KRISTIN + DANIEL: The Bookish Worlds Spicy wife & husband Duo

“If there’s a love story and the characters are getting it on, we probably love it.”

Meet Kristin and Daniel, a husband and wife duo known for their “spicy” bookish content. Kristin is also the author of Synodic, with book two expected to be released in 2025. You can find them on social media at: @Kristin.travis and @danieljacksonmusic

Kristin Travis

To kick this off, no, we never thought we would get the opportunity to meet Kristin and Daniel, let alone get to interview them. Fate has such a funny way of intervening. Allison and I were lucky enough to meet Kristin and Daniel when we were vendors at the Flame and Revelry Night Court Ball at the start of October, which was also the release of Volume 1! Kristin and Daniel had been making their rounds and purchased a flower and resin dagger from The Blushing Rose, where we all three shared a table and Andre immediately recognized them and said, “I follow you on Instagram,” which really kicked off the conversation for getting to talk about Romantasy Illustrated. Now, this was a long weekend, with the release of Volume 1, which means we saw and talked to hundreds over the weekend alone and that doesn’t even include the online engagement, it was a busy weekend. While I didn’t forget who Kristin and Daniel were, it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind to reach out or follow up with them. Again, it must be fate. Kristin loved the idea and themes of Romantasy Illustrated, she followed us on social media, and reached out with a pitch, which we loved: an expose of a husband-wife duo in the bookish community.

Synodic Quote: “If I were to leave you right now, I’d wager you wouldn’t make it

ten steps before your pretty little mouth started screaming my name.”

Getting to chat with Kristin and Travis was not only so much fun, it was lifegiving and encouraging, and their love for one another and this community is very easily seen. We were able to chat about the bookish community, creators, content creation, their online presence, the journey to being a self-published author, 2025 goals and resolutions, and of course ask the questions that you as readers submitted. The important thing to know and understand is this duos reading journey, Kristin is an avid and active reader, of everything from Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling to the infamous A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas, with a love for high fantasy and dragons. Now, Daniel, on the other hand, is not a reader, but he is an audiobook listener. But, if it doesn’t hook him in the first chapter then he isn’t pushing through. However, when asked about the plot or important moments from ACOTAR, Haunting Adeline, and more, he said, “I may not have read them, but at this point, since I can tell you everything about it, I basically have.”

A question that we ask everyone to feature or interview is: What does the bookish community mean to you? This will likely always be the most important question to us as it gives insight into the individual and further expresses what this community represents for them. To Kristin, this community was an escape from isolation, it was finding a space where there were people like her. She goes on to say, "I found companionship, friendship, and community here.” Daniel goes on to express that to him, it is about supporting Kristin, that it’s just easy to do the things she loves with her.

There was easily a common theme noticed throughout our conversation with both Kristin and Daniel, which was mutual support. It is pretty common to see negative comments on social media for those of us who enjoy a “spicy” book, it is often looked down upon or considered taboo. In relationships, a common theme we see online is berating women for what they choose to read, for questioning why they would discuss it with their partners, or not understanding the needs and desires of women when it comes to reading. When asking Daniel how he is able to support Kristin and her reading, even when he hasn’t read something himself, he spoke on always wanting to be a part of anything that she is involved in, whether it is spicy or not. Daniel goes on to give this advice to husbands, boyfriends and lovers who may not understand, “go into it with an open mind, know that there is love and trust, and if you want to... answer with, “I will.”

Synodic Quote: “You just escaped two monsters, Copeland. Are you sure you want to provoke another?”

“...to husbands, boyfriends and lovers who may not understand, “go into it with an open mind, know that there is love and trust, and if you want to... answer with, “I will.”

There are always fun spins that you can put on how she shares something and it can lead to finding and building spice in your relationship. The husbands, boyfriends, and lovers didn’t and haven’t seemed supportive online, and Kristin and Daniel just hope that their content can encourage the community to change, spread awareness, and showcase what a supportive husband can look like online.

