Exclusive Interview With Author K. Cardella

Author K. Cardella took the time to answer Ink & Oak’s questions about her work via email recently. She writes dark romance and can be found at many local venues for readings and book signings. Let’s get into it with the author of The Blue Rose and The Black Lotus.

Author Biography

Katelynn Cardella (who writes under the name K. Cardella) has had the idea for The Blue Rose ever since a seventh grade writing assignment, in which she pictured herself twenty years in the future as an author. She has more than made good on her middle school vision of herself, with two novels to her name, and more on the way in the future. When she’s not writing, you can find her with her son and dogs. She will be in Raleigh in February at Iron Works for an event with Front Paige Media. Follow her website and socials here: Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. 

1. What can you tell us about your ties to North Carolina?

   I am actually a California native, born and raised in northern California and moved to NC when I was 18. I lived with my dad after my grandma, who I always wanted to be with passed away, my grandpa moved in with us until he too passed away. My sister went with my mom to San Diego with her new husband, he was a Marine. My parents to this day are the best coparents ever and let us choose who we wanted to be with and are actually both here in NC now. My mom’s now ex-husband ended up stationed in Jacksonville and when he got out of the military they decided to to stay in NC and when things got bad at home and my mental health was really bad I wrote a poem to my dad and step mom on why I was leaving and let’s just say my relationship with my stepmom hasn't been the same since and that was the last thing I wrote, my passion for writing was gone. But I now live in NC and have been here ever since, that was 11 years ago on December 5th, 2014.

   
   

2. You are the author of the Fatal Florals Duet, which you describe as a "dark serial unaliver romance." Where did you draw your inspiration from for these two books?

   The Blue Rose actually came to me in 7th grade. I went to this charter school, Creative Connections Art Academy, and I think it was some kind of assignment of where we saw ourselves in 20 years and I said an author of The Blue Rose which was about a serial killer falling for his next victim. And now 17 years later I have done just that. Granted it was extremely different in 7th grade everything except Serena and Jessica’s names, and a serial killer raised by serial killer parents falls for his next victim was changed and just thinking about what it was has me cringing. But a couple years ago through trauma I found myself again my passion and my brain rewrote the whole book and made it to what it is today. That is why the dedication is to those who find who they're meant to be in the darkness. Not just for me but for everyone struggling with anything, because sometimes the darkest places make us climb to find the light and give our missing passions back.

3. You mention confronting some of your own past trauma through the character Serena in The Blue Rose. What role do you believe this played in your plot and character development?

   The amount of trauma I have I could write a whole book just about that, but I don't tell many people what I've been through mostly with friendships and my childhood which has led to my recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. But what I put on Serena was her insecurities, I've been a big girl my whole life and always looked at differently because of it.

   
   

   I wanted to put my real life perspective on what it feels like to live in skin, that most days I can't stand to look at. Her thoughts about not loving her body, wanting to eat better and diet come from my brain about thoughts and feelings on myself. Insecurities that have festered inside me that I put into Serena with the hopes that other bigger girls out there could relate and see themselves in her. For the most part they have. 

   
   

   My husband helps with my confidence a lot and I know a lot of bigger girls out there, myself included, need those words of affirmation and compliments, when my husband calls me beautiful or I look good in something I feel like I'm soaring and forget about the voices that notice all the insecurities. 

   
   

   That's why I made Aster say the quote that has become my and a ton of other readers' favorites. "Your body is a work of art, these marks are the perfect brushstrokes of the masterpiece that was made just for me. If you ever talk about yourself in a negative way again. I will punish you. Stop me again and you will regret it." Still to this day one of my favorite quotes Aster tells Serena. 

   
   

   Her love for horror, true crime, and coffee also come from me. I'm obsessed with Pennywise and I had to include that. Her friendship with Jessica I poured my trauma into it, and I can't even begin to count how many "friends" have hurt me and that pain and hurt went into her friendship. If you read the book you know exactly what line I'm talking about in Chapter 24 "the flashback chapter" and that was a little healing for me to write but I still have so much more healing I need to go through. Putting myself in the book in small ways or big ones truly helped me to develop the story in ways that I never would have been able to if I didn't go through the trauma I did.

4. I am curious how you write the unaliving scenes. Do you have a vivid and gruesome imagination, a telling internet search history, or something else entirely?

   I have a really fucked up mind. Those scenes in both books come directly from my brain. I grew up watching horror movies, bonding with my Mammar and cousin and then later being subjected to watching horror every time I came to my cousin’s house. She said if I wanted to be there I had to watch it so I did every single horror movie on demand I have watched. I didn't like it at first. It absolutely terrified me, but she was my role model and everything she did I did and eventually my brain just learned to love it. That and trauma I went through some dark dark times as a child in elementary school. I won't give you the details but I know without the things I went through back then I wouldn't be who I am today. But I did do internet research on certain tools and my amazing editor helped to elevate some of those scenes with the bones popping and stuff she also opened my mind to more.

5. Looking back, is there anything you would have written or done differently for the Fatal Florals Duet?

   The Blue Rose was my debut novel, my first book I ever wrote, the duet will always be my first baby. Do I wish I changed some things, story wise no I wrote things exactly the way I wanted the story to go and end. Any other things? Yes, like the “he said she said” as a baby author I learn as I go, always getting better and expanding as I write more and I would use more actions over the “he said she said.” There are many things people love and hate about the duet and I know you're not supposed to read the reviews but I'm a glutton for punishment and I read them all and remember them. Having said that no matter how anyone feels about my books, at the end of the day they're mine, they are words I poured my heart and soul into, my hurt, trauma and sadness, and I wouldn't change anything story or character wise about either of my books. The ones who have read it and given it a chance and loved it or even hated it. Thank you.

