What is the title of your latest release?
THE YOUNGER GODS
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
An Orpheus + Eurydice-inspired romantasy about a woman who sails to the Underworld to rescue her fallen lover, only to discover he wasn’t who she thought he was.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was inspired by the Roman Orpheus myth, so the world is very Roman in terms of technology and culture. But when I tried to write the hero as wearing a toga, I realized that I like a man in pants. So I narrowed the world to more specifically resemble Roman-era Gaul so that his muscular thighs were not just open to the breeze.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Oh sure, she’s a wonderful musician. I’d be lucky to hear her perform, so long as she wasn’t setting something on fire at the time.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Secret trickster god
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
The heroine plays the kithara, which is an ancient instrument a little like the lyre, but with more strings. I spent a lot of time listening to kithara music, which is amazingly lovely.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I fuss a lot with the first third until I’m positive I have the vibes right and the characters solidified, and then it’s straight through until the first draft is done.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Very fancy hot cocoa from Switzerland.
Describe your writing space/office!
I mostly write on a lap desk on a big red chaise lounge in the front room of my house, which is full of houseplants, natural light, and my cats, who are usually competing with the lap desk for space in my lap.
Who is an author you admire?
Thea Guanzon writes so beautifully and prolifically while being a consistent class act in the book community.
Is there a book that changed your life?
I read the Chronicles of Prydain as a kid so many times that I can still recite some of the text. It was inspired by Welsh mythology and my most recent book was inspired by Roman mythology, but I couldn’t resist naming my hero Taran in tribute.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was at home and actually sobbing already because my elderly rescue cat had passed away the previous day and I was missing him at his dinner time. My agent called and I think I got her crying too because she’s a soft-hearted animal lover, and we spent a good ten minutes reminiscing about Mr. Kitten before she managed to tell me my first romantasy duology was being picked up.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
If I’m drafting, I have a hard time reading fiction because I can’t turn off my editor brain, so I read a lot of nonfiction—most recently a ton of books about Marie Antoinette’s Versailles. If I’m not drafting, I love historical romance like Liana De la Rosa and Sherry Thomas.
What’s your favorite movie?
The Princess Bride
What is your favorite season?
Autumn
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My mother bakes me a Texas sheet cake that involves two entire sticks of butter
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I have to cover my eyes during the gory medical scenes, but I loved The Pitt! I love a healer full of inner darkness.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Tex-Mex. My veins run with salsa verde, not blood.
What do you do when you have free time?
If I’m in Montana I go hiking, and if I’m in Texas, I play RPG video games in my soft pants.
What can readers expect from you next?
The sequel to THE YOUNGER GODS is out in December 2026, and then there’s an unannounced romantasy project that will pay dividends on all my revolution and wig-related Marie Antoinette research.
Danger looms when a former priestess sails to the realm of the dead to find her fallen lover, only to discover the gods she thought she defeated are preparing for war.
Iona Night-Singer thought she’d overthrown the gods. Her mortal rebellion eked out a painful victory by using the gods’ own powers against them—though she lost her betrothed, Taran, in a final battle with the god of death. Months later, the war doesn’t feel over. Not with Taran gone. Especially not when the gods still answer the prayers she sings.
Angry, grieving, and with a gnawing dread that the gods will return, Iona strikes a deal with her former patron goddess: if Iona can convince Taran to follow her home from the Underworld, he’ll be free to live again. If she fails, they’ll both be trapped there forever.
No sooner does she find him, she makes a horrible discovery. The dead gods have been reborn, they are plotting revenge—and Taran, it seems, was always one of them. This reincarnated trickster god with Taran’s face no longer remembers her or the war they fought together, and she doubts not just his loyalties but his love.
Determined to stop the next war without revealing her part in the last one, Iona enters her deadliest battle yet, one where she fights to bring Taran home without him even knowing it.
Romance Fantasy | Romance Paranormal | Fantasy Magical Realism [ Ace, On Sale: January 13, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593819166 / eISBN: 9780593819173 ]
Katie Shepard studied Soviet history and worked in human rights law before burning way—way out—and achieved professional tranquility as a simple country bankruptcy lawyer. She lives in Texas with her husband, kids, and elderly rescue cat, but is often found hiking in the Rocky Mountains or the virtual woods of Thedas.
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