 58:35

So I can't wait.

KL Hill 58:39

There is not very many. There's like a couple that exist of dark swimming romances, and I want somebody to pick this up. And having loved and lived the sport, to not feel like it's a betrayal of their life that they lived, because then that way, then I feel like it loses the complete connection that I want for the series to have. Yeah. So it is right now currently planned to be like three books, um, and each will be like an interconnected standalone. The first one is a step sibling uh situation, so it's taboo. Okay. Yeah. So like their parents got married when they were in high school, so then there is a lot of like history. It picks up in like their junior year of college, um, where they both end up at this college together. So the divorce happened senior year at the end, and then they went to separate colleges the first two years, and then transferred to this one at the same time without well, one knew the other one didn't. Let me just say that. Okay, okay. So, yeah, so there's a blackmail contract, there's um there's a lot, like a lot of spies from almost the get-go. Um, it is very dark, a lot of possessive things. Um, and it's been very, very fun.

Jordan 1:00:11

Love in a dark romance though.

KL Hill 1:00:13

And what's really funny is um Azala and I have been working on a cover, and what's so funny is whenever you look up like swimming romances, they're all these like bright colored pool pictures, you know, we're splashing around. Like one of one of them, not the vibe at all. Not the vibe at all. Um, the the team is the tiger sharks, the galeo cove tiger sharks. Um, because like Galeo is part of the like Latin root for sharks. Um, so uh I also do a lot of research whenever I write things. Like I I'm a little I'm a little nerdy when it comes to that. But it's been really, really fun um to to do like the taboo. Um, you know, I'm like, why choose is is I love a why choose. So obviously my debut coming out with that, but this is I'm here to tell you that um how the male main character would would not allow a Y choose for the FMC lane, like at all. Yes, um so and this is this is at this point probably the darkest one I've written.

Jordan 1:01:31

Okay, okay as far as main characters go. Okay, because I did also want to ask for out of all the stories you've written or like are in the middle of writing, what was like the most fun to write? What was the most challenging to write? What was maybe the most rewarding one to write? I'm like kind of curious, like out of all the books, but also ones you're currently writing, because like I know this swimming one's not coming out until the summer, but so okay, the most fun that I have written um is probably by sentient sponge.

