Kristin Keppler Geeks Out
From Xena to Glee to Arcane
When I started this Substack, I chose the name “Jamie Geeks Out” because that is what I wanted this space to be about: geeking out about the books I am reading and loving. Recently, though, I had a thought: what if I got sapphic authors to do the same? What if I invited authors I love reading to come and geek out about the things that they love?
Well, here we are! Welcome to the first installment of a new series called, “Authors Geek Out”. In every article, I will ask guests questions that, hopefully, get them to geek out about being an author as well as the sapphic media they love.
For this first article, I asked my good friend Kristin Keppler (Instagram) to geek out. Kristin is one of the coolest and kindest people I have ever met and I am so thankful that she decided to join me for this. She’s also a massive nerd, which made asking her to geek out a perfect choice.
So, without any further ado, it’s time for Kristin Keppler to geek out!
Kristin, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sure. My name is Kristin Keppler. I write books sometimes when I can find the energy and the time to do it. I have a dystopian trilogy (The Badlands Series) and I have two romance novels. One of them is coming out this month (Worth Waiting For[link]). So, that’s a total of five published books. I'm a mom of two little boys that give me gray hair on the daily, but I love them more than life itself. I'm married, I live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and I'm kind of a nerd, a Mass Effect, Captain Marvel, and sci-fi nerd.
What was that initial spark for you to start writing sapphic lit?
I've loved writing for as long as I can remember. I can pinpoint it back to a really great teacher I had in fourth grade. I remember he was older and it was his first year of teaching and as a 10 year old thinking, why is this guy teaching now? Looking back, he probably really wasn't that old. I was just 10. He really encouraged a lot of creative writing and you could just creatively write whatever you wanted. We had a writing journal we could write short stories in. It could be however long we wanted and it wasn't graded. And I remember thinking, “This is really cool, I can write about anything I want.” So I remember my love of writing started there, but I never really thought I was going to publish any books or become a writer.
Then I really dove into the world of fan fiction. I didn't read a lot of sapphic books until I was well into adulthood. But I remember staying up all night in college reading Buffy and Faith fanfiction, loving it, and then saying, “I think I can write some of this too.” So I started writing and writing fan fiction. I didn't really post it anywhere for a really long time.
And then I was out of college and I decided to post some fanfiction. I wrote a dystopian alternate universe Glee fanfiction with Santana and Quinn. I met Alyssa [Bahney, co-author of The Badlands series] through Tumblr fan fiction and we became really good friends. One day she asked if I would be willing to turn some fan fiction that I wrote into a book, rewrite it and combine some of her ideas. So, I was like, “Yeah sure. I like to write. Nothing's ever going to come of this though.” She was like, “No, we're gonna totally be published.” And I'm like, “Okay girl, whatever.”
Then one day, I remember getting an email from Bold Strokes Books saying that they wanted to publish our story. So fanfiction was really the spark that got me writing.
What book or piece of sapphic media has had the biggest impact on you?
I think the start for me was probably Xena, Warrior Princess. I loved Greek mythology and I loved strong women. I didn't read a lot of novels and books when I was younger, but I did watch TV and I really gravitated towards that show because it had a mix of strong female leads and Greek mythology. And I was like, this is great.
My mom actually watched it with me. It was like our date night. But I just remember really getting so frustrating watching it, because I'm like, why are they not just kissing? Like, it's very clear. So, if I had to pick one sapphic piece of media, it really started with me with Xena.
What keeps you going when things get tough in the writing/drafting process?
The three person group chat (between Kristin, JJ Hale, and myself). I really lean on it because you both are like, “We're here for you.” You’re the best hype squad.
But really, it’s knowing that I'm not alone in struggling to find time and motivation to write. It's nice to know that there are people that are like, “Hey, I've been there too. Let's talk it out. Do you want to talk it out?” I found that that helps me get through it a lot. It's so refreshing to know that you can safely fall in this community and they're going to lift you back up.
What other sapphic media have you been loving recently?
Right now, I'm just living Arcane. I'm reading so much Arcane fanfiction. If anyone has any really good ones that they want to send my way, as long as it's Caitlin and Vi, send it. That's my current obsession. I'm a very obsessive person too, like I hyper fixate on things. So, until the next obsessive wave comes, I think it's going to be Arcane for a little while.
What about Arcane is drawing you in so much?
