K.M. Kostyal: Hi. My name is Karen Kostyal. I often write under the name K. M., my initials, Kostyal. It's really easy to pronounce my last name because you just leave the Y out of the spelling and it rhymes with something I don't like very much, but it rhymes with hostile. So, don't think of me as hostile Kostyal, but it does rhyme hostile.

The name is from Central Europe. It's probably the area of Poland or Slavakia. I don't know how to tell you exactly where I'm from except my name is Slavic and that's another way to try to remember it.