Name of Author: Kate Hauxwell
Title of Book: Hell's Rayne, book 1 of the Hell Saga.
Favorite Authors: Terry Pratchett, Kim Harrison, George R.R.Martin, Laurell K Hamilton, Philippa Gregory, but I'll read pretty much anything except romance.
Bio:
Hi I'm Kate and I'm a bookaholic! Reading and writing books are my biggest obsession, which should come as no surprise. When not doing either of those things, my passion is Wado Karate which I've been doing for the past four years and hope to continue for many more. My husband turned me into a gamer in my late teens, another passion we share. And somehow I find the time to do all of these things in and around caring for my two wonderful, if loud and crazy, daughters. Life is busy.
Hell's Rayne
http://www.wattpad.com/story/5090809-hell%27s-rayne-book-1
Can you explain what your book is all about?
Rayne is one of a breed of human-demon hybrids tasked with keeping the delicate balance of the world in line. Appearing mostly human in form they infiltrate the world of men, corrupting those found to be too good, and taking those that are too bad back to Hell and sacrificing them to maintain order on Earth. Taking on a new, seemingly ordinary, corruption case things soon begin to unravel for Rayne. As the emotions from her human side interfere in her work, new events unfold and it becomes clear that nothing is at all what it seems.
Who is your target audience - and why?
Generally I would class this book, and the other two in the trilogy, as adult novels, to include young adults on the older end on the YA spectrum. Mostly due to some profanity the characters use, as well as some of the horror and violent moments – this is no romance story.
What is 'paranormal' about your story?
This one is all about the demons as well as my own, and I like to think, fairly unique vision of Hell in this story. There are a variety of different demons featured, and we delve into a concept of how life on Earth is governed and managed by higher powers and the business in dealing with human souls.
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones - and why?
I suppose it could be seen to have some elements of the spiritual genre, in dealing with souls and a concept of the afterlife, however I took great pains to avoid any specific religious context in these books not wanting it to fall too far into that genre. There are also elements of horror, because what else fits so neatly with paranormal if not the horror genre, and to offset it all you won't be surprised to find a few moments of light comic relief, purely to make sure the subject matter doesn't get too dark and heavy all the way through.
Tell us about your writing process - how do you get from story idea to a Wattpad published story?
I write everything longhand to start with, not sure why I just can't seem to get anything down when sat staring at a computer screen. So good old pen and paper it is. I draft pretty much everything this way, then the chapters get a first, fairly basic edit as I transfer them onto the computer. I don't like to edit too thoroughly until I've got a full first draft of a book complete, or I find myself endlessly backtracking and progressing nowhere with the plot, a mistake I've made in the past and try hard to avoid these days. I'm also a pantser, I don't plot too much when it comes to my books, and even if I do I find that the story line has drastically changed by the time I come to the end, so I try not to tie myself down in planning every chapter in minute detail ahead of writing it. I like to just go with the flow and see where my characters decide to take me, it can lead to some very interesting places.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so - how did you overcome them?
The biggest problem was probably what I already mentioned above. The very first incarnation of Rayne began around eight years ago. I managed to get about ten chapters down but never progressed any further with it because I found myself always seeking to change things, make it better that I would go back and re-write those same chapters over and over again and wouldn't get any further.
It wasn't actually until I discovered Wattpad that I finally cracked down and wrote the book from beginning to end. I did re-write those first ten chapters again for this version of the book, but only the once and I got to the end, and now we have a second book and a third one in progress. So this site has been a wonderful motivator and great network of support for me through this progress.
You often hear that 'writing well' is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
This I think is true to some extent, but has to work in combination with other elements too. You need to have a story that people want to read, you could create the most well written book in the world, but if you can't engage the reader in your story it will not be successful.
Likewise, an interesting and engaging story can still put a reader off if it is full of errors that make it difficult to follow. You need a good balance of the two, and drafting, editing, re-writing are all key to this. I learned along the way that you do not need to create a perfect first draft and tell myself that to begin with I will write the story I want to write, beginning to end, then I can go back and fix what doesn't work later. There are a lot of rules and guidelines around for writers, and not just when it comes to spelling and grammar. Learn the rules, and then decide for yourself when it's right for you to break them. Writing is a journey of discovery with no set destination, you never stop learning.
