My hearts, I am excited to introduce you to my friend K. Iwancio.

K. Iwancio has been an interior designer, artist, teacher, volunteer, and, more recently, an independently published author. She has visited far-off planets, been on movie sets, and even checked some things off her Bucket List. She lives in South Central Pennsylvania. She is currently working on her full-length nerd romance novel series with hopes to traditionally publish.

She is one of the first Bookstagrammers I followed when she joined in December 2022, just a month after I did.

JEN: K., thank you for agreeing to let me pick your brain. I saw your post on Threads offering to do an Ask Me Anything for new and potential indie authors. I thought this might be a good place to start. I have a bunch of questions for you and then we collected questions for your AMA. Let’s start with your author bio. Tell me about you.

K.: I’m a jack-of-all-trades indie romance author. I’m a fangirl and sucker for HEAs and green flag men. So, what better way than to write my own! I’ve known since first grade that I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t have the balls to do anything about it until I lost my full-time job a few years ago. Oh, and also because I had a life-changing moment meeting my long-time crush, Ewan McGregor.

JEN: You know I have a long-time crush, too. I won’t say who. [winks]

K: I’m a huge fangirl so my fictional crushes inspire my book boyfriends. If you love Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Henry Cavill, Jamie Fraser then you’ll enjoy my books! As for story ideas, I’ve gotten some from fans but mostly they’re random AF ideas that pop in my head.

JEN: Tell me more. What genre do you read and write?

K.: Smutty romance! But I need at least 50/50 to 80/20 plot to smut ratio.

JEN: Oh, I agree. What’s your own ratio usually? Like in Breakfast in Bed?

K.: Ooh, the ratio is tough. Because when I first started writing books, I was hesitant on the spicy scenes because I thought people didn’t want to read them. [laughs] How wrong I was! So, they range from 80/20 to 60/40 plot-to-smut.

JEN: I can absolutely relate to that. My books get queerer as I get see who is reading what! Whose work do you read?

K.: Lucy Score and Juliet Marillier are my top two favorite authors. Lucy for my smutty romance and Juliet for my romantasy side.

JEN: I’m a huge Lucy Score fan – she’s my indie author hero. I heard her on a podcast one time talking about how she became indie and sold enough books to buy her books back from a less-than-helpful publisher. Hashtag goals. You’re an indie author, yeah?

K: Self-published. To be honest, it was the “easier” route. I do have an unpublished manuscript that I’d like to send to query. One day.

JEN: Sigh. Don’t we all?

Tell me about your writing routine. Music? Snacks, the whole thing.

K.: Oh, my music is wildly eclectic. I love orchestral, pop, a little bit of rap, musicals. A lot of times it’s on a song-by-song basis. And yes, I need noise to work! Or else my brain goes off on too many tangents. My snacks of late have been HI-CHEWs (pineapple, mango, and green apple). I love SunChips or pretzels for my salty snack. I am a coffee girl, caramel lattes with cream are my favorite. I’m a night owl, especially when it comes to writing.

JEN: Same. Describe a typical day writing? 

K.: Ideally one I don’t have to go to work! But I wake up, do my morning social media post, make a cup of coffee, zone out to music as I catch up on emails/messages/designs. Typically writing kicks in mid-afternoon or late at night.

JEN: Tell me about your home life.

K.: I’m in south central PA. I’m only an hour or so from where I grew up. I’m really close to a city, and I hate it. I grew up in farm country and miss the quiet. But my allergies like the lesser number of trees. I’m a huge crafter. I make anything and everything. If you see it on Pinterest, I can make it. Except knitting or crochet. I haven’t figured that out yet. My favorite things to make are front door wreaths/decor (aside from graphic designs).

My family gives me my space and knows how crazy I get around release dates. I do wish they would help keep the house clean when I’m in focus mode!

JEN: What sort of themes do you most enjoy tackling in your work?

K.: Happiness. Feeling loved, accepted. Quirks and all. I’ve been bullied a lot in my life and never the attractive one. I’ve also always been a huge nerd with Star Wars and reading. I write book boyfriends who are accepting of women with “faults” like mine.

JEN: I struggle with stepping into the spotlight for similar reasons. I’m so sorry you were bullied. An I love that you found an outlet we can all benefit from. Speaking of which, what’s coming next?

K.: Spells & Wedding Bells will be released on September 10, 2024. And Nailed at Home Plate is due out on March 25, 2025.

JEN: I’m newly obsessed with Banana Ball. Tell me more about Nailed at Home Plate.

K.: Well, all of my books start with a real life crush of mine and just spiral from there. Backstory: I was born and raised in Philadelphia and my dad was a die-hard Philly sports fan. He bestowed that love on me. Mostly it was Eagles football. But it was in 2022 when the Philadelphia Phillies made their run for the World Series that I started watching religiously and caught a glimpse of the catcher, J.T. Realmuto. Ideas started percolating and then I started seeing so many requests for a Savannah Banana romance and the lightbulb clicked. (FYI, I love scrolling through book groups on Facebook for book recs for myself.) I had a few ideas bouncing in my head for titles. So, I asked my Facebook fan group what their choice was. Overwhelming majority picked Nailed at Home Plate. [both laugh]

JEN: All my writing starts with real life, too. Kai is based on my deep and abiding appreciation for all things Dwayne Johnson.

In what ways does writing energize or exhaust you?

K.: Writing is what I love. I’d be thrilled to spend the rest of my life doing it. But come book release crunch time or book signing prep, I don’t sleep much.

JEN: What has been the toughest criticism of your work you have received?

K.: Oh man, book reviewers are harsh. Some treat books as if they should be award-winning tomes. They’re entertainment. They’re an escape. They’re supposed to be fun!

JEN: I see authors say to ignore reviews, but it’s so hard to ignore! What authorly advice do you have? What advice would you give to your younger self?

K.: Do it. Seriously. Just do it. Sit down and write something. Put yourself out there. Everyone starts at zero. Even if you aren’t good now, you’ll learn and grow and get better.

JEN: That’s a great place to pause. Some aspiring authors have questions for you.

NOTE FROM JEN: My hearts, there was too much good stuff in this interview. Please check back tomorrow to read K.’s answers to questions submitted by her fans on Instagram.

Are you a human author? A human who narrates audiobooks? A human who designs book covers? Or a human who does PR and promotion for other authors? I'd love to interview you, too. Let me know when you’re ready!