KL Hill 1:02:05

Okay, I was I was thinking you were gonna say that one. So Scrub Me Daddy is by my alt pen April showers. Um, and it has been it was the most fun. It's a novella, it's a true novella. It's like 25,000 words. Okay, it's only it's like 90 pages. I actually kept it a novella. Um, and it is so, so fun. Um, it it was actually just a joke with me. A lot of things I write clearly start out as jokes and bits. Um, but it was it, I was literally doing the dishes. And we have a pink scrub mommy. So actually, Scrub Me Daddy is based off of the scrub mommy, because in my mind, scrub mommies are superior, but that's neither here nor there. Um, it's double-sided. You get a sponge and a scrub, come on. But I was just like joking, like, how funny would it be if I wrote a sponge alien romance? And Mr. Hill's like, I mean, okay, like he's he's my number one fan. So he's just like, okay, cool, whatever. Um, and so I just kept talking about finally one day. He's like, if you don't sit down and write that fucking book, he's like, it, you're driving me nuts. I need you to sit down and I need you to write this book. You gotta get it out of your head because you're driving me insane. I can't even imagine what the inside of your head looks like right now. So I sat down and it was so much fun. And I would talk to him about it. And like I said, this was like a almost like a secret project. I really wasn't talking to it about anybody, it was just kind of a palette cleanser. And I was telling him about it because I was like, this is gonna be like 10,000 words. This isn't even, you know, this isn't gonna be anything. He was like, Well, where's he from? What galaxy? Is so does he turn into a human? Well, because the premise is she's on it's late night QVC. The aliens have intercepted our TV and they're selling the scrubby dubbies to come down to Earth. And so I had to sit there and like he made me work out the exact delivery system that the sky yes, he's like, I need more. You gotta give me more details. This is he said he told me he said people aren't gonna read it if you're just like he was a sponge, like which is not what I was saying. But I was like, dude, he was a sponge, there were bubbles, like he so it was so fun, and then the the cover, I actually made the cover myself. I was just like, let's just make this. But the cover is like cute, it's so cute, it's so silly. Um and so like Scrub Me Daddy does see a lot of love, which makes me so happy because, like I said, sentient object romance is still such a new niche that a lot of people are just like, this especially when Vera was like, here's my door smut. Like there is a little bit more, like there is plot, and obviously there's plot with Unhinged too, because I mean, how else do you work out that the door is a god? And like, you know, you gotta you gotta have all the background, and so I actually so I've been plotting to for book two for scrubby mommy, so that is gonna be it's just gonna be two books. We're gonna call it a day, but that's so much fun. That one's so much fun. Um, the most challenging is honestly been Chain to Control is book two of the Mascraves series. It has been it has been the most challenging. Um, I actually looked back the other day of when I started version one, and I started just like loosely writing version one probably in April, like right around when Coded came out. Okay. Um and there has been three different storyline variations. Um, I could not decide what I wanted because this book will this book was important because it will end Tony, Devin, and Lean. Love story. It will not erase them from the equation, but their love story is H E A. I have H E A H Fn just because their characters will continue through the next two books, and I can't say that everything's always going to be fluffy and sweet for everybody all the time. But their their love story is solidified, and nothing will happen to any of them that will basically break that He A. I will not be doing that. Um, I love them too much. Those three are like my baby babies. I love them so much. Um and it has just been so hard because this book is a lot darker um content-wise than coded. Um and I wanted to make sure there is a lot of time during this book that the three characters aren't always together. Um and trying to balance that with the polyamorous relationship, um, where it didn't really feel like that there was a lot of favoring to one couple as opposed to like another character. Um there's a lot of there's a lot of trauma that obviously goes on with each character. Um and then one of the characters, so Tony, Tony has a lot of things that go on for him out like in his past lives. Um so trying to make sure that I do his story as much justice as I possibly can while still staying and while still staying present in that book and setting everything up for book three. So it was it's a lot of moving parts that I can't get wrong. Because if I get them wrong, then I I'm setting myself up to like back myself in a corner, and I can't I can't do that. Um so one of the things that I will say, since this will come out like pretty close to chained, is we will have a very satisfying ending for Devin. It will be okay. We'll have a very satisfying ending. We'll have a very satisfying ending for Lena. So and then Tony Tony gets his happiness with his people, but we're nowhere near done with Tony. Okay, okay. So I like to comp this very similarly to um Katie Robert um their neon gods, uh Dark Olympus, where each book is a different couple and there's an overarching story to be told. Um, where this is a duet and a duet with an overarching. And so everyone is still heavily involved in the story. Um, so I'm about to get wild with POVs, like multi-POV um book. I think and another thing that has been hard about Chained is we're introducing a whole new character. Uh and he is like pinnacle to the story, so it's also trying to get right. He's also a jackass. So it's like I'm not like he's whimsical, like no, he actually like kind of fucking sucks. So okay, fair. So it's like we trying to also poke and prod with him. So it has been it has been a huge struggle. Um, I actually originally planned to have before I was picked up with Azala to have chained out in December. And there's the rewrites, there's just no way that was gonna happen.

Jordan 1:10:42

Yeah. And yeah, and plus you want to like sit with a story more than not. Like, I would rather a story like be delayed for whatever reason and getting like the best version it can be versus rushing to get it out just so you can get it out. I feel like that you can tell, like when authors do that. So it's like, I'd rather like dig all the time you need, and when it's ready, it's ready. And this is a thick bitch.

KL Hill 1:11:09

Um, it's like 166,000 words, like we're over 500 pages. So book one was I think it was like I think the full book is like 408 pages, but that's all the like extra pages. So it's like 388 of like actual reading content. No, this is gonna be like 500 of actual reading content. So which I'm not at first I was scared that that was too much, but then I'm over here looking at you know some of my colleagues, and I'm like, they're out here just 700 pages for one guy. So I don't I don't feel so bad, but um, it has gone through some alphas and it has gone through some betas, and now it's with the editor, and it is it has received good feedback, and not once has anyone been like, God, this was so long. So that makes me feel good. Oh, that's yeah. Well, thank God. Um, and then what was the third thing you asked me? Because I've just haven't shut up and I'm so sorry.

Jordan 1:12:10

No, no, no, no. But what uh do you have a book that was like the most rewarding to write?