It's so refreshing to know that one of the head writers (Amanda Overton) always planned for this sapphic relationship to be like a goal and an endgame. There was never any queerbaiting. They knew where they were going to take these characters and they knew they were going to fall in love. The writing of that show is phenomenal. It's visually one of the most gorgeous pieces of media I have ever seen. The animation is stunning. I loved the characters. The voice acting was great. The visuals were stunning.
And then, you know, you got your girls together.
Yeah, exactly. I can't complain about that. The fan art is so good. I love when a certain someone (read: me) sends me fan art pictures. I’m still on the bad place, but I'm only on there because the majority of my algorithm is Arcane fan art and fanfiction.
What non-sapphic media would you want to make a sapphic version of?
I really, really, really want to see Captain Marvel and Valkyrie together. I want to see Carol and Valkyrie. I want to see it in the comics and in the MCU. I know that the actresses want to see it too. Even if it's just in comic form first, that's great because I read Captain Marvel.
I'm a huge Florence Pugh fan, so if we're talking about comics and MCU, then I think Yelena (Belova) and Kate Bishop need to kind of have a thing too, because they were the best part of Hawkeye. The tension there is great.
I think the last thing is Hallmark Christmas movies. I adore them even though they're horrible. I want to see more queer representation in them, because sometimes I just want to tune out, have this formulaic romance on where you know they're gonna kiss in the last two minutes and all that stuff, but I don't want to see the same guy and girl every time.
This Christmas I watched the one Hallmark sapphic romance. I was like, “This is fun. This is fine. I enjoy this.”
Yes! The fake dating one. They even got the right trope. Like, that is more of what I want.
What is your favorite thing that you have ever written?
I don't have a specific example of something that I've written that I'm like, “Oh yeah, that's going to be my tag.” When I go back and read some of the books that I've written, usually during the editing process, sometimes there'll be a line or a sentence and I'm like, “Damn, did I write that? I wrote that. That's really good.” Of course, there's also things that I've seen where I'm like, “Ooh, did I write that?” So there's a nice blend.
I will say that I'm really excited about the book that I'm working on now. So far, it's been my favorite that I've written and an idea that I've had that I've worked on. I don't have a deadline to turn it in. I haven’t turned it in yet because I kind of want to take my time with it. I don't want to rush through it, but I'm excited about it. It's my lucky number six.
Any spoilers?
Yeah, it's a friends to lovers story, which is not normally my favorite, but I'm writing it. It's also kind of heavy. I love angst, so I would like to write it as a kind of angsty friends to lovers.
Yeah, you like angst.
[laughter]
But luckily, so do I, so it works out.
You had a post recently where you said you loved books that made you cry and then put you back together again. That's my favorite, when a book can devastate me, but by the end I still get that happy ending. Because I’m a Disney girl! I want a happy ending! There’s a time and a place for dark endings, but especially when the world is a dark place, just leave me with a little bit of happiness.
What are some of your favorite tropes in sapphic lit?
Enemies to lovers and fake dating are probably my top two. Anything where it’s “I need to bring home a fake girlfriend for the holidays to get my parents off my back” I’m like, “Give me that book!” I will read every version of that book. And something about the tension of not liking someone and then they kiss. Give me that!
What do you hope to see more of in sapphic lit in the future?
Diversity. I mean diversity for everything. Show me the different cultures. Show me the different genders. You know what I mean? I want to see more pansexuals, I want to see more asexuals, I want to see more bisexuals, I want to see all the sexuals. I just want to see more of all of it. Every flavor. Just give it to me.
It’s hard because I would like to be better about writing more diversity. I think it’s scary when you’re not in it. It’s easy for me to write somebody who’s bisexual. I can relate. But it’s hard for me to accurately write something that I am not in and I’m nervous to write it. I’m a white bisexual woman. That’s easy to write. But if it’s out of those parameters, then I feel like I wouldn’t do it justice. But I would love to see more of it. I would love to lift other authors up that could do it justice. I think we need to raise that platform and help them get their books out because there’s so many good books out there that are just not getting noticed because they are not white.
That’s all my questions for today. Thank you for geeking out!
Gosh, it’s the highlight of my month. Of my 2025.
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Again, thank you so much to Kristin Keppler for wanting to be a part of this. And thank you dear reader for coming along with us. If you want to check out any of Kristin’s books, click the link below.
Awesome interview! Thanks to you both.