Authors Answer: K. Valentin
Authors Answer Q&A #564
Author interviews almost always focus on questions regarding an author’s latest publication (and that’s great because it’s how readers discover new books!) but sometimes it’s fun to ask authors to talk about their lives beyond the book they’ve just written. Authors Answer (started as a blog in 2020, moved onto Substack in 2025), is an attempt to give authors space to wax eloquent about the other influences on their writing. The questions posed here move beyond the formulaic classics like, “What books are on your nightstand?” or “What book inspired you to be a writer?” and even “You’re having a dinner party….which three authors (dead or alive) do you invite?” There are 20 standing questions. Authors pick FIVE that they want to answer.
Are you an author? Visit the Questions page to learn more about participating.
Today’s post features K. Valentin.
K. Valentin is a writer keeping it goth in wonderfully rainy Washington. She’s been published in The Latino Book Review, Cosmos: An Anthology of Dark Microfiction, Puerto Rico Strong, and Proud: a LGBTQ+ Anthology. She has a BA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University. An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder is her debut novel.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kvalentinwrites/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@kvalentinwrites
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kvalentinwrites.bsky.social
What’s your favorite comic strip or graphic novel?
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. I’m absolutely obsessed and have 3 tattoos, went to the Sailor Moon Museum in Japan, and saw Sailor Moon Live just this year during the US tour. In my opinion, the author and artist, Naoko Takeuchi, is the OG goth queen and I have massive respect for her. She made a comic where everyone dies (a few times), magical powers have rad names like “dead scream,” everyone dresses fantastically (especially the bad guys), and we all know cats and crescent moons are goth-core.
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette by Vincent van Gogh. It’s so effortlessly moody but also hilarious and—as a former art student—I appreciate an earlier practice work from someone as prolific and influential as him, not just existing, but being so off-vibes from the stuff we know the most. It’s so different from The Starry Night. I got to see it in person at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam a few years ago and it was spectacular. It’s just a little painting but it still hits big.
Is there another profession you would like to try?
I actually have another profession. I’ve worked in gaming for nearly twenty years and am a visual artist and art director. But if I had to name another-another profession I would like to try, it would be some sort of marine biologist. I was wildly obsessed with the deep sea as a kid (and still sort of am). But, alas, I liked to write emo poetry and draw so here I am. I still love learning about weird underwater guys. It’s crazy down there! Always thinking about you, giant oarfish.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
So, remember that graphic novel from a few questions ago? And the tattoos and the obsession? Not a huge surprise, but I have loads of Sailor Moon merch in my house. We’re talking: a wall covered in fine art prints from the comic and cartoon, an animation cell from the original anime, and I even have a membership to the official Sailor Moon fan club (I get exclusive items each year). It’s a real problem and has been going strong since I was a tween, back in the cursed olden days where anime was acquired via VHS re-recordings and VCDs.
What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?
Being a writer is going days without leaving my house or getting dressed properly (currently in an atrocious combination of yellow plaid pants, red tank top, and a green zebra wrap). It’s getting an amazing idea in the shower and having to repeat it out loud until I’m done washing up for fear I’ll forget. It’s feverishly staring at pictures of muscular systems and googling how much blood a person can lose before they die. Meanwhile, being an author is writing emails, turning in drafts on time, putting writing-related receipts in a folder for tax purposes, filling out convention panelist forms, and actually doing my hair. I try to be writer on weekday mornings and throughout the weekend. Author only comes out on weekday evenings (or Sundays at midnight when something is due and I have to compose an email).
Endnotes!
This newsletter is a passion project started by me, Elizabeth Rynecki, to try to help shine a light on new-to-me authors. I am also an author (and a documentary filmmaker and podcaster) and if you want to learn more about me, you can visit my website or read my personal newsletter, Ink Trails: A Chronicle in Creativity.
I’ve never made Authors Answer specific social media accounts, but you can find me on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.