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Katarina Betterton | Writer, Reader, Wife

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I’m Katarina – a writer, a wife, and an obsessive puppy mom (not necessarily in that order). Thanks for visiting my online home!

Life in the Commune

Where does your writing take you? // In the last two weeks I’ve been super deep into writing THE LAST MCNARY - we’re creeping up to 40k words! This draft is challenging me in a ton of ways, from world-building to layered POVs and general plot funkiness. But this experience has been so different from writing 33 and I’m cherishing every minute with my scrappy redhead MC and the band of misfit supporting characters. — I’m really excited for y’all to read this one and I’m even getting pumped to query (still ~6 months out on that, at least). The city of Zenith has been a welcome escape for me to fly off to during the nights and thrusts me into a world quite like our own but so, so much worse. I mean... would YOU want to draw your own blood to pay for groceries? — Seriously y’all, I’m excited about this one. I need to finish and edit it (obvi) but will definitely want some beta readers at some point in time! — So where did your writing take you this week? I’m currently in a forgotten ballroom, with ghosts of a family that was murdered there. How about you? \\ #thelastmcnary #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
What are your least-favorite romantic tropes? // Happy January, pals! I hope the first six days of the new year are treating you well enough 😊 I was reorganizing my bookshelf the other day when I came across this lovely book. While these characters will always have a piece of my heart, there is one thing I hate about this book - the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Don’t ask me why because I honestly have no answer for it, but I hate the love triangle trope. Maybe it’s because I know the issue needs a solution and don’t like that 1+ person will end up sad?? Who knows 😅 I’ve only included one semi-love triangle in my stories, but it’s more of a Twelfth Night kind of situation than a love triangle! So tell me, what are your least-favorite romantic tropes?? \\ QUERY UPDATE: about 20 rejections back and still three more floating out there! This year is the Year of Bridie though, so if nothing comes of those three queries, that’s just fine with me. \\ #writing #writingcommunity #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #thehungergames #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #youngadultbooks #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks
~first attempted posed insta pic~ // HAPPY 2020 Y’ALL!!!!! I hope everyone rang in the new year at a Gatsby-style party pining for an old love across the water every time they saw a blinking green light. My plans weren’t THAT literary, and consisted of good food, great friends, and Cards Against Disney (and yes, my childhood WAS ruined. Multiple times). — HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY 2020 y’all. I just love New Year’s so much because it gives my lazy butt an excuse to make big positive changes in my life!! I’d love to share some of my resolutions with you: 💜 being more present - whether it be on work, writing, or family when I’m spending time with them, I want to be fully in the moment. Which means I will be turning off most of the social media app notifications on my phone (I’m looking at you, Twitter & Insta 👀) 💜 taking better care of myself - from diet & exercise to getting more sleep and everything in between, I’d like to treat my body better than I have been. And for the big one... 💜 practicing bravery - I’ve let fear rule most of my life from childhood - fear of failure, fear of disappointing family and friends, fear of pretty much every irrational thing so much so that I’ve created a bubble at times I’ve been too scared to venture out of. But that’s ending with 2019. — Thank you to every single follower I have (there’s nearly 500 of you and we were all strangers at one point - how crazy is that?!) for your unwavering support, love, and inspiration. The writing community on Insta is the coolest in the entire world and I’m so thankful to be a part of it. Special shout out to @l.k.middlebrook.writes and @caughtbetweenthepages for the journal and book (respectively) that reflect my two works!!!! This year, Bridie takes center stage as the main manuscript I’ll work on. 33 is still there and I’ll probably tinker with it a bit, but I’d love to give my other babies (Mertale and Cooper & Parrish) some TLC too! — Apologies I’ve been away for so long, but I’m uber excited to be back. Love you all so much, and can’t wait to tackle this year’s new challenges with y’all! — Did you make some resolutions this year?? Drop them below!⬇️⬇️⬇️ #writing #writingcommunity #amwriting
