K.T. Sterling

K.T. Sterling has always loved stories. After watching a film, she would immediately write her own tale, filled with magic and imagination. Becoming a writer, however, was never really on her radar—there were other challenges in her life. Her childhood was difficult, and books provided an escape into a world of fantasy. At nineteen, she consciously picked up a pen for the first time, driven by dreams and characters who begged to be told. This is how her steampunk/Victorian high fantasy series Testra was born.

Despite studying criminology and working for years in administrative jobs, she never lost her love for storytelling. She entered writing competitions, took classes, and read books on story structure. Her dedication paid off: she published short stories, won awards, and released books.

K.T. Sterling believes that a story truly comes to life when you challenge yourself and expand your horizons. By exploring new paths and stepping out of her comfort zone, she continues to return to the worlds she creates with fresh eyes and an open mind.

About writing

For K.T. Sterling, writing is not only a creative pursuit but also a form of therapy. By putting her childhood traumas and dark thoughts onto paper, she can process her emotions and transform them into stories. Her Testra series reflects this: filled with complex, shadowed emotions, yet also moments of light and intimacy. Writing helped her express anger and frustration—towards people from her past or situations she couldn’t change in real life.

Writing gives her freedom. Her stories and characters are a large part of herself. Often, it is the characters who guide her; their actions and choices inspire the events in her books. Sometimes these insights appear at the most unexpected moments—just before falling asleep, or in the middle of the night. Characters like Rosalie from Mermaid Tears were born this way.

She used to think this was strange—that it was abnormal for characters to surprise her or seem to have a will of their own. That was until she read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and realized that creativity thrives on such surprises. Since then, the book has been a recommended read for any writer fascinated by the magic of storytelling.