Ink and Flame Episode #10
Kathryn Breaux: Author of The Trials of Darkness

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Transcription

Tina Koutras (00:00)
Welcome to Ink and Flame. I'm your host, Tina Koutras, and I'm sitting down with Katherine Breaux to talk about Trial of Darkness. Hi, Katherine, how are you?

Kathryn Breaux (00:08)
Hello, hello, I'm doing well. How are you?

Tina Koutras (00:11)
I'm doing great. The sun is shining

and we're warming up to spring. We're in Nova Scotia, so we had a really cold winter. What was yours like? Yeah. And where are you coming into us from?

Kathryn Breaux (00:15)
Ugh.

my gosh. I'm sure cold is an understatement, right?

yeah, I am from Arkansas, born and raised here. our winters are odd, honestly. I don't know if you know anything about weather in the South. but it's, 80 some days and then today it is in the forties. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the seventies. So if you, we, we have a bit of weather whiplash, honestly, and it's, it happens a lot, a lot.

Tina Koutras (00:49)
Yeah,

I think we're kind of going through the same thing. mean, I'm Celsius versus Fahrenheit, but we're definitely going through the same thing. Like today is quite warm and by the end of the week, we're supposed to have snow. So, you know.

Kathryn Breaux (00:53)
Mm-hmm.

man,

we don't get much snow, thankfully. I am not a snow person at all. So we get, it maybe snows once a year and I kid you not, we get like three inches maybe and the entire state shuts down. We can't handle it. People are at the grocery stores getting the eggs, milk, they're all like total freak out in this state if it snows. So, my gosh, yes, everybody panics. Yes. So thankfully we don't get that a lot.

Tina Koutras (01:23)
Apocalypse conditions.

Kathryn Breaux (01:29)
we're

past all the potential snow. So yeah, just looking forward to spring, warmer weather and to get outside. I'm getting like the cabin fever. Yeah. Yep.

Tina Koutras (01:35)
I, I imagine same with me. I can't wait to be out there.

And I think it's funny that I swear that people are okay with snow for like the first two weeks leading up to Christmas and after Christmas. And then after that, they're like, okay, go away now.

Kathryn Breaux (01:48)
Mm-hmm.

Go away, I'm done with you. I saw something the other

day that made me laugh. It said, I am tired of complaining about it being cold. I'm ready to complain about it being hot now. And it's like, yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm ready to complain. Yep, that's it. I'm ready to complain about it being hot. Yep, it's so true. Yeah, same here.

Tina Koutras (01:59)
That is absolutely...

That's hilarious and it's so true. I am definitely ready. So

before we get into the nitty gritty of your book, let's talk a little bit about yourself.

Kathryn Breaux (02:15)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Okay, I, like I said, born and raised in Arkansas. I am married, have a two year old, so very busy with all of that that's been going on. As far as writing, all of that stuff, I've been writing, gosh, I, when my mom did the whole, let's pull out your old papers and writing things that you did when you were like seven and let's reread them like before the book was published.

Tina Koutras (02:42)
You

Kathryn Breaux (02:44)
I'd rather not, I'd rather not. But no, I don't even know what to talk about myself. Isn't it such an odd thing to have to talk about yourself?

Tina Koutras (02:46)
You

Yeah, it definitely

can be. But what's one fun or surprising thing that not a lot of people know about you?

Kathryn Breaux (03:02)
Mmm. My gosh. I have played piano since I was like five years old.

Tina Koutras (03:10)
do you still play?

Kathryn Breaux (03:12)
Some, I could get through it. I'll leave it there. I am rusty, but luckily with the extent and the length that I took piano, it kind of is like, I would say riding a bike. There's something fun about me. I can't ride a bike. There we go. I was gonna say piano is like riding a bike, but that would mean it's a train wreck for me and it is not a train wreck for me. So we'll scratch that. There, I can't ride a bike.

Tina Koutras (03:16)
Hahaha!

What?

That is fun.

You

So is your husband going

to be the one teaching your daughter then?

Kathryn Breaux (03:42)
yes, and she is

dying for a bike for her third birthday and my husband said, so am I getting you a bike too? And I was like, I guess so. We're all learning together. Yes. I never learned how to ride a bike.