   
   

6. Which authors or books do you find inspiration in reading? Bonus points, of course, for other indie and local authors we can support.

   Inspiration comes at the most random times. It can be when I'm listening to books or even reading that my own scenes that have nothing to do with will pop up in my head then I have to stop reading and write down my thought so I don't forget it because I will. No authors have really inspired any of my stories, yet, but I have a list of indies I absolutely love and will forever recommend that I'll give you. Elle Mitchell, Hannah Jo, Aiden Pierce, R.K Pierce, Tylor Paige, Alexia Onyx, Jodie King, January Rayne, T.A. Cruz, Alexis Grace, and C. M. Stunich. They have all written some of my absolute favorite books or series to this day.

7. In your interview with Kimmy from the Pages to Pictures podcast, you mention that you are not able to watch torture scenes, which surprised me given the content warnings for your books. How do you manage to write scenes that you wouldn't be able to sit through on television?

   I'm a contradiction of myself, but because when I was little and went to my cousin’s house and was forced to watch scary movies, that I mentioned above some movies to this day that I can't bear to watch were Saw, Hostel, and Wrong Turn which is kind of funny considering the book I'm working on now is a cannibal. I feel imagining and writing it is completely different then watching it, because when I tell you I cringe and my head snaps back from disgust, it does. But it is only those 3 movies as mentioned above any other movies so far that involve torture and killing I can watch perfectly fine.

8. What was the publishing process like? Did you go the self-publishing route, or traditional publishing? Do you have any advice for our readers who may seek publication?

   I’m an indie author so I went the self publishing route and I did my research before deciding which path I wanted to take. As an indie I have more freedom, I get to write whatever I want, go to the events I get accepted to, make the book boxes that I love making, and choose everything for my book. I have met so many amazing friends in the reading and author community and have heard horror stories with trad publishing for some and the freedoms they don't get and with how picky I am with things I don't think I would ever go trad. Maybe one day for one book, but as of now no matter how expensive it is I love it and am so grateful I get to follow my dreams. So many friends and readers actually are pursuing their own dreams as an author because of me and I find that absolutely amazing and honored that I was the reason they picked up a pen. I can't wait to read all of their work and support them the way they support me. But it is hard, and you need the right tools to get started, but the indie community for the most part is so helpful to one another and if you want to write a book I say do it, but get you a great editor and some alpha and beta readers and if you ever have questions in anything please don't hesitate to pop in my DMs and ask. I'm always happy to help, if I can.

9. On your Instagram profile, you mention a work-in-progress that's a ghost/witch dark romance. What can you tell us about it?

   Yes, my sweet little witch, a love triangle, has been put on the back burner. While I know exactly what happens in the story and where I want it to go, the words were not coming to me the way I needed them to. But someone else's story was screaming to be started, so I am working on Favorite Cannibal (Zephira’s story) right now and the witch book when inspo hits. Since it's been the holidays and they’re my first ones with my dad in 10 years, writing has been on the back burner, but come the new year your girl is going to buckle down. If you thought the duet was gorey, gruesome, and fucked, please do not read this book because the first chapter had my mom, sister, and husband all going what the fuck Katelynn, but if you loved it and are obsessed with.... Zephira, (surprise) then you will love her story.

10. What upcoming events or publications do you have to share with our readers? And can you recommend any local bookstores where we can find your work?

    I have so many events coming up in 2026 I am so excited for. For February I'm doing Front Paige Media in Raleigh at Iron Works. In June I'll be in Columbus, GA for RAWR. July I'll be in Columbus, Ohio for BRAE (Beyond The Reader Author Event), and August I’ll be in Indiana for Indy Author event.  I will be posting more about those all as well and tickets for all of them minus Front Paige that is free entry are all available in my Linktree to get. Oh there are so many bookstores I actually need to compile a list because I forget who all has my books, local is 

    Page 158 Books, Broken Anchor Books, Spicy Pages Bookshop they’re a mobile book store, not local, another mobile bookstore in SC, Shelf Love in Atlanta, and a couple more, but I need to write a list.

11. What does 2026 look like for your writing and publishing goals? Where can readers follow you to stay up to date?

    2026 will be events, working on Zephira’s book [sic] and the witch book, we'll see who gets written first. My son starts school so after August my events will stay local so I can do all the school stuff with my baby and sports. I’m a mom and wife first and an author second, but I have so many more story ideas I'm excited to get on paper eventually. It’s hard for me to write multiple at once, but somehow I'm managing. If you want to stay up to date on everything all my socials are the best place and I'm kcardellaauthor on every social insta, tiktok, threads, as well as my fb group. I do have a newsletter you can sign up for and they'd be the first to see upcoming events and works before my socials. If you ever want signed copies with goodies the best place is my website Kcardellaauthor.com and I offer a 4 payment plan. That is where you'll find website exclusives.

Thank You, K. Cardella, & a Reminder to Submit to Ink & Oak's December Issue

We enjoyed learning about Cardella’s behind the scenes process for her writing and hope you also take inspiration from her to put your stories out there. Maybe you have a brilliant idea of your own that you have been marinating since middle school. Flesh it out and send it our way for your chance to be published in our December issue.