An accomplished and established writer of Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi and LGBTQ Speculative Fiction for years, author Kathrin Hutson has garnered plenty of success with her work in various genres. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk with her about her early love of writing, experiences with writing some of her work and some upcoming projects.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?
Kathrin Hutson: I’m proud to say my foray in horror started when I cracked open Stephen King’s It at the super mature age of ten (that was sarcasm). Honestly, I’d had no idea what the book was or what I was really getting into at the time, but a family friend had left the book at the house. My parents weren’t into horror, and nobody noticed it missing.
I may have been a little young to start with that one specifically (I vividly remember the sex scenes and adult conversations going right over my head), but I was absolutely absorbed by the horror parts. And I loved it. I remember sitting up in my bed at night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, with my tiny reading lamp just trying to get through one more ridiculously scary part of the book. I ended up having to surround myself with stuffed animals just so I didn’t feel like I was alone because being ten and alone at night reading. It was probably one of the more terrifying things in my life at the time.
Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
KH: I’ve always been a fan of fantasy and sci-fi films, definitely before I started watching horror. I didn’t really get into the slasher films or all the super-violent movies where things jumped out at you with surprise after surprise. Those just seemed too…gimmicky, I think. But the movie that really got me into enjoying horror films (and later TV shows) was The Ring. There were very few “jumpy” parts in that movie, and while it was a terrifying concept, the part that really got me was the brilliance of the storyline. I remember thinking it was so well done, though I probably couldn’t say why right now. I was eleven, maybe twelve, and I’d tried to explain the basis of the movie to my best friend. She hadn’t seen it, and I just kept babbling away about how amazing it was. I got full-body chills describing The Ring, and she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about or why I was gushing about this movie I couldn’t accurately explain. She probably thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care.
That probably started my love of psychological horror. The feeling came back and hit me again with the same force when I saw the recent remake of Invisible Man, too.
Me: When did you first discover your true passion for writing? Were you always into writing growing up?
KH: I discovered my passion for writing when I was ten. I’d been having this reoccurring nightmare for weeks about wanting to change the ending of my favorite movie at the time and being unable to. I was part of the story in this dream and desperately wanted it to end a different way, but I never could, and it was driving me nuts. Then I woke up on the morning of my tenth birthday and had this epiphany. I could just write the ending to this movie. Change it the way I wanted to change it. Because that was what writers did. They made the story do absolutely whatever they wanted, and this seems like a fairly simple idea, I know. But it was profound to my ten-year-old brain. So I sat down and started writing. I didn’t actually ever rewrite the ending to this favorite movie of mine (which was Fern Gully), but I did start this monstrous undertaking (for a ten-year-old) of a story about fairies and war and famine and everyone dying. So I already had a very dark mind back then. That work never got finished, and no one will ever see it, but it started me on my writing journey, and I never really stopped.
I definitely spent more time in high school—at home and during class—writing fiction than I ever spent studying or doing homework. And then I majored in Creative Writing Fiction at CU Boulder, so this was always the path I knew I wanted to walk.
Me: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up? Do you try to take influences from their style with your own voice in your work?
KH: Stephen King, for one. From the very beginning. I’m sure that was fairly obvious by admitting I read It when I was ten, but he’s been one of my favorites ever since (and yes, I am of the Dark Tower ka-tet). Phillip Pullman was also a first favorite with the His Dark Materials series. Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game). R.L. Stein’s Goosebumps books were a major part of my very early reading days as well. Those are the only ones that come to mind now when I’m thinking about favorite authors growing up. Now all my favorites are those I’ve discovered since first considering myself “grown up”, I suppose.
I can’t say I’ve intentionally tried to incorporate any of their unique styles into my own writing, but I also can’t say they had no influence whatsoever. My writing style feels like my own, and it’s also a complete hodgepodge of the countless authors in almost every genre I’ve read over the years. It’s also constantly changing, so I can say my early work doesn’t really sound anything like my newer books. That’s a good thing. If I never improved, I probably shouldn’t be doing this.