Tina Koutras (03:49)
That sounds fun.

Well, it'll make her feel a little bit more empowered if she can stay on longer than mom.

Kathryn Breaux (03:59)
Yeah, when I have to scrape knees and I'm like bleeding, I'm gonna have to send you photos and be like, Tina, look what happened to me today.

Tina Koutras (04:06)
I would laugh.

Kathryn Breaux (04:08)
Me too

when the pain subsided.

Tina Koutras (04:11)
Yeah, I would have a sympathetic laugh. Of course. That's right.

Kathryn Breaux (04:13)
Yeah, I know. You laugh after you know I'm okay. Then it's fine. Yeah, then it's fine. There we

go. I can't ride a bike. There's my fun fact.

Tina Koutras (04:21)
So what got you said you've been writing for forever, but what got you into writing?

Kathryn Breaux (04:26)
I, as far as the books and everything now that I write, I just was finding inspiration absolutely everywhere. But I have been writing, of course, ever since I was really small. I think the first like story book that we found, I made my mom write it for me because I couldn't write yet. So I was very little.

Tina Koutras (04:36)
Mm-hmm.

Kathryn Breaux (04:48)
But since then it has grown. Yeah, I didn't write much in college outside of the forced papers that I had to turn in and things like that. But once I graduated college, I, like I said, started having ideas. The journal and notes in my phone is just covered in different ideas that I have. And funny enough, they weren't fantasy ideas or adult books that I wanted to write. They were all children's books.

Tina Koutras (04:49)
That's wild.

Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (05:17)
I was gonna be a children's book author and I have, I still have multiple books in there like already done that I've never published. I probably would have to use a pin name now just to kind of separate, yeah, to separate the two. But yes, I always wanted to be, or I always wanted to write children's books. So that was something that I was just gonna do. I graduated college with a communications degree. So definitely did multiple writing courses.

Tina Koutras (05:27)
Differentiate, yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (05:43)
public speaking courses, you name it. But you can see that I had this plan and I was going this way and then I went this way. And now I am an adult romanticity writer.

Tina Koutras (05:46)
Cool.

That's wicked. And there was another fun fact in there about the fact that you wanted to be a... See, they're everywhere. So what is it about the fantasy genre that keeps calling you back to both being a reader and a writer?

Kathryn Breaux (05:58)
there you go! Yeah, see I do, I can talk about myself.

Just my love for it. I have always loved fantasy. I love the world, the magic, you name it. It has always been so interesting and cool to me. It really picked up, of course, when I was much younger and watched Lord of the Rings for the first time. My love, I feel like it's like that one, that specific probably series for a ton of people that like,

Tina Koutras (06:32)
Mm-hmm.

Kathryn Breaux (06:41)
altered my brain chemistry, I feel like. My dad took me to the movie theater to watch the first one and since then it has just grown very, very heavily since then. And then of course got very into reading in college and picked up fantasy again and since then it has just blossomed into I love to watch it, I love to read it. Why wouldn't I try?

Tina Koutras (06:43)
Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (07:05)
to write it and kind of write the books that I want to read and hopefully watch one day if they got picked up, know, turn it to a movie manifest. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But yeah, it just kind of spiraled from there. So I, yeah, like I said, I've just always really loved fantasy, the magic, the world building. It's all so cool. And it's such a...

Tina Koutras (07:05)
Right, yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Manifest, exactly, yes.

Kathryn Breaux (07:29)
different world than we live in. So it's a nice escape as well.

Tina Koutras (07:34)
Yeah, that's the terminology I use all the time because we need it for sure. Especially now.

Kathryn Breaux (07:37)
Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Especially now. We need

it. I know any kind of escape for sure than my, I don't want to say mundane everyday life, but you know, it's a lot more fun to read a fantasy book than it is to unload the dishwasher. So.

Tina Koutras (07:45)
Yeah.

I don't know if you plan on having more than one child, but just wait for it.

Kathryn Breaux (07:55)
No, know.

know. Jury's still up on that one. I don't know. I'm right at the three-year-old mark and I'm like, ooh, I don't know if bringing another one into this mess would be the move. We'll see. We'll see.

