Today we’d like to introduce you to KT Pinto.
Hi KT, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story is made of various branches that intersect to create what my business is today, so I’ll start – as any good story does – from the beginning.
The oldest branch of my business has to do with my writing. I started writing fiction when I was 13, and my family had recently moved from Brooklyn, NY to Staten Island, NY. It may not seem like a big move, but for a 13-year-old, it was brutal.
So, I started writing, taking all my Brooklyn friends and putting them into a high school in outer space.
I truly had no idea what I was doing, and when I read it back now… *cringe*
I continued writing from there, mostly out of boredom. I never really liked school, and hardly ever took a note. All those years that teachers thought I was taking down what was being said, I was writing my young adult adventure series (which sadly is now historical fiction). By the time I was done with college, I had written 25 books in the series, plus 4 “Special Edition” books for that series.
When I reviewed them as a published author, I realized the series needed a LOT of work before ever get nearing a publisher (it has gone through a myriad of changes, and still needs a few more, even with one published already).
I tried my hand at fantasy and horror from the heroine’s point of view, but none of that really worked.
I was more fond of the monsters.
I was first professionally published in 1999; I was running a gaming company at the time and had a couple of entries published in Sword and Sorcery, Relics and Rituals, under my married name.
It steamrolled from there, having my horror published in magazines under my maiden (and current) name, KT Pinto. My mentor, CJ Henderson, had told me to not publish under my actual name because people assume based on gender, and often think women can’t write horror and have assumptions when they find out the author is a woman (he was right, and I have tales about that for another time).
I now have 13 novels and 27 short stories of different genres – all with a supernatural twist – published by various companies, as well as having written reviews of places, food, activities and events for paper and online magazines.
Here’s where the branches of my story merge.
My companion along my publishing journey was my dog, Clifford, whom I called Dawg. It was because of him that I started studying about dogs, how to read and understand them, how to walk and train them, etc.
Because of my studying and practical applications with my fur-baby, I was able to get a part time job with A+ Pet Services, which took care of walking and sitting client’s pets: dogs, cats, birds, lizards, snakes, etc. They also certified me as a Dog Trainer and Behaviorist. I worked with them for over 10 years.
During this time, Dawg passed away, and I began volunteering at Animal Care Centers of New York, walking and playing with shelter animals, and working with the more scared ones to become less skittish and more comfortable with humans so they would be adoptable.
Then 2020 happened.
With people staying home and six feet away from away from each other, both my job and volunteering came to a halt. And sadly, also due to the vibes of the northeast during this time, I became a pariah in the publishing world.
Then I moved to Tennessee.
Different vibe, different people, different culture… a great place to start all over again.
A few months before I had moved, I was certified through CATCH Academy for dog behavior and training. So, in Tennessee, I began looking for volunteer opportunities again. I started volunteering with Loudon K9 Paws and Tails in 2024, and now also with East Tennessee Miniature Horse and Donkey Rescue, also in Loudon. I also decided to take all of my animal knowledge and start my own business as a Pet Care Specialist (the difference between a PCS and a pet sitter is the amount of education, training, experience, and insurance a person has).
It’s now a year and a half later, I have 20+ clients, am booked until the end of 2025, and have bookings scheduled into June of 2026 as of right now.
My clients are fun, friendly, easy to talk to, understanding, and wonderful pet parents! They are now booking me far in advance, plan around things on my calendar – like the weeks I work at Fireworks Supermarket for the holiday seasons – and are very mellow when it comes to planning (big difference from my NYC clients).
As for my writing, the world of publishing has changed since I began all those decades ago, so I decided to go a different – although circular – route. I am publishing my work as serials on Substack (https://ktpinto.substack.com/), which is free to join, and I can be found on all my social media platforms. I say circular because my mutant novels originally started as serials handed out at conventions long ago, and I’m hoping to build up a following the same way again.
All of the branches of my business can be found on my site: https://www.ktpinto.com/, and I am building up connections to do the convention circuit again (although my Pet Care business may not allow for that, and that’s okay!).
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Sadly, the life of an author is never an easy one. Not only do you have to be a showman and a public relations expert and a public speaker and a social media diva and an expert sales person and a business professional and a social butterfly and an expert in various fields on top of being a good writer with a large and flexible imagination. You have to have a high self-esteem – whether real or faked – high energy, extrovertive tendencies – again, real or faked – and fake interest in things and people you have no interest in.
And, even after mastering all of these skills, you can have your own world turned around due to things beyond your control.
Case in point: 2020.
That experience was brutal to many northeastern authors who didn’t have the fame of J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.
So now, with very few connections left in the publishing world, I’m trying again.
I have to; I’m an author. It’s not just what I do.
2020 destroyed so many of my friends’ businesses in NYC, I can’t complain about no being able to watch furbabies or volunteer during that time, although it was rough.
Things happen for a reason, and the challenges have made me better, stronger, and more determined to succeed.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for adventure stories with characters that are relatable, even if said characters are vampyres, mutants, werebeasts, or simple humans.
My oldest published series is based on Celeste, a vampyress who was originally created as a one-shot NPC villain for a vampyre LARP my gaming company was running. I played her, and we had expected the players to get together and kill her that same evening.
A year later, she was still going strong and I decided to start writing about her. She now has three novels out based on her long, long life, and two spinoff series based around her.
Another example of my character-centric work is my Sto’s House Presents… series which is now up to six novels and is about a bunch of mutants who have no interest in being superheroes, but are interested in finding the country’s best microbrew.
I am most proud of my fanbase. I have some fans that have followed my work for twenty years, and many who interact with me, talk about (or to) my characters (a few characters have their own FB profiles), and are eager to see what I’ll be doing next. Also, my new fans, who are so excited about my worlds and my characters as if they were making new friends!
Besides my character-based format, I think what sets me apart is my look. When people look at me, they see a 1950s housewife. When I went to conventions, I would be sitting in a row with other horror and supernatural authors, and they are all wearing dark clothes and gothic wear, and I would be in a bright pink dress with a pink wig or a flare dress and kitten heels, or red cammo pants and a shirt with a unicorn on it.
When people who don’t know me find out I’m an author, they almost always ask if I write romance novels or children’s books, and are rather horrified by what I do write.
And I’m quite alright with that. 🙂
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Just a quick bit of advice to new writers: don’t force the story. If you are looking at a blank page, and nothing is happening, put it aside and go live life. It’s amazing when and where a story idea will suddenly hit you.
Also, let your characters lead you. I’ve tried a few times to take the characters the way I wanted to, and it failed miserably. So I went the way they wanted, and I had my story. And yes, your characters will become real to you… and probably to most of your fans as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ktpinto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ktpinto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktpinto/
- Twitter: https://x.com/KTPinto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KTPinto
- Other: https://ktpinto.substack.com/
