[Today, we sit down with dark romantasy author Kalli O’Connor. Here, she discusses her contemporary paranormal romance series, Love ReVamped; her love of vampires; and her upcoming projects.]

Forests Haunted By Holiness: You recently published Evolving Hope, which is a paranormal romance. First, congratulations! Second, why that genre? What draws you to paranormal romance?

Kalli O’Connor: Thank you! And I market myself as dark romantasy author, but that’s a wide spectrum. Evolving Hope isn’t that dark and is more suspenseful overall, however future books in the series will get progressively darker.

As for paranormal romance, I’m a sucker for anything vampire related (slight pun intended), from tv shows to books and movies. I’ve seen and read almost everything. And this story concept has been in my mind for years, even before I dreamed of being a writer myself, so it’s exciting to be the one creating it and putting it out into the world.

FHBH: Teagan is a vampire who has been on the run for a very long time. Why is she running? And how did she become a vampire in the first place?

KO: So, I’m also a huge fan of fated mates and many of my works will consist of them … but without giving too much away, she’s running from someone deranged from losing their own mate, who blames her.

And my Love ReVamped series consists of three different types of vampires. In Evolving Hope, you are introduced to the main type known as Vanamisch. There were experiments done in the 1920’s on anemic patients that resulted in this evolution … they aren’t immortal but are human+, have some abilities, and must drink blood. It also hints at the other two types of vampires in this world, but they won’t be explained further until books two and three (which are in the works and slated to release late 2024 or early 2025). But to fully answer your question, Teagan is a born Vanamisch. She has never been fully human and knows no different.

FHBH: Vampire lore is quite extensive. How much research went into Evolving Hope? And what was your favorite bit of vampire folklore?

KO: My main motivation and story concept was wanting a type of vampire that was more than human, but not immortal like many stories present, hence the Vanamisch was created.

My favorite part of vampire folklore is the needing to drink blood in order to survive, I really wanted to play to that and did a lot of research on anemic patients and even some cultural/history items that will play a larger part in the later books.

Evolving Hope also involves Wyatt, the lead of an ER, so I also reached out to a few people that worked in hospital settings to make sure the medical scenes were accurate. One of the book reviewers claimed Evolving Hope reminder her of Vampire Diaries meets Grey’s Anatomy and I would say that’s pretty accurate.

FHBH: How many books are you planning for the series?

KO: The series will consist of three full length novels which will be released 2024-2025 and then two prequel novellas. While writing Evolving Hope, a character named Tilly emerged and has since developed over the entire series. Book two will revolve around Tilly, and in book three he’s again a supporting character. Then the two prequel novellas won’t necessarily be romances or happily ever afters, but will add backstory, intrigue, violence, and really paint Tilly’s full picture.

FHBH: What advice can you offer other authors who are considering self-publishing? Things they must do? Mistakes to avoid?

KO: I love this question and am also working on writing a self help book for aspiring indie authors. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first started writing, it’s so much more than just writing and publishing a book. There are sooo many steps I didn’t realize.

My must dos: 1. Create a mailing list and actually use it, at least monthly … I was against this for the longest time and finally did it but then didn’t actually use it and people forget who you are or why they signed up …. Send a monthly one at least with status updates, get to know you, interesting facts, just so they remember you. 2. Have a website. Can be as simple as a landing page, but somewhere to collect mailing list subscribers and to show what you are working on. I waited until after I published my first book for this and wish I would have started sooner … if you are planning to publish anything, #1 and #2 are musts and there isn’t a good reason to wait. 3. Outsourcing what aren’t your strengths. I spent 40+ hrs designing my first cover and hated every second of it and still don’t like that cover. I paid a professional artist to design all the covers for the Love ReVamped series, including Evolving Hope, and absolutely love them! Now my time and energy can be spent on actually writing more. 4. Similar to #3, pay for professional editing. I have Prowritingaid, which helps a lot and can help me pay less in editing, but I’m not an editor and it still needs a professional set of eyes to make a pass at it. I’ve seen a lot of indie authors debating this point and how needed it is … but I’m also an avid reader and I can tell within one chapter which books have been edited and which not. It’s worth the investment.

Mistakes to avoid: 1. Actually use your mailing list, people will forget you and why they signed up. 2. Missing calls to action … this can be anywhere from social media posts to newsletters, but the biggest one is the end of your books (and even your free reader magnet), having another small teaser like a chapter of a book or something to entice them, and then the click here to find out more. 3. I got overwhelmed trying to create all these social media accounts …. Honestly, just pick one as your focus. Just starting out, no one is looking for you so you don’t have to be everywhere. Pick the one you’re most comfortable with and just be consistent on it. 4. There are also a ton of writing summits … and I went down the rabbit hole of signing up and attending a lot of them. They can have useful information, but I’d be picky and choose the ones that resonate the best with you at a given time. Many of them are trying to sell their own products/programs/books/coaching and while they do offer some great tips, it’s a lot of your time that might be better devoted to writing.

FHBH: Where can readers find your books?

KO: I’m currently on Amazon exclusively and probably will be for the next few years. I want to market wider but I’m trying to build a solid foundation first. So, Amazon, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited.

FHBH: What other projects are you working on?

KO: I have two other projects in the works … I’m most excited about a reverse harem dark romance series. Book One is already under development and focuses on a weaker female character and a shadow monster from another realm, it starts out more horror story but then turns romance with the villain becoming the love interest. It also hints at some MM scenes and the future books in the series will go into more relationship dynamics. While I love the fated mates, it’s also really important that my books touch different topics like LGBTQ and even ENM/Poly, I want people to feel represented and appreciated for being who they are while reading my books.

I also have a more epic fantasy with dragon shifters that I’m in the drafting stages on, but I’m waiting to dive into that one after the monster reverse harem one so that I gain more world building experience.