Tina Koutras (08:01)
you

So the title, Trials of Darkness, pretty intriguing. Can you share where the inspiration came from for it?

Kathryn Breaux (08:10)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yes, so I was actually sitting on the couch with my daughter and we had turned on the Disney movie Brave. I don't know if you've seen that one. So Merida, of course she is very similarly like my book, know, forced or, you know, told that she's going to go through with this arranged marriage. And it became one of my favorite movies after watching it with my little one. I'd seen it before her, but I mean, watching Disney movies now are

Tina Koutras (08:25)
Mm-hmm.

Kathryn Breaux (08:44)
movies like that through your child. It's so much fun because they love it and to watch their face and she was just obsessed with it. And so I kind of started sitting on this idea of I really love this movie. I would maybe love this movie if there was an adult version, you know, of it or potentially a book.

So just started kind of sitting on the idea. I really drew inspiration from that, especially the trials. There are some trials in that movie, but I of course expanded on it. But yeah, inspiration really came from that. And then of course I love the trials that are in Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire, different things like that. So I just kind of started pulling inspiration and sat on the idea of, I feel like five.

six months before I ever even started taking notes in my phone on things. It was just kind of this bug I couldn't get out of my head. So then that's when I said, I love to read it and watch it. Let's try and write it.

Tina Koutras (09:45)
That's awesome. So I have to ask, do you create different versions of stories for your daughter?

Kathryn Breaux (09:53)
One day she can read this.

Tina Koutras (09:55)
One day, but I mean

different versions when you're telling bedtime stories. Are you reading them or are you telling them?

Kathryn Breaux (10:02)
telling them mostly, telling them mostly. I honestly read her some of the children's books that I've written as well. So that's fun. But yes, it always is very random. Because yes, it's typically after the lamp is already out that it's pitch black dark and I'm trying to get her to go to bed and she does the whole, can you read me a story real quick? And I'm like, I am not getting up and turning the slide on and finding a book that you won't want me to read. So yes, it turns into the once upon a time.

Tina Koutras (10:03)
Yeah.

Yay! That is fun!

Kathryn Breaux (10:32)
and it just kind of goes on from there. It always ends with, then she went to sleep.

Tina Koutras (10:32)
Yay.

That's awesome.

So are there any Easter eggs or hidden nods in your book that only super observant people or people who know you really well would catch?

Kathryn Breaux (10:48)
Absolutely, absolutely there are and that is the most fun part to me especially when people reach out to me and they're reading it and they So I actually have one of my best friends reading book two right now and she's text me just today and she was like so and so is a liar and I was like keep going like keep going and it's just

Tina Koutras (11:02)
yeah.

You

Kathryn Breaux (11:12)
I love it, yes. I have had some people pick up on a few of the Easter eggs that are dropped in book one, that heavily, heavily hint to things that are gonna happen in book two. They're in there and even in book two, it's definitely laying some groundwork for what's gonna happen in book three. And I think that's so, that's so fun. Us authors, we're so devious, aren't we? We're like, ha ha. Yeah, I know, I know.

Tina Koutras (11:36)
Just wait for this one.

What was the hardest part to write the Trials of Darkness for you? Of course, without any spoilers.

Kathryn Breaux (11:48)
Yeah. As far as the process or hardest like actual parts to get out or both.

Tina Koutras (11:55)
Yeah, let's just go with both

Kathryn Breaux (11:57)
Okay, love that. As far as writing it, this was my first book. So all of the above, it was hard. I think you sit down and you think I can just write this book. It's gonna just flow out. I can keep a 400 page book together, not worry about it. And then you start and you're like, I understand how difficult this is now. So as far as the writing process,

Tina Koutras (12:07)
Ha ha!

Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (12:25)
everything. It's hard, you guys. It is hard to write a book. It is not easy. But I will say it's so, it was so worth it though. I mean, the places that it has led me, the people now that I've met and the fun things like this that I get to do, it's, the hard work was absolutely, absolutely worth it. The hardest parts for me to write, anything, anything kind of gut wrenching, of course, is.

Tina Koutras (12:29)
you

Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (12:49)
just like the hardest thing in the world because as you write this story, you you fall in love with the characters, even if they are side characters, you know, it's hard to get rid of anyone. And I definitely get rid of quite a few people in this first book.

