K.M. ALLAN “I love the parts of editing where you’re shaping the story.”
Kelly’s Writerly Q&A June 2025 Author Interview is with K.M. Allan, an identical twin who writes the best blogs on writing! Anyone who doesn’t subscribe to her newsletter is missing out! She is the author of a four-book YA modern fantasy series, Blackbirch, but today we are talking about her debut non-fiction book, Writing and Editing Checklists.
Kelly: Hi Kate, thanks for taking the time to answer some writerly questions. Congratulations on the publication of Writing and Editing Checklists. What will readers find inside your first non-fiction book?
Kate: Hi Kelly! Thanks for having me. Readers will find lots of tips and advice on different writing elements like foreshadowing and Deep POV, outlining, cutting or increasing word count, nailing their book opening or endings, editing things out like extra words and how to spot typos. It covers a lot of different writing and editing elements and uses examples and lots of fun checklists to do it.
Kelly: It’s such an amazing writing tool! I love it! How did this book come to be?
Kate: I’d been writing about all these topics on my blog for 7 years, using the posts and checklists to process the tips I was learning when writing my books and sharing them with other writers. When I completed my debut series, I needed to work on something different, and the idea of putting the best blog posts together and turning them into checklists seemed like the perfect solution.
Kelly: You were processing and documenting your journey and teaching and inspiring other writers at the same time. This book was meant to be! What does your typical day of writing look like?
Kate: I get up early to check in with the #6amAusWriters on Threads and start work on whatever my goals are for that week. In an ideal world, it’s always writing, but if I’m not writing or editing a work in progress, I’m usually Authoring, which is checking social media, scheduling posts, taking photos, creating graphics for social media, and reading. I’ll do as much of this as I can around school hours/life responsibilities and repeat until I have a new book.
Kelly: I wish I was a morning person. There’s just so much to being a writer, having an accountability group is precious! You’ve published a whole fantasy series. What do you know now that you didn’t know when you first became an author?
Kate: Probably not to start with a whole series. I think it would have been easier to write something standalone as my debut, and I do wonder how a future version of me would write that series with more writing experience behind them, but I’m proud of it, readers love it, and it was the story that wouldn’t get out of my head until it was on the page.
Kelly: Just quietly, I think you have another series in you! There’s nothing like celebrating a publishing win, but I believe it’s even more important to talk about what came before. Can you share a rejection story?
Kate: I can share 21 of them! That was how many rejections the first Blackbirch book received when I queried it before it was signed to a small press. A few of those rejections came off full requests, which is always a bitter pill to swallow as any writer who has daydreamed about the what ifs after getting a full request will tell you. But each rejection, and then the experience of walking away from the small press to indie-publish, made me a more resilient person and writer, and celebrating any publishing wins that much sweeter.
Kelly: It must have been tough to get that close and then have to pivot, but I love how you didn’t delay and got it done on your own!
Kelly: Let’s talk editing, do you love or loathe it?
Kate: I loathe the tedious parts of editing, like getting rid of repeats and weak works, but I love the parts of editing where you’re shaping the story. I always feel like a detective with one of those murder boards, combing through a puzzle and working out where all the pieces go.
Kelly: The only part of editing I like, is when I read back something that’s better for all the extra effort. Phew! Your blogs that arrive in my inbox monthly are so interesting and informative. How do you continue to come up with great blog content?
Kate: When I’m working on a manuscript, the content is based on something I’m trying to learn myself to add to my work, like foreshadowing, or writing in Deep POV. I also like to blog about writing routines because that’s what I need to get to my writing desk regularly. I’ve been pretty lucky for the last 8 years that my writing interests are also interesting to the readers of my blog. Sometimes people will also suggest topics in the comments or on social media, and I’ve even had beta reader feedback that has then sparked some blog ideas. Some days, it also works just like story ideas. The idea for a blog post will pop into my head, and I’ll write it down and expand on it from there. While the ideas are there, I’ll continue to blog.
Kelly: Keep them coming! What’s your top tip for aspiring authors?
Kate: It’s the same tip any other writer will tell you—write and read. Those two things will teach you the most about good stories and honing your style.
Kelly: Such a tried and true tip! What are you currently reading and loving?
Kate: Last year I got into Holly Jackson’s books after reading A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder and I devoured her backlist. This year, I’m working my way through the books of Jennifer Lynn Barnes, whose breakout series was The Inheritance Games. Because I write YA, I tend to read it too, but I’ll also read adult fiction. Generally, anything that has to do with murder, mystery, or suspense will spark my interest.
Kelly: Some great recs! So, what can we expect from you next?
Kate: I’d like to write my own YA murder mystery. I’ve been working on one in my head for a few years now, and have files of notes I’m very eager to flesh out. So far all I have is an opening paragraph, but now that my checklist book is out, I’m ready to get back to my keyboard to work on something fictional.
Kelly: That sounds amazing! I can see you nailing this! Thanks so much for your time.
Follow Kate on Instagram
Read my review of Writing and Editing Checklists here