Me: What is your writing process? What do you go through when you start in on a new story?
KH: I’m fortunate enough to be able to say I think I have a fair handle on my writing process at this point. Lots of trial and error, but what works best for me is very, very loose outlining. And by outlining, I really just mean the entire book condensed into anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000 words, depending on how carried away I get with writing it. It takes me about four or five hours to write all this out in what’s basically a stream of consciousness. But it allows me to write the actual books so much faster because I already have the major points down. I’ve tried detailed outlining, and it just isn’t my thing. First of all, I get bored, because it feels like I’ve already written the story at this point. Mostly, the finished novel never actually reflects the detailed outline anyway. All the fun is in discovering the characters, the worlds, the mysteries, the tiny nuances and details as I’m writing them. If I know what’s going to happen at the end of the book before I get there, I only know about 5% of it. That 5% keeps me on track with the general direction. The other 95% is where the magic happens.
And then when I sit down to write anything, I lock myself in my office for 10-12 hours a day and get cracking! Yes, I do take breaks for walks, exercise, food, and the occasional power nap. I’d probably never leave my office and the stories I’m exploring with the characters if my husband and daughter didn’t show up at my door to remind me to come back down to Earth.
Me: When writing a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from? How do you stay focused on writing?
KH: This is a great question! And I’m pretty sure my answer won’t stand up to the same quality…
I don’t have a fall-back tactic to keep me inspired, necessarily. I just force myself to write. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely experienced periods of not being “inspired enough” to start anything new, the longest of which lasted four years. For various reasons. But now I have hard deadlines that have to be met, and I can’t really afford to “look for inspiration” before starting. I always have an idea of what I’ll be writing next. And if I don’t immediately get into the zone where the story’s just coming together flawlessly (and that “stuck” feeling definitely still happens), I just start writing anyway. I can always go back to the beginning and fix it up if it needs fixing. Revisions are always possible. But if I don’t start, I’ll never finish.
The ”staying focused on writing” part is a little easier and more concrete. I write in sprints all day long, alternating between one-hour and thirty-minute sprints. Setting a timer for literally every single one of them helps me pull away from the story while it’s still fresh and ramping up (and most of the time I stop in the middle of a really exciting part, which makes it easier to get back into the flow when I start the next sprint). Then I take a 10-30-minute break, get up, move around, get away from my desk. And when I come back, I’m ready to go again.
Me: Is there any specific type of character you prefer writing?
KH: All the messed-up ones!
In all seriousness, I have two favorite types of characters to write, and they both actually fall into that messed-up category. By messed up, I mean seriously flawed. Morally gray. Characters you hesitate and maybe even hate to fall in love with but end up doing so anyway. Characters with dark, screwed-up pasts who are trying to get past it but just can’t seem to break through the limitations of their own psyche. So the first one probably falls into the “jaded, unpredictable, stubborn, most likely unredeemable” category. Those who may battle external “villains” but most of the time are fighting with the darker parts of themselves just to get by. And hopefully, learn from it and improve.
The second kind of “messed-up” character I really love to write about is the “insane person.” Quirky, weird, makes no sense, seems completely crazy, blunt, sometimes impossible to deal with, and yet incredibly powerful. Not infallible and not unstoppable, but almost. I really love the concept of “perceived madness” as a balancing character trait to intense and overwhelmingly unbalanced power, whether that comes in the form of magic, knowledge, ability, skill, size, strength, etc. Characters whose Achilles’ heel isn’t necessary a physical person, place, or thing but the finite confines of their own mind. Which tend to get rusty and worn out and a little frayed.
Me: How did you settle on the plot for your novel 'Sleepwater Beat?' What was the inspiration behind it?
KH: The inspiration for Sleepwater Beat actually just came from a single scene popping into my head one day—a rough-around-the-edges bounty-hunter sort of woman punching a man in the face on the top of a frozen waterfall and accidentally sending the man crashing to his death on the ice below. And, of course, this “bounty hunter” role was staged as the woman going after people who could “spin a beat” (using the superpower of their spoke words) against the unspoken laws of this community.