KL Hill 1:12:16

Oh um well, probably coded because is my debut and it's fair, it started the whole journey, and it it has it has seen a lot of love from the people like right now it is so for February at the time of this recording, it is like a novel romance in Louisville, Kentucky. It's their book like Dark Romance Book Club, like it, yeah. It it it has it has seen a lot of love by the readers that have picked it up. Um, and I'm very, very thankful for that because the the messages that I get. Um writing Lena's story hits very close to me. Um her, you know, her whole story is trying to over like rise above the ex-fiance abuser, and then finding love on the other side, where she just so happens to find two whole loves on the other side. So um, and I can't talk about her too much like that, or else I'll get very emotional, and that is not the vibe that I want to have right now. Um, but she her story is very rewarding, and the readers seem I didn't want her to feel like a damsel. Um, she's definitely a character that is finding herself, and so she does lean on her found family, but I think what's gonna be very fun is in chained, she gets to really step into herself. And so Coded has set that up to be the most rewarding.

The Book That Changed Everything

Jordan 1:13:57

Okay, okay. I like I like that. I like that. And okay, so I do before we end this like episode, I do have two questions for you. And these are like my favorite questions because I I just love them. Um, but the first one is what is your favorite book? Not like one that you've written, but your favorite book that you've ever read that you would recommend to anyone and everyone.

KL Hill 1:14:20

Okay, so I actually came prepared for this question. Oh, yes. And I brought my copies of this book.

Jordan 1:14:29

Ooh, okay, okay.

KL Hill 1:14:31

So this book is The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst. Um, it is it is a book that I think actually changed uh rerouted everything in my brain. It was what's really funny is I got this book at like a library discount thing. Like the library was like, here, come and buy like dollar books, or like it was like a fundraiser or whatever. And I was like, oh, this sounds interesting. Um, it it is it deals a lot with like grief. So I mean it is a fantasy. So Sarah Beth Durst writes a lot of like cozy romance, um, like the spell shop. And so she yes, so it's not Sarah Beth Durst. So this book um actually ripped my heart out and stomped on it.

Jordan 1:15:26

Um my goodness.

KL Hill 1:15:28

Because what's crazy is this book was written and then it was like bought to become like film. And so then there were supposed to be three additional or two additional books after this. So then this ended on while it technically ended, it was considered a cliffhanger. And so, like I said, it deals with a lot of grief. Um, like she finds herself in like driving through the desert, gets caught in a sandstorm and comes on the other side, and she's in like a town called Lost, and it's where all the lost things of the world end up. Um, whether that's like if you lose your keys, your keys are gonna go to lost. If a if a street is abandoned and like lost, then the street shows up and lost, people show up and lost, um houses, boats, like if there's forgotten parts of the world, like they show up and lost. So it's it's just very, very deep. Um, and then it's all about like being found. So whenever you are like found or discovered, like you discover the parts of yourself that you lost, you get to leave lost. And some people have been there for decades, some people maybe a few days, like maybe the things eventually disappear. Like, um, and so then there is um uh well his name is Peter, and he is um kind of the one that like protects lost or like leads people into lost um through the sandstorms and stuff. And so in the original book of the lost, you were left like uh how does Lauren get to be with Peter? That because Peter is a different version of basically like Peter Pan. Like he is a grown man in this book. He like he has like a a sense of like he does he's like a lost soul that just doesn't ever really change. He doesn't grow, he doesn't so when I ended this, I cried for multiple days. I had my husband had to actually hide this book so I couldn't see it because anytime I looked at it, I would sob because it it actually like changed a whole part of my brain and perception. Um and I love it and I recommend it all the time. And I whenever I found read it at the end, it was like prepping you for book two. So I got so excited, and then I searched everywhere for book two. Book two did not exist.

Jordan 1:18:09

Oh no.

KL Hill 1:18:10

What had happened was Sarah Beth Durst sold the rights because they were supposed to make a movie out of this with like Selma Blair, and like I mean, it was like get going, they'd already picked actors and actresses for it, and then it fell through. And so she had two additional books that were supposed to companion this and be even more of a story of Peter and Lauren and go on and go on, right? Okay, um, so I was devastated for a really long time.

Jordan 1:18:44

That's so sad.

KL Hill 1:18:45

So now we can release it this year and write the ending that she wanted. She re-released it, she finally she got the rights back, she re-released it, and so now it is a finished, satisfying ending. It's the ending she always wanted for this book. Oh my gosh.