Tina Koutras (12:58)
Mm-hmm.

Well, that's a good

warning.

Kathryn Breaux (13:08)
It's

a good warning, it's a good warning. There are trials, things have gotta happen, you know, I won't say too much, but yes, those are probably the hardest parts. Now the ones that are the annoying characters, bye, I'll get rid of them all day.

Tina Koutras (13:12)
Yep.

So were there any moments where the story kind of wrote itself or it went into a different direction from where you planned?

Kathryn Breaux (13:27)
Holy moly, the whole thing. So I am not a plotter. Is it a pantser or plotter? Is that what they call me? I am a true definition of a pantser writer. It's so funny, because I thought about it the other day and I was like, I'm gonna sit down to write at two o'clock, write for a few hours and then call it a day. Well, that didn't happen. And I ended up sitting down the next day and me being a pantser,

Tina Koutras (13:36)
Yes it is,

Kathryn Breaux (13:56)
The story came out and it was fine and flowing. And I thought to myself, I was like, had I sat down the day before at two o'clock to write, how different would it be different? Or, I kind of had that thought because yes, the story pretty much wrote itself. My characters absolutely boss me around and tell me what they're going to do pretty much, which has been so much fun about the process as a whole. Now, book two.

Tina Koutras (14:09)
Yep.

Kathryn Breaux (14:25)
it's kicking me right in the behind because I'm having to be, I had to be a lot more of a plotter. Cause I'm like, wait, what happened in book one? Wait, when did, when did this person get a scar? wait, when did this? And I'm like, dang it, I gotta, I gotta be more organized for this book two, book three. man, I'm gonna have to have diagrams, charts.

Tina Koutras (14:38)
you

sticky notes won't cut

it

Kathryn Breaux (14:51)
my God, no, they won't. They won't.

They will have to be, hey, maybe organized sticky notes. I'm not going to change overnight. So yeah, I love being the pantser because yeah, it's fun. I never know where it's, I do know where it's going to take me. I know the big ABC plots, how we get there. I have my bones. How we're going to get there. Your guess is as good as mine.

Tina Koutras (14:56)
Sticky notes.

You

Yeah, you have the bones.

Yeah, it's all the connective tissue

you got to work on.

Kathryn Breaux (15:18)
I gotta work on that connective tissue. Yes, and it has been hard

since book one is out. I have finished book two, like I said, but I really can't read what a lot of people say, especially what they think is coming for book two and three, because I'm like, I can't have any of that sway my decisions of what's gonna come because I don't know. It's been fun though, it's been fun.

Tina Koutras (15:41)
Yeah, that's fantastic. And it would

be fun. Absolutely. Okay. Who is your favorite character to write and why?

Kathryn Breaux (15:49)
Are you?

man, that's hard. Okay, so obviously our main character, Briar. She is so much fun to write. She is sassy. She has a bad mouth. I just love that about her. She doesn't do anything that anybody asks her. Her best friends are like, can you do this? And she's like, sure, after I go mess up 12 things over here, she's fine. I love to write her. My second favorite character to write.

is Oak, definitely. He is just phenomenal. And if you get a chance to read it at the end, you'll be like, Oak. Well, I call him my sweet baby. He's phenomenal. But I love to write the funny ones. And then of course, the main characters because they're such an extension of myself. And I was telling somebody the other day, was like, these people, they're real people to me. They live in my head, but they are absolutely real.

people to me at this point.

Tina Koutras (16:49)
Yeah, I can definitely feel that. And I think most readers that spend any degree of time, you know, reading a series can feel that too, that they get really connected to the characters for sure.

Kathryn Breaux (16:51)
Mm-hmm.

absolutely. Absolutely.

There are some book series, of course, that I love that I'm like, these people are real. They're like over there hanging out, doing their own thing, their own world. Like they're, they're real. So yes, I agree. It's, hard not to get attached to the characters that you spend so much time with. I spend more time with these people than my family half the time now at this point. My two year old knows my book characters. It's funny. I can show her art pictures and she's like,

Tina Koutras (17:16)
Right, exactly.

You

that's cool.