The woman became Leo Tieffler, the protagonist of Sleepwater Beat. I actually ended up writing a kind of experimental long short story, where every scene was chronologically out of order but painted a picture of this dystopian world with a noir flavor, where those with the beat ability were being persecuted for having this power no one could see, touch, or fight. I brought it to the writers' workshop I was a member of at the time when I lived in Charleston, SC, and the workshop on this story inspired everything else that eventually became the novel. It took almost two years to do major surgery on that story and transform it from a 30,000-word experiment to a 102,000-word novel that wasn’t even intended to be the first in a series. Parts of it were admittedly agonizing. The rest of it opened my eyes to how much more I was trying to say with this story and how much of my own very personal life experiences I ended up pouring into the plot and into Leo’s character.
Me: Was there any special significance to making the characters blessed with magical powers but being unable to control it?
KH: On the surface level of “fiction elements within character development,” this goes back to what I said about my favorite characters to write—the ones who are so powerful they’re almost unstoppable. The “almost” part has to come about through some sort of checks-and-balances system within a character’s abilities, knowledge, or influence. Not being able to fully control a powerful ability like the beat 100% of the time is definitely a check to that power.
On a much deeper level, and what was actually my overarching intention through Sleepwater Beat, its sequel Sleepwater Static, and the rest of what I have planned for the Blue Helix series, yes. There was a special significance to this lack of control over their abilities. The whole premise was based on my desire to highlight and lend voice to marginalized communities who face discrimination every single day from multiple fronts, all through the lens of a fictional group of people with powers they had no control in obtaining. They can’t help it. They were born with the beat, and it’s a part of them. Just like marginalized communities facing any amount, severity, or frequency of discrimination in our world can’t help being who they are. So I try to draw those parallels through the entire Blue Helix series while also writing a high-octane dystopian adventure with a noir flavor and a comfortable level of violence.
Me: Part of the 'Blue Helix' series with its follow-up novel 'Sleepwater Static,' how did the concept for these books come together? We're you aware of this being a multiple-novel series initially or did that emerge while writing them?
KH: I actually fully intended Sleepwater Beat to be a standalone, and it was absolutely written, finished, and published with that intention. When it became an international bestseller in April of 2019 and a Sci-Fi Finalist in the 2019 International Book Awards, I got a lot of comments from my readers saying they wished there was more.
I’d thought I was finished. But then I realized there was so much more I wanted to say through this series, so much more of the characters’ stories left to tell, and then I had the added encouragement of readers wanting to see all of it. So I wrote Sleepwater Static as a sequel, fully intending to have at least one more book after that (and when I’m finished writing Book 3, we’ll see whether or not the story and the characters are actually finished with me). Sleepwater Static was written as a standalone within the series as well, with the intention of allowing readers to pick up any book in any order and not feel as if they’ve lost major pieces of the story or characters. It helps that each book has a different protagonist, characters we see “on the outside” from other books but who we get to know intimately as the story progresses through the series from multiple points of view. The same thing will happen with Book 3, Sleepwater Reverb, and I am SO excited to dive into the next main character for this one. I think Blue Helix readers will love it as well, but I don’t want to give any spoilers just yet 😉
Me: As well, you've also launched another series, 'Accessory to Magic,' with the first novel 'The Witching Vault.' What can you tell us about writing that?
KH: The Witching Vault and the entire Accessory to Magic series, so far, has been an insanely wild ride. I never in a million years thought I would be writing Urban Fantasy. I’d always been much more drawn to Grimdark Epic Fantasy and Dystopian Sci-Fi. But as a full-time career ghostwriter, I’ve written in almost every single genre, excluding Romance. For some reason, I just don’t have what it takes to drive the plot through a romantic relationship. More power to the authors who can!