I’m sure, like us, you were wondering how they even got into this very specific niche section of the bookstagram and BookTok community, and the answer is Synodic. Kristin self-published her first book Synodic, a new adult, romantasy duology that features slow-burn to spicy romance, a portal fantasy world, and poetic writing. Her writing journey has developed and changed throughout her life, beginning with journaling, then shifting into poetry and short stories, and it all led to the development and creation of Synodic. It follows Keira, who astroprojects her dreams, features a “very dark and sexy man” and monsters and magic. When asked about the inspiration of Rowen, the “dark and sexy man”, Kristin goes on to mention the elements of his personality that represent Daniel. Kristin first had the inkling of an idea for Synodic ten years ago, in a dream herself, then in 2020 just before the covid lockdown, a second dream where she found the heart of the story, the twists, and where she wanted to see this story go. We mentioned loving the connection, that Kristin literally dreamed of a book about dreaming and astral projection. When asked about the writing process and when she really sat down to write it, she said, “It is easy to write love when you feel love.” If you aren’t as obsessed and feral about this book already, then you must know that the spicy content creation Kristin and Travis are infamously known for came out of the desire for Synodic scenes to not just be perfect, but realistic, and still create desire. Daniel mentioned,

“Writing was the easy part, it was everything that followed to actually get it published that was difficult, and it showed in the grit, grind and perseverance for her to get this story out there. This was her dream and I love it just supporting her dreams but seeing her achieve them.”

Rowan + Kira

Now here is the scoop: book two, Ecliptic, will hopefully be released in early 2025 and will be a dual POV letting us get to know Rowan even better. Something really fun that is a passion project is talks of an audiobook, with Kristen voicing Kira and Daniel being Rowan, bringing their love story and content full circle. Kristen also mentioned already having a few other stories and ideas swirling around in her head that she would like to explore with the words, “a woman, in a dark fantasy, with themes of religious trauma and overcoming it.”

When it comes to content creation you can go back to 2014 and search YouTube for the “treadmill dancing couple” and you will find first Kristen and Daniel when they made their introduction to content creation. The jump to bookstagram and booktok for Daniel first included blowing his mind with all the books Kristin reads and loves, then building this space authentically around them. When Kristin first asked Daniel to do a video she said his response was, “We can do that, it seems fun.”, and it became what it is today. For this duo, content creation is not done in bulk, it is on a day-to-day, on-the-moment basis. Kristen speaks on having to “feel it, to be in the moment with inspiration and keeping her content authentic”. Sometimes it comes from seeing a dance that she wants to recreate. Kristen and Daniel both have ballroom dancing backgrounds and that is how they originally met, we vote they should be on Dancing with the Stars. Sometimes content comes from a trending audio, other times it comes from a scene in a book she reads, or when she is herself writing and wants to act it out. When asked how often Daniel contributes to the ideas, “Every once in a while he has a banger of an idea and usually when he does, it’s one of the best.” Kristen goes on to say that their iconic Cassian and Nesta video where he unscrews and brings the headboard downstairs was all him and 100% authentic and an in the moment idea he enacted all by himself.

Recent Release!

I hope that you enjoyed this exposé as much as we did. It was such a fun time to get to sit down with Kristen and Daniel, and it was incredibly empowering to get to experience their love, respect, and support for each other in each moment. It is so ever apparent, in how they interact in real-time, in the way they look at each other, in the intuition that they have for each other, their respect for each other's goals and dreams. It was an honor to get to see them being authentically themselves. It was empowering as a single female to see and experience Daniels's point of view of the “male gaze” when it comes to fantasy, romantasy, and spice, and the endeavors he has gone to in order to support Kristen. He is the very definition of a in real-life book boyfriend and is truly setting an example of what a male's role can be in this community, even if he isn’t a reader, but rather the emotional support system for his wife.

Get Synodic & Ecliptic Here!