Kathryn Breaux (17:27)
that's that's Briar. And I'm like, yeah, it is. She's funny. The artists that I've worked with are amazing. My pull to just message them all the time and be like, hi, can you create more for me is very strong, but I gotta, I gotta watch it. It's addicting. Yes. my gosh. It's so much fun. I wish I could just have a massive illustration of the entire.

Tina Koutras (17:30)
That's awesome. And I've seen some of the artwork. It's pretty nice.

Yeah, because it's addicting to see them come to life, right?

Kathryn Breaux (17:54)
Maybe that's why I was drawn to kids books, because of the art and the pictures. Maybe.

Tina Koutras (17:54)
Yeah.

Maybe, maybe. So when building

your world, what surprised you the most about the process?

Kathryn Breaux (18:05)
how in depth that it actually gets and not even just what you put on the pages that people read, but in depth, even in your own mind. like family trees, all of that, like it is shown somewhat, of course, in the book, parents, things like that. But one thing I definitely have figured out as an author, and I know you know this as well, is how deep the roots

Tina Koutras (18:21)
Mm-hmm.

Kathryn Breaux (18:32)
truly go and how just how intense you make everything, which is wonderful. I love it. But I never thought before I was a writer reading it. I'm like, okay, there's this magic level or magic system. We have our people and that's pretty much the extent of it. Now being an author on the other side, I'm like,

There's this magic system, but there's also all of this underneath it. And there's these people, but there's family trees that we have never seen before or heard. just the extensive, yes, the history, the extensiveness of everything was very shocking once I started everything. Then it's like, wow, I know these people as great-grandma's names that will probably never come to light, but like, I know them.

Tina Koutras (19:01)
History.

Yeah, so it's like, so you know yardisil, the tree of life, I could be pronouncing it wrong, but it's the image of it where it's got the big foliage on the top, but so many roots and it forms an entire circle. It's, it's very much like that.

Kathryn Breaux (19:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yes, I think I have like a

really botched illustration of what I wanted to be. It's right here. Like look. That's true. That's true. Yeah, this is my old notebook of like all the notes that I took when I was first started writing. And it's very funny. Nothing happened that I had written down. Nothing.

Tina Koutras (19:37)
yeah!

So, you do have a magic system in yours, in your world? Fun.

Kathryn Breaux (19:51)
Yes, yes, they

are shadow wielders and lumar wielders. So light and dark. Yeah. Shadow and lumar wielders. Mm-hmm, yes. There are magic pretty much everywhere, but they use crystals. So it's more, I'm trying to explain. Let me just explain this book to you real quick. No, I'm just kidding.

Tina Koutras (19:58)
What did you call it? Shadow and what?

Loomer nice

You

Kathryn Breaux (20:18)
They are called witches. They're descendants of powerful gods and great witches. But as time has passed and kind of their magic has developed into what it is today, they refer to themselves as wielders. So they're shadow wielders and light wielders, lumar wielders. And they do have an ever-present tap that kind of runs through their veins of magic.

but it is intensified by ritualistic magic. So that's where kind of the witches plays into it a bit, where they use crystals. It's called regals in this book and it's different like symbols and stuff that they can draw that can really intensify their magic. So it is an interesting, it's a fun magic system, I feel like. And that was so much fun about creating it as well. Cause being fantasy, you can make them have whatever

Tina Koutras (20:58)
Nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (21:10)
powers you want them to. Yeah, I know. I know it's been fun. But yes, their magic is very cool. The crystals is what is very neat to me. The front of the cover has some crystals on it. And I keep them in my office as well.

Tina Koutras (21:11)
Yep. As long as you stick to the rules, you're good to go. I love it.

So do you

listen to anything when you're writing?

Kathryn Breaux (21:30)
I blast music in my ears, probably too loud. My older self is probably gonna punch my younger self in the face when I get to that age. But yes, I really love classical music. Listen to that quite a bit, deep. I love a cello, there's another fun fact about me. I'm obsessed with dark cello music. I think it's so beautiful.

Tina Koutras (21:32)
how fun.

you

Kathryn Breaux (21:56)
But yes, anything classical. And then if I'm gonna choose a song for the day that actually has words in it, I just play it on repeat. And then eventually the words, like, I don't register the words anymore. So yeah, always music though. I can't write in silence.