After about a year of ghostwriting Urban Fantasy for a large publisher client of mine and seeing how well those books were received, I realized I probably had a penchant for writing this genre too and wanted to experiment with it in my own way. So I took the best of both worlds—everything I’d learned from ghostwriting to a much wider audience than who I’d previously been writing for and everything I knew about my own love of darkness, violence, flawed characters, and intense action—and mixed them all together in the Accessory to Magic series. The Witching Vault became an Amazon #1 New Release four days after it released, and I knew I had something.
“Run the witching vault. Protect the Gateway. Say Please. And don’t get killed.”
That’s The Witching Vault’s tagline, and the book can be summed up like this: An apprentice witch with a criminal past inherits a magical bank that can think for itself. And the clientele are almost as dangerous as what’s inside their safety deposit boxes.
As I move through the Accessory to Magic series, I’m absolutely loving the results of having funneled everything I’ve learned about Urban Fantasy into this series. It’s dark, chaotic, a little brooding, fast-paced, full of intense action and violence and language, and topped off with a lot of off-the-cuff humor (something I also discovered I can do fairly well after almost two and a half years of ghostwriting).
There’s also a bit of an enemies-to-lovers romance within the series. I can do romance as a plot thread, just not the driving force. And it’s a very, very slow burn, full of all the best ingredients for a volatile romance. Of course, I have an incredible love for Happily Never Afters, so that all comes into play with this series too. Not for the faint of heart, like everything I write, but the Accessory to Magic series is definitely one wild ride.
Me: As it's only book one in the series, do you have any plans for further chapters in the saga?
KH: As I mentioned, the Accessory to Magic series was a bit of an experiment for me, where I’m stretching the boundaries of what I thought I could do as an author and looking to challenge myself. So this series is being written and released much faster than any of my others. As it stands currently, there are five books planned, loosely outlined, and ready to be rocked (but who knows? If I feel it can continue, it might just continue). This is also the first time I’ve sat down to actually plan out an entire series. All my others started as an intention to write one book, and the story just organically grew too big for one book to handle.
This time, I’m trying a different approach and know exactly what’s going to happen in each book and how the series will wrap up (or at least the end of Book 5).
Book 2, The Cursed Fae, released in January. Book 3, The Secret Coin, is coming on March 4th, 2021. Books 4 and 5 will follow suit, so the entire series as planned right now will be out before the end of May this year. So far, readers of this series have been way more enthusiastic about it than I expected. I get the occasional “You’re so mean for making me wait for the next book” email, but that just means I’m doing it right. And I’m trying to keep up that momentum, though it really isn’t that hard with how much I love writing this series and Jessica Northwood’s chaotic adventure.
Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
KH: I probably covered it all. The rest of the Accessory to Magic series will be out fairly soon. Then I’ll be returning my attention to the Blue Helix series and Sleepwater Reverb (which may or may not be the final book). After that, I’ve got another Urban Fantasy series brewing that I’m also really excited about: Half-demon bounty hunter turned curator of dark-magic artifacts and curse reagents finds herself blackmailed into working for the wrong client. It’s still in the works in my head for now, but I’m so excited to get started when the time is right.
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
KH: My message applies to literally anyone and everyone wanting to get into the industry, no matter the genre or the avenue they choose to take. That being said, I’m still writing this specifically with women authors in mind:
You can do anything in this industry just as well as the next person, as long as you’re doing it with integrity and a dedication to creating real stories that spark inspiration and excitement in you. Your experience levels or how many years you have under your belt don’t matter. Your age, gender, sexual orientation, social, economic, religious, or racial identity do not dictate your ability to write the stories you want to see and the stories people want to read. I come from a pretty rough background myself with my fair share of emotional and mental struggles. I’m a recovering heroin addict, a wife, and a mother. For four years, I didn’t touch a word of fiction, and now I’m here writing full-time as the sole income provider for my family, doing what I love for a living day in and day out. It takes time, dedication, and a thick skin, but if you’re ready to do this—to not let anything stand between you and your goals—you’ll find a way.
Thank you so much for having me for this interview!
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