LAST MONTH OF THE DECADE!!!!! // Y’all... special announcement time! I’d like to usher it in by showing you all the most AMAZING commission by @elliedoodles02 😍😍😍 do you know what this is??? IT ME, YALL. IT ME WITH MY FOUR MAIN CHARACTERS. Why yes, I am deceased. Thank you for asking. From left to right we have Anna Cooper (from COOPER & PARRISH), Bridie (from THE LAST MCNARY), ~me~, Stenne (from 33), and Eta (from MERTALE). Please, please PLEASE go follow Ellie and check out her amazing art!!!! She is such an incredible human and wonderful artist. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect commission from her!!! — And for the bigger news... I’m blogging again!!! Specifically, this entire month of December I’m going to try to blog every day for #DecWriMo!!! What is that, you may ask?? it’s my personal spin on NaNo, but without word counts and chapter goals. NaNo works for a ton of people but it doesn’t for me anymore - it’s not healthy for my writing. So I came up with #DecWriMo, December Writing Month, where I focus on building my stories by thinking, writing, listening to music, and getting inspired by art. I’ll blog every day (besides a few around the holidays) for accountability’s sake and share each day what I’ve thought about/worked on/something that inspired me. I invite anyone and everyone to do this with me and tag posts with #DecWriMo to share your inspiration with others! #DecWriMo isn’t about hitting goals, it’s about consciously spending a whole month thinking, planning, and being inspired by your story that the world desperately needs. — My first post for #DecWriMo will be up this afternoon on my website! Click the link in my bio to check it out! 😊 \\ I hope everyone had an incredible holiday weekend! Happy last month of the decade - let’s make it count!!!! #writingcommunity #writing #amwriting #amrevising #writingtips #writinginspiration #amwritingscifi #amwritingfiction
Sick day at the Betterton household!! // I’m feeling SUPER lucky we don’t have anything to do this weekend. I’ve spent the last 24+ hours in bed just napping/reading/watching my favorite movies and it has made me feel SO much better. — I had to post this excerpt since THE LAST MCNARY’s MC Bridie suffers from an illness and I’m sick right now too 🙈 Bridie and I have the same illness though: Anemia! Unfortunately for her, life with anemia in Zenith is much harder than I have it. Especially because her blood is the only asset she has to barter with. — Does anyone else curse themselves for taking breathing for granted when they have a stuffy nose?! For the last three days I’ve been trying to remember what regular breathing is like 😂 another question: do your MCs suffer from any illnesses, or just get sick in the course of the book? I always think it’s interesting how characters deal with sickness! — QUERY UPDATE: still at 16 rejections! Waiting on a few more until all are back! I am still only two chapters into Bridie’s draft 5 so querying for her is a WAYS off. \\ 📸PC: Pinterest #thelastmcnary #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
#THANKFUL // Y’all... what a crapton of stuff I have to be thankful for this year, so let me share just a few: - An amazing writing community that supports and inspires me every day - Critique partners/beta readers/best friends who I get the privilege of talking to every day - A husband who continually champions my writing and supports my dreams - 16 rejections that have made me and my story WAY better - An unending pile of sci-fi, fantasy, and historical worlds to escape to whenever I want - A mind that creates new worlds, new characters, and new stories to share with others \\ Big apologies for not posting for nearly a month - it’s been a few very busy weeks! As an update - I’m waiting on just a few more queries to come back before full attention goes to Bridie’s story. She’s been tough to crack but I’m really happy with how THE LAST MCNARY is going so far now! — I chose to post ILLUMINAE (first bc the orange cover is thanksgiving-esque lol) because I’m so thankful for this book. It was ~the book~ that made me fall in love with the sci-fi genre. It will always been one of my absolute favorite books. — I’m wishing everyone a very happy start to their holiday season. Feel free to share with me what you’re most thankful for today! \\ 📸PC: me! #thelastmcnary #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
RE👏LA👏TION👏SHIPS // Today’s aesthetic pays homage to my two disaster babies in THE LAST MCNARY, Bridie & Miles. I’ll admit, this narrative is getting really difficult to write. I’m not sure if it’s imposter syndrome kicking in or me just being impatient to finish this draft, but I have been struggling the last few days!!! — One of my favorite parts of this WIP is the love story... or lack thereof. In 33, Sten+Sto come together fast and fall deeply in love but with M&B... not so much. They’re both very broken people who try to fix each other but have to realize before they focus on anyone else, they have to fix themselves. And the setting I’ve plopped them in makes it super easy and super hard at the same time. This is a big reason I love writing adult, too. As a 20/30-something, we face way different challenges than a teenager falling in love (who’s story is still super valid and needs to be told, but just different). I love analyzing, breaking down, then rebuilding with words the complexity of a relationship tangled up in the midst of family, duty, expectations, and real life. — On a lighter note, I just rewatched some Anastasia scenes and WOW am I inspired!!! I already know how the first few chapters’ rewrite will go. Anastasia was one of my favorite princess movies as a child and Lucas took me to see @anastasiabway on Christmas Eve two years ago where I got to meet the incomparable @christyaltomare 😍 Seriously, how could I NOT write an Anastasia retelling after seeing that show?? — Hope y’all have a great week! QUERY UPDATE: 11 rejections, the newest being an CNR I realized just today! Thank you so much for sticking along with me!! 💜💛 \\ 📸PC: Pinterest #thelastmcnary #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
