Virtual Book Tour & #Giveaway for Daughter of the Drackan by Kathrin Hutson

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for Daughter of the Drackan by Kathrin Hutson.  Please leave a comment or question for Kathrin to let her know you stopped by.  You may enter her tour wide giveaway, where Kathrin will award a $25 Amazon/BN GC to one (1) randomly chosen commenter, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You may follow all of the stops on the tour by clicking on the banner above.  The  more stops you visit, the better your chances of winning.

Switching Hats: Being A Writer vs Being An Editor  by Kathrin Hutson

This is a great topic, because writing and editing are both so different and yet so similar it’s not even funny.

I was a writer first, and that will always be who I am deep down. It also led to me becoming an editor, so my writer side gets first dibs.

‘Writer mode’, of course, gives me complete control over my work. I’m free to do whatever I like in whatever way I see fit, and I get the full credit for the finished piece. I’m sure most writers know what I’m talking about when I say I get into ‘the zone’ when writing—nothing else exists except the characters, scene, dialogue, and the plot unfolding right before my very eyes as I type. I love that writing zone, and feeling it shoot from my head, through my core, and into my fingertips is one of the best sensations I’ve ever experienced.

Of course, as writers also know, it comes with downsides. I always try to give myself a deadline for finishing my novels, with a daily quota minimum of 1,000 words. Most of the time this works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. Pulling a great story out of thin air isn’t always easy, and when I feel stuck, it’s incredibly hard to relax, step back, and let it happen. I tend to beat myself up if I don’t know exactly what comes next, but when I manage not to, the scenes all align themselves eventually, sometimes at the oddest moments (middle of the night, watching a movie, talking to writing buddies about completely unrelated things).

I’d love to get to the point where I write great book after great book in quick succession, eventually able to support myself and my family completely with book sales. That’s higher up on my list of dreams than even making a best-sellers list. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine not editing anymore at all once that day arrives.

‘Editing mode’ is a lot more structured, analytical, and ‘on the screen’ rather than ‘in my head’. Knowing the ins and outs of proper editing (i.e. grammar, punctuating, sentence structure, plot and character elements, etc.) have always come naturally for me. I chalk that up to the extensive repertoire of reading I’ve managed to amass in the last twenty years. I read voraciously even still. It feels like a second limb in the back of my head…something that’s quite normal for me, and sometimes others can’t understand it and are even amazed by it.

Everything is laid before me as an editor—the characters, scenes, and story line are all there. I don’t have to use so much creativity in order to push the book forward. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when sections of a manuscript need some work, and that’s when I have to get a little creative in offering the author suggestions and opinions when returning it to them and requesting a rewrite. Editing also has ‘a zone’, but it’s a completely different flavor—the combination of seriously enjoying the manuscript, mentally checking the essentials, and keeping that keen eye out for errors big and small.

Yes, editing has its downsides as well. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with authors who are all gracious, grateful, excited, and open to my opinions and suggestions, so that’s never been a problem. Sometimes, though, an author’s rewrites may not be up to par, or they may not quite have picked up on what my suggestions meant initially. It’s definitely difficult to decide what I need to return to an author time and time again for a rewrite, and what both of us are comfortable with me ‘changing’ within the text myself. I have a burning need to make sure every manuscript I work on is polished, perfected, and shines to its full potential after leaving my hands. That can be almost as nerve-wracking as wanting that for my own work. And, of course, editing deadlines have the potential to cut into my own self-imposed writing deadlines.

Since I became both writer and editor, I’ve noticed the combination has dramatically improved both. I can’t rightly say which affects the other more, but they are so closely intertwined. I go through my own work as if I were editing someone else’s, and I edit someone else’s work as if it were my own.

And in case you’re wondering—no, I don’t pay another editor to edit my work. I just go over it fifty billion times. But, as I recommend every author do, I give it out to multiple writing and editing friends to beta read and give me responses. The more eyes, the better (and I only have two).

Thank you, Queen of All She Reads, for hosting my tour on your blog tour. I’m so happy to be here, and can’t wait to see some comments roll in from your fantastic readers! 

Daughter of the Drackan

By Kathrin Hutson

Gyenona’s Children, Book 1

Publisher:  Exquisite Darkness Press

Release Date: October 12, 2015

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Format: eBook/Print

Length:  352 Pages

ISBN-13: 978-0692549759

ASIN: B016L2HIRS

Buy Link:  Amazon 

About the book:

Keelin is the only human fledgling, weaned by the drackans of the High Hills and given their instincts, ferocious strength, and fierce hatred for humankind. But even the drackans closest to her cannot explain why she has violent blackouts from which she wakens covered in blood.

A desperate, reckless search for the source of this secret brings her face to face with the human world and memories from a locked-away past, long forgotten. Keelin becomes a terrifying legend among human assassins while she hunts for answers, and the human realm’s High King is murdered.

While a sickly steward hides within crumbling walls, commanding her every move with a magic he should not possess, Keelin’s journey to track him down threatens her loyalty to the drackans who raised her. The rogue who crosses her path hides familiar secrets, echoing her own terrifying bloodlust and forcing her to consider that there may be something human about her, after all.

EXCERPT

The breeze that blew across the water called for Keelin to come back. It swirled around her dark head, pulling it toward the lake, and her eyes fluttered open from the resting blackness. Crouching on her heels, she lifted her head and gazed at the Great Lake that mirrored the dazzle of the stars. The world remained dark to her, but no longer as the dead, helpless dark from which she awoke. A single tear slipped down her cheek, a tear of anger from the depths of her curse, the secret of her life.

Darkened by night, the lake had always been a silent, secret comfort. The wind died down as though it sensed she were herself again, and the world was calmer, sweeter now that she was no longer a weapon hidden from itself.

Keelin remembered nothing from her stolen hours. Every time, she woke at the Great Lake with the wind calling her back to life, the smell of blood always too real. She barely noticed now when she habitually dipped her hands into the icy water of the bank, rubbing them in mud until they were clean. The moon shone so brightly in its fullness; she gazed up at it with longing. In the light of the moon she could see everything. She was so tired of the dark.

Her hands were clean now, but that metallic smell still lingered. The strange deerskin tunic she’d been given still clung to her body and she clawed at it in frustration. Dark rings and damp streaks of blood splattered across it, every moment soaking further through to her skin.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kathrin Hutson has been writing fiction for fifteen years, editing for five, and plunging in and out of reality since she first became aware of the concept. Kathrin specializes in Dark Fantasy and Sci-fi, and the second novel in this series, Mother of the Drackan, will be released this February.

Kathrin runs her own independent editing company, KLH CreateWorks, for Indie Authors of all genres. She also serves as Story Coordinator and Chief Editor for Collaborative Writing Challenge, and Editing Director for Rambunctious Rambling Publications, Inc. Needless to say, she doesn’t have time to do anything she doesn’t enjoy.

Website:  www.kathrinhutsonfiction.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/kathrinhutsonfiction

Editing Company:  www.klhcreateworks.com

Editing Company Facebook: www.facebook.com/klhcreateworks

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/klhcreateworks

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