K.I. Tolles – Newsletter 2 | 2026

If you’re new here, HELLO! I’m Katie, and I write dark and paranormal romance (and I plan to expand into the romantasy category soon… but maybe that’s spoilers 😉)! Thank you so much for signing up for my quarterly newsletter. I know this past quarter we had a tonnn of new people from the bookish events I went to, so a special shout-out to you guys!

The past four months have been an absolute whirlwind. Nocturne In Red finally launched into the world, I attended SIX bookish events as an author, signed more books than I can count, and the biggest news of all? I got laid off from my day job, which means I am now a full-time author!

(To be totally transparent, I’m still unsure if the last one is a positive, but we’re making the most of it and so far so good!)

Here’s a few cutie pics from the events I did! I’ll be at a few more in the coming months that are already announced, including Summer Book Fest in Knoxville, TN, and Forbidden Love in Nashville, TN!

Before we get into the fun stuff, I wanted to quickly address something that isn’t really fun or exciting to talk about, but I think it’s important.

I received an email from a (real) professor who wants to include my book in an AI study (human-written books vs. AI-written ones). I declined politely, but unfortunately it was not the answer that professor was looking for. Because of this, it made me realize that I should have always included a disclaimer in the frontmatter of my ebooks stating they are not to be run through AI anything, and that only human eyes and accessibility tools are welcome.

In the next few days, depending on processing times, you might see the frontmatter in my eBooks shift slightly. I’m hoping this makes it even clearer that I do not support AI! Thank you for your understanding and continued support!

That’s right! Nocturne In Red is finally released into the world!

If you haven’t read it, Nocturne In Red is a spicy dark vampire romance novella. Ari, the FMC, is very polarizing! She’s obsessive and makes bad choices, but at its core, Nocturne is a story about a girl who really just wants to be loved so much that it hurts. The MMC is a touch-starved, 800+ year old vampire that kills anyone who remembers him to protect his identity… and Ari would do anything not to forget.

I have spent the past few months commissioning art, and it brings me so so much joy to see some the first few of them come to fruition! While my books are available for purchase in a myriad of places, all of my bookish art is only available for purchase at in-person events, or included in special book boxes (more information on that below)!

But for now.. my favourite quote?

*swoon*

KINDA! I have a massive surprise in the works that will be coming this fall! I’ve been working on it for a year now, and the ball is officially rollllllllling!!! The announcement for that will be in my next newsletter (in September). 😈

My desire is, however, to get another book out into the world before the end of this year, and since I’m now a full time author, I feel really hopeful that might be a reality! It also depends on my lovely editor’s availability/schedule, so I’m not promising anything yet. BUT, I do have so so so many things in the works!

I took June “off” to work on a new project—a spicy MM romance. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear if you’re foaming at the mouth for book two of Starforged Chronicles, but I can promise that book two IS coming! With all the chaos in my life, I honestly just needed a little 30-day palette cleanser. (and also I really think you’ll like this MM romance, so please believe you’re still going to be fed good, good things in the coming months 😉 I promise)

The vibes are vibing on this book. It’s got SO much forbidden yearning, magic, spells, witches, demons, and a villain so awful, you’ll be begging for him to die. 😏

I have met so many wonderful people at events these past couple of months, and I won’t lie when I say that this road has been both somehow bumpier and also more fun than I expected it to be?

My plan was to try finally transitioning to full-time authoring by either December 2026 or January 2027. Being laid off and receiving my last salaried paycheck on May 15th was obviously not on my bingo card, and I’m so stressed out from it.

BUT, with all that said, I had someone come up to me at Tempted By Fiction in Nashville who lovingly (& metaphorically) held my face and (not metaphorically) told me they loved my writing very much and to never stop. I wanted to say thank you, first off, and to let you firmly know that I don’t plan on it. I’ve put all my eggs into one basket—this one—and I have no interest in moving them out. This is a literal dream come true, and I’m just delusional enough to think I can make this happen!

I love you guys! Seriously. I appreciate the support. I read every single post, comment, late night DM, and my heart soars every time I get to meet one of you lovely people! Thank you a million times over! 🥹 I needed that little nudge a couple weeks ago, and we’re gonna do this dang thing!

I’ve decided to open up spots on my street team! In case you didn’t know, I have a discord called the House of Tolles (linked here) where you can sometimes find early teasers for stuff like art, quotes, chapters, bonus content, and even ARC and Beta calls! It also happens to be the place where my beloved street team lives.

If you have discord and this sounds like something you might be interested in, my beloved PA, Jasmine, is running an open call for me! Please feel free to sign up!

(and if you’re already on my street team, this isn’t something different and you won’t need to re-apply. My PA is just taking over a few things for me now because she is decidedly the best and we love her v much)

Why yes, yes I did. How clever of you to notice. 😏

This is the LAST time I mention a form for book boxes this year, but the link is here:

▶ Favorite food: Bolognese

▶ Last movie watched: Swapped (a Disney movie!)

▶ Current read: The Fake Divination Offense, Sara Raasch

▶ Song on repeat: Good Enough - Emarosa

I make a lot of bread and pastries, but this one, BY FAR, is probably the easiest to make and I’m not actually sure why. However, it is delicious, and it’s probably a good thing that it’s so easy to make because I’ve had to make one of these a week for the past three weeks because they do not survive long in my house.

It’s basically a brioche dough made with milk, and WELL worth the effort. My one tip is: don’t be afraid to let it rise for longer than it says. You want it to double in size, regardless of if that takes 30 minutes in your kitchen, or two hours.

I also might be crazy, but one time I substituted the poppy seed filling with a cinnamon roll filling and let me just say…… um yes. You should very much try that, too, if you’re feeling daring.

Here’s the recipe: https://dirndlkitchen.com/german-easter-recipes-poppy-seed-hefezopf/

[Photo Creds above to dirndlkitchen.com]