What big titles are you excited to read before 2019 is over? // There are some exciting retelling/mashups released this year I’m v excited to dig into, like WILDER GIRLS and THE GRACE YEAR that I just got! I’m also trying to diversify my library. I read a ton of dystopian and sci-fi so I’m starting to buy fantasy and historical fiction! Any recs for me to preorder in 2020? — Query update: I just hit the big 10!!! 9 form rejections and 1 CNR - woohoo for milestones! — #PitchWars mentees were announced yesterday too and while I didn’t make the list, I received TWO full requests! Those were my first full requests for 33 and honestly, that’s a feeling I’ll hold onto for a while!! — Lastly, I’m still working on rewriting Bridie. I’d say I’m about halfway though. While it’s going slow, I’m really enjoying this draft. It’s going a lot better than the last two!!! \\ 📸PC: me #bridieandthebloodwar #wildergirls #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
NEW STORY ALERT // When you’re querying, best to stay busy, right? 😂 I’ve had this idea for only a few weeks but today, inspiration struck and I wrote the first chapter! Don’t you just love new ideas?? — Meet Anna Cooper, a young woman who sweeps into the sleepy town of Billetsby after exploring the world for 10 years. Soon after her arrival in her hometown, a mysterious monster from the north threatens the safety of the town folks. When stuck up chemist and town erudite James Parrish aids her in ridding the town of the monster, the two take an immediate disliking to each other. But as monsters continue to converge on the town, Anna and James must put their pride—and growing attraction to each other—aside before the town is overrun. — Woohoo! That’s my preliminary pitch for the book. It’ll be an adult historical fantasy and I’m planning a duology... I think. I know how I want the first book to end and it’d be too unsatisfying to leave the series with that ending. Besides, Anna is already a ton of fun to write and I suspect James will be too! — Are you participating in NaNo this year? November kind of suck up on me but I had no plans to “win” NaNo this year anyways... I want to revise Bridie’s story and get it ready for querying for next year! — QUERY UPDATE: 9 rejections... I kinda forget how many are still out 🙈 going to finish these queries out and then shelve 33 for a bit to give Bridie her chance in the sun! \\ 📸PC: Pinterest #historicalfantasy #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #historicalfiction #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #fantasyauthor #amwriting #author ##writerslife #fantasy #adultfantasybooks
What are your thoughts on dystopian? Love it, hate it, don’t care about it? // I’m currently in PA and only brought Godsgrave with me (rookie mistake, I know) so I had to go hunting for a new book to take a picture of! This one sounds legitimately so interesting - a sickness characterized like dementia is a huge plot point in it and I’m HERE FOR IT. Most of my grandparents suffered from dementia and it’s a heartbreaking thing to watch someone go through. I’m super excited to pick up this book and it’s sequel (which was just released!) soon! — QUERY UPDATE: 8 rejections, 12 queries still out! And Bridie is being DIFFICULT AF so writing is progressing v slow right now 😂 \\ 📸PC: me #thelinebetween #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #dystopianfiction #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianbookseries
Do you write spooky stories?! // I never thought I would, but this version of Bridie’s story is turning out to be pretty scary and honestly, I’m loving it! 🖤 — I’m really excited to announce I’ve renamed Bridie’s story to THE LAST MCNARY. I’ve hated its first name ever since I had to put something on its folder and that’s all I could come up with at the time! I’m one for short titles and I felt like this one paid a little more homage the story’s origin (Anastasia). — I’m also excited to let you know that for the next 3 weeks, I’ll be updating WattPad with a chapter a week until I’ve posted all of part one! I’ve only planned to post Part One, but if the story gets more traction, maybe I’ll reconsider 😉 — QUERY UPDATE: still only 7 rejections! I have a good number of queries out still but have decided once I hear back from those, I’m going to focus on Bridie full time. While 33 remains my favorite book, I want to prioritize Bridie in 2020. \\ 📸PC: Pinterest #bridieandthebloodwar #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #booksaboutrebellion #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #scifiauthor #amwriting #author #dystopianauthor #writerslife #dystopian #adultscifi #dystopianfiction #dystopianbooks #anastasiaretelling
Oops, I did it again... // Can you blame me? This series is solidly in my top 3 favorites of ALL TIME. Plus... it’s a signed first edition!!!! The best part?? Lucas actually saw this in the bookstore and got it for me, knowing I’d just finished Nervernight! Best. Husband. Ever. — Query update: 7 rejections so far - so close to the big 10! No requests yet but I am WAY more confident in my submission package after having a few agents/editors look at it. \\ 📸PC: me! #nevernight #bookstagram #bookblogger #lovebooks #reader #bookobsessed #writer #writing #instabooks #godsgrave #bloodbooks #literature #writerscommunity #authorsofinstagram #sff #stabstabstab #darkdawn #author #miacorvere #writerslife #adultfantasy #nevernightchronicles

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