Meet Kaylee Stepkoski

We were lucky to catch up with Kaylee Stepkoski recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kaylee, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Since I began writing, I feel, at a later age than most, and so suddenly, I realized I was late to the game. I didn’t have a favorite author that I was devoted to or even a favorite book that inspired me to get started. To most, you would think I would be overcome by my lack of knowledge of writing, plotting, and even just simply being an author. However, at that age of 17, I honestly didn’t feel any sort of intimidation, not at all. All I knew was God gave me a dream—the dream that revealed the story of my debut novel—and I had to write it. No, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, quite honestly. However, I did know that I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t. If God gave me this desire, then it was for a reason, a reason bigger than what I could imagine. Why would I let someone’s opinion trample that? Why would I let my drive be so fragile? I had purpose. I had reason. To this day, I still do. I don’t rake in the cash with my passion, but that’s not why I write—I would have forgotten the reason if I were only looking for the returns. God opened my eyes to adventures on pages. He wanted me to write with Him in mind. No, I don’t write devotionals, but I write with symbolism and purpose because that’s what He set on my heart. My confidence and self-esteem root back to my Creator because He guided me here, and I’m thankful to be a stepping stone in His plan.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a 5x Amazon #1 Bestselling Author. My current publications are my 4-book, young adult, sci-fi series, The EVER Series, and my standalone, young adult, mild thriller, dark fantasy novella, Another Vision. I dove into writing young adult because that’s exactly what I was when I began writing. My favorite movies at the time were in Marvel Studios and Transformers, so I loved action and adventure. So, that’s what I wrote. Though, I realized as I continued writing, there was a genre that I just could not bring myself to delve into. That was the spice/smut obsession…but I knew that was trending and selling well. That was a difficult thing for me to process because I saw certain readers wanting something that I just could not bring myself to do. However, I came to the conclusion that I cannot please every audience, no one can, and if you do, you’ll reach no one. I started making a new statement—my books were spice-free. They were clean and focused on characters, adventure, and plot, not the “eww.” I became The Leader of the Spice-Free Rebellion because even through it all, I saw readers out there in search of books like mine—clean, plot-focused, and action-packed. My marketing strategy shifted, and I saw more interaction because my audience was being found. It made me so happy because, like me, other people saw that you don’t need spice to make a story interesting, and romance doesn’t need to be the main plot either. You can still have tension/slowburn/romance in a story. In fact, without the spice/smut, it gives the story more room for lore, foundation, instead of slapping together pieces before filling it with gross content.
To this day, I have begun to shift into the new adult genre as I tackle deeper topics and more advanced plots, but even with that, my WIPs are all clean and spice-free. My new fantasy novel that’s currently in the editing stages has a subplot of slowburn romance, but again, it’s spice-free. The plot is one of the most intricate ones I have ever done with kingdom politics, blades vs beasts, corruption and betrayal, and rivals to lovers. I’m excited to say that the cover and title reveal are officially released! Check out my socials to see!
So, even when something is “trending” or selling out, I found that my brand and I reflect adventure, action, and spice-free romance. Sure, I am not the top-seller because of it, but that’s not why I write. I write because God led me to.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Throughout my development as a writer, I collected more strengths and refined weaknesses as I tested and pushed my limits with new ideas, but I will say three skills I learned quickly were to trust the reader, trust myself, and simply write my heart out. Being a new writer is daunting and vulnerable, especially when you make the mistake of comparing yourself to others—been there, done that. My writing professor in college constantly reminded me to trust the reader and myself, as the writer. I’d constantly over-confiscate and over-tell details and actions that were quite easy to process, in fact, instead of just trusting the vision in my head and the reader will follow. The story paints its own picture. The characters get the flow and roll, typically having minds of their own, honestly. Though I was new to the game, I had some skills, and I just needed to trust them because the story was there.
Lastly, I had to learn to simply write and not look to the right or left, questioning my work: “Is it good? Is it worth this? Does it matter?” Who cares? If there’s a story in your heart, write it! God gave me a story and then stories, and I wrote them—every single one. No one can write my story the way I can or your story the way you can. They’re all so unique to us. Is it still unsettling? Oh, absolutely! But I feel it would be much scarier to look back years later and think, “I wish…”
Trust yourself, your readers, and write your heart out until your fingers hurt and your palms are numb on your laptop. It will not be easy, but where’s the fun if there isn’t a little bit of a challenge?

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

Over the years, my parents have been my biggest supporters in everything I do. I was brought up homeschooled and eventually graduated high school with my AA. I must say none of what I’m doing now would have been possible if they hadn’t taken me out of school back in 6th grade. I don’t know what I’d be doing, but my goodness, what a blessing to see where I am now. I was homeschooled by my mom from 7th grade to college, and my dad taught me to work with my hands—yard work, cars, fishing, SCUBA diving, and even Excel sheets. I was exposed to subjects and experiences that would never have been possible if I were not homeschooled, and that’s what ultimately led me here. When I wrote my first novel, EVER, my parents connected me with someone who had just started a publishing company, and I was first in line because of them. They took care of the funds. They encouraged me to go for it. They cheered me on through it all and even now. God blessed me immensely, and I can never take any credit because without Him and their support, I wouldn’t be here. So, thank you, Mom and Dad!

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Image Credits

Shot By Sam Otero
Cassandra Lynn

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