Frequently Asked Questions

Do you write under a pen name?

Sure do. It’s not for animosity, per se, but because my ‘government name’—as my students say—is ridiculously long. When I began thinking about writing, I decided a pen name would be the way to go. It also creates a little distance between me and my books which, as a middle school teacher felt important.

Kat is a shortened version of Katherine, which is my actual first name. Ryan is my grandmother’s maiden name. She’s also the silhouette on the spine of my books and the inspiration for my publishing company—Red Rims Publishing. She used to have a basket of bodice rippers in the 80s by a chair in her living room. If she were alive today, I’m certain she’d be cheering me on. She’d also be clicking her rosary beads to pray for me when she read a sex scene, but that’s okay.

Where does the inspiration for your books come from?

The setting for my series, Highland Falls, is based on my hometown—a small town in East Central Illinois. My town is smaller, about half the size of Highland. However, I love small towns and wanted to set my series here to share with my readers the beauty of where we live. I leave lots of easter eggs in my stories for anyone from my area of the state. They’ll recognize the town, which delights me to no end.

Characters are usually based physically on an actor/actress or a photo I see online. I start there, then dream up what I think that character would be like, what their job would be, what car they would drive, their style, etc.

Name wise, I know far too many people—my huge extended family, the countless students I’ve taught, friends over the course of my life—to avoid names of anyone I know. What I do is if a main character has a name of someone I know, they will not be linked in any way to that person. However, sometimes I give a side character a name of someone I know as a nod to them. In that case, there’s a good chance they will have similar characteristics because I’m trying to honor them in my own way.
I tend to give my couples a pet because I cannot imagine not having one. Several pets in my books are based on ones I’ve had in my lives or friends’ pets.

Trope-wise, I pick the tropes I love to read. Ditto to the jobs of the characters, I either give them jobs that I know well, or ones that I can learn about. Case in point, book eleven (currently untitled) has Ben Jones in it, he’s a senior deputy at the sheriff’s department. I know very little about that world, but I know people that do. I met with a senior deputy in my county’s sheriff department so that I could learn more about what their day-to-day work looks like so that I could hopefully make it work on page for Ben. Also, I am nosy. I either hear pieces of conversation or see things in my day to day that inspire ideas for my books. I jot them down in my notebooks or on a notes app so that I can actually remember them when I go to write.

For the Highland Falls series – do they have to be read in order?

No, these books are considered interconnected stand alones. There is a timeline order – the order I wrote them. However, each couple’s love story is contained to their book. If there is anything that happened between the two of them in a previous book, it will be shared in their story so that it all makes sense on its own. You are welcome to read in the order I wrote or pick a trope and start with it.Characters are usually based physically on an actor/actress or a photo I see online. I start there, then dream up what I think that character would be like, what their job would be, what car they would drive, their style, etc.
Name wise, I know far too many people—my huge extended family, the countless students I’ve taught, friends over the course of my life—to avoid names of anyone I know. What I do is if a main character has a name of someone I know, they will not be linked in any way to that person. However, sometimes I give a side character a name of someone I know as a nod to them. In that case, there’s a good chance they will have similar characteristics because I’m trying to honor them in my own way.
I tend to give my couples a pet because I cannot imagine not having one. Several pets in my books are based on ones I’ve had in my lives or friends’ pets.
Trope-wise, I pick the tropes I love to read. Ditto to the jobs of the characters, I either give them jobs that I know well, or ones that I can learn about. Case in point, book eleven (currently untitled) has Ben Jones in it, he’s a senior deputy at the sheriff’s department. I know very little about that world, but I know people that do. I met with a senior deputy in my county’s sheriff department so that I could learn more about what their day-to-day work looks like so that I could hopefully make it work on page for Ben. Also, I am nosy. I either hear pieces of conversation or see things in my day to day that inspire ideas for my books. I jot them down in my notebooks or on a notes app so that I can actually remember them when I go to write.

For the Highland Falls series – how are all of the characters connected?

What other authors do you recommend?

Good lord, I’m a voracious reader and typically read three hundred books a year,
so this is an impossible question. However, I’m going with some authors on the top
of my head:

Contemporary Romance: Kate Canterbary, Kristen Ashley, Lucy Score, Claire Kingsley, Pippa Grant, Rebecca Weatherspoon

M/M Romance: Rachel Reid, Lucy Lennox, Mae Archer, M.A. Wardell
Historical Romance: Beveryly Jenkins, Sarah MacLean, Lisa Kleypass

Young Adult: John Green, Jason Reynolds, Ally Carter, Renee Watson, Angie Thomas

Middle Grade: Rick Riordan, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Kate Messner, Laurel Snyder, Jenni Holm, John Schu,

Kirby Larson, Barbara Dee, Jo Knowles, Anne Ursu, Linda Urban

Picture Books: Jon Klassen, Mo Willems, Dan Santat, John Schu, Laurel Snyder, Angie Kang, Jess Hannigan