Jordan 1:19:07

Wait, so then it is it still just one book then? Oh, it is just one book, so she'll a better ending than a better ending, a more like fulfilling ending.

KL Hill 1:19:19

You actually feel like the characters were what would have extended on into other books, we've just get the closure in this. And so I hold both copies so dear. I'm like, uh this book I'll like the original version I'll never get rid of, but I don't think I can ever open it again because it it tore me, it tore me apart. This, like, obviously, you're still gonna cry. There's still gonna be that grief, you're still gonna feel all the things, but you get to these like have a satisfying ending. So this is a book that like I I talk about way too much. And I'm sure that if uh I might be on like a Sarah Beth Durst watch list of how much I talk about this book, she's probably like, that lady's crazy.

Jordan 1:20:07

Or is it like the best marketing ever because you're doing all her marketing?

Goals Plus Where To Follow

KL Hill 1:20:11

Maybe, maybe, because listen, like, I mean, I I do I do recommend it. I do really, really recommend it. It it is a beautifully written book. Sarah Beth Durs does capture that grief really, really well. Um, definitely just make sure that you're not on a spiraling depression, downward spiral. Very important. Don't do that yourself because the this is, but it is beautiful. So that is the book that I'm like, yes, please. And when she announced that she was re-releasing it, um, my best friend actually called me and was like, Did you see this? And I said, Oh my god, girl, you know I saw it first thing and I sobbed. Like I could not wait. I I ordered a signed copy, like I could not wait. Oh, oh, anyways, that's my story. The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst.

Jordan 1:21:04

I love it. And then the last question I have for you is what is one goal, either short term or long term, that you would like to achieve? And it could be in like being an author, writing, it could be whatever.

KL Hill 1:21:21

Um, well, I think that all of us eventually want to end up on a list, like somewhere as like a long-term goal. I would love to just one day wake up and know that I'm on some list somewhere. Um, the good list. Well, I guess I could be on the naughty list. I did write a whole Krampus book, so you know, that's fine. Um, I you know, I think as far as I want to complete my debut series, and I want it to be loved. I think that that is just I I I want to continue to love it because I know sometimes there are some authors that maybe fall out of love with their debuts, and that's okay. Like, but I I think that just like a personal goal of mine is that I want to know that like I put this out in the world and I still love it, and that's that's what I want as just like a long term.

Jordan 1:22:28

I I like that. I like that because I have heard that too. Like a lot of authors will like take down their debuts, and I I like that to like continue to love it. Okay, so I do want to give you the floor for shouting out yourself, like where can people find you? Where people can like buy your books, like give me all the details.

KL Hill 1:22:52

Right. So you can find me. I'm um loud and obnoxious on threads. It's kalehill underscore author. Um, you can find me on Instagram. I'm not a TikTok girly. Um, I mean, if you feel free to talk about me on there, but I have one. I just uh it's it's a barren wasteland over there for me. Um you can always visit my website, kalehillauthor.com. Um, I do keep that up to date. Um, you can subscribe to my Substack. Um, it there are links all over my stuff. Um, that's where you can get serialized chapters, um, you know, my weekly newsletter. A lot of that stuff is free. So I just freely put it out for my subscribers. You get first looks at art, um, and a lot of the first signups for ARCs, uh, anything that I've got coming up, my signings, you're the first to know on that. Um, I currently have ARCs um going, which, well, well. We won't talk about that because by the time it comes out, ARCs will be done. Um I have Coded and Control is available now. Chain to control um comes out April the 28th. Um hold your breath, comes out July the 28th. Um, a lot of my books can be found on Amazon along with um in some bookstores online and in store. Um, my website tells who have who has me, who has me in stock. Uh, I I can't stop. So just follow those to see what surprises are in store of what I'm gonna decide to just randomly drop out into the zygeist like sponge mutt.

Jordan 1:24:36

Okay, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and chatting with me and telling me all about your books.

KL Hill 1:24:43

Thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun. I hope I haven't yapped both of your ears off. I'm so sorry. Oh my gosh.

Jordan 1:24:51

No, not even. And I think it's just so much fun chatting. Like, I think everybody's gonna love this.

KL Hill 1:24:58

I've had so much fun.