K.R. STEVENSON | Storyteller, Dragon Whisperer & Forest Witch
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
​
I was born and raised in Austin, TX, and currently still reside in the area with goals to shift home to the PNW in the future—I really just want to be surrounded by mountains. I owe my passion for storytelling to being an only child with a deep desire to manifest companions in the absence of siblings. Not that I hated the only child experience, it absolutely had its perks, such as all the time in the world to live in my head when I wasn't at school. And I owe my dedication to the craft of writing to my high school creative writing teacher, without whom I likely would never have graduated let alone with a dream.
​
No, I never went to college, but one doesn't necessarily need to if other paths may assist. I've read widely, taken notes, taken feedback, and continued to dedicate my energy to bettering my skills well into my thirties with a breadth of knowledge at my fingertips. Being a hopeless romantic at heart, I focus my stories on that genre. My own romance was a second-chance romance with my high school sweetheart. It's been ten years since we rekindled, and we now reside with our amazing housemate and two cats.
​
When I'm not doing bookish things, I'm usually found with my clan at our local renfaire, playing story-driven RPGs on PC, or trying to fight with friend schedules for a tabletop session. Non-story interests include a fascination with astronomy, Earth sciences, and macro politics.
.jpg)
What's your writing process like?
Extremely slow when I first begin. I'm a discovery writer so I don't stick to a rigid outline. While I do aim for specific goals along the way, who the characters are ultimately dictates how they want to achieve those goals. Some characters are more forthcoming about their personalities than others. Much of the beginning stages of each chapter is spent staring into middle distance mulling over ideas. When it comes to the writing itself, I choose the pov based on which character has the most at stake emotionally in any given exchange (I can rely on them to make it abundantly clear). Unless I have a vivid sense of the scenery already in mind, I start with a vague sense of location while I work out what the characters are doing or what they're discussing. For example, if the characters get to talking right away, the dialogue comes out first. Some of it gets cut, re-worded, or absorbed into the narrative, then I fill out the rest of the emotion, actions, physical details, and additional nuance.
​
​
Authors you admire?
​
Includes but is not limited to: Juliet Marillier, Philippa Gregory, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Brent Weeks, some of Brandon Sanderson's work, Neal Stephenson, and Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series.
​
​
Other Non-Book Favorites?
​
A few of my favorite films are Everything Everywhere All At Once, Stranger Than Fiction, Paul, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Tokyo Godfathers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Pontypool, Go, and Serenity (Firefly). Check out my book playlists for my music tastes.
​
​
Were you chasing the ACOTAR trend when you published Soulscape?
​
No. I've never read a single SJM book. A writer friend told me it existed when I was working on my own manuscript in 2017; she in fact warned me against publishing because of its popularity. But a single author doesn't have claim to a retelling. The story has been in the zeitgeist a looooooong time. There are thousands of Beauty & the Beast retellings out there, and Soulscape is mine.
​
(Take solace in that I've got no plans to add to the Hades & Persephone mountain.)
​
What other fairy tales do you plan to incorporate in this series?
​
I can't say much about that, but if you check out the Voidsworn page you'll see I plan to use some aspects such as a voiceless character (Jae, a-la Little Mermaid) for sure. Other aspects may be diving into spoiler territory and I'm not about to ruin that for you.