Tina Koutras (22:10)
Yeah.

And do you have any particular songs that are linked to your specific characters?

Kathryn Breaux (22:20)
I have playlists for book one and book two. So that was fun as well. You know when you're supposed to be writing and then you're just like, I'm gonna create an entire playlist instead or Pinterest. Yes, I have Pinterest boards. have playlists for book one. The one for book two is hidden on Spotify. So nobody will look for it because the title is on there and I have not released the title for book two yet.

Tina Koutras (22:31)
You

Kathryn Breaux (22:45)
but yes, that has been a lot of fun as well. And to our point, like we said earlier, that just goes into the extensiveness of how much world building and developing that you do as an author for a story.

Tina Koutras (22:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, when that certain song comes on and you just have imagery going on. Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (23:01)
Mm-hmm.

yeah, absolutely

Tina Koutras (23:05)
So you mentioned that your love of fantasy has never really faltered. What's a particular fantasy read from your childhood and teen years that still sticks with you today?

Kathryn Breaux (23:15)
Of course, Harry Potter. I feel like everybody probably says that. I also didn't just watch Lord of the Rings. I read Lord of the Rings. Also read The Hobbit and loved all of that. And I cannot for the life of me think of the name of the book. And I was talking to somebody about this, but it was a little mouse fantasy book.

Tina Koutras (23:19)
Ha

Kathryn Breaux (23:39)
I'll have to figure out what it is. I'll comment on the Instagram post if you post this and tell everybody Desperado or like something like that. But it was a little mouse. And I remember being obsessed with that little mouse fantasy book. He had a sword. Is it ringing a bell?

Tina Koutras (23:54)
I think,

yeah, because I think one of my other people on the podcast referenced him, like maybe the one that just released last week maybe talked about it.

Kathryn Breaux (23:59)
Hahaha

Oh, I'll have to

go ask him in.

Tina Koutras (24:08)
But of course, I don't remember it either because I never saw it. But now I'm like super curious.

Kathryn Breaux (24:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. I know. I

know. Now I've just like derailed us and we're just going to be thinking about that the entire time. But yes, it was a few of those books, of course, but honestly, growing up outside of fantasy, what I read was all like horror. I mean, not as a child. I was like a goosebumps reader as a child. But really, when I picked up reading again, it was all thrillers, horror books, things like that.

Tina Koutras (24:18)
You

Yeah. Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (24:38)
I love scary things. So I really got started back in reading with that, then was reintroduced to fantasy. And then that's kind of how everything, how everything spiral.

Tina Koutras (24:42)
Yeah.

who reintroduced you.

Kathryn Breaux (24:50)
one of my best friends. And of course it was with the whole Sarah J Maas trend. I can't say that I'm any different, that I was just like this cool girl that didn't pick up ACOTAR and fall back in love. But like, yeah, I got this bug.

Tina Koutras (24:54)
I feel like

I feel

like she deserves a medal for the amount of people she dragged back into the fantasy, romantic realm.

Kathryn Breaux (25:12)
Absolutely, and it's just, yep, she put

her claws out and just drug us all, all back. And I never went anywhere after that. It just spiraled from there in the best way possible. Oh man, a throne of glass for sure.

Tina Koutras (25:16)
Yeah

Yeah. So which out of the three is your favorite series?

Yes, I'm the same. I love the depth of the story. I mean, I love ACOTAR I really do, but I love the depth of the story for Throne of Glass, I really do.

Kathryn Breaux (25:30)
Yeah, phenomenal.

Yep. Yep. It is

such a good series. It is so good. I want to reread it, but it's not a casual reread.

Tina Koutras (25:41)
Yeah.

My husband

loved it, but he called it slog because it goes on forever. Right? So it really is. And like I said, I loved the depth of those stories.

Kathryn Breaux (25:50)
I was going forever, but it's it's slog that I never want to end.

It's so good.

Yes, it's

phenomenal. And how young she was when she wrote it. Bravo, bravo. It's so impressive.

Tina Koutras (26:07)
I know. Alright.

So what was the biggest risk you took while on this journey of being an author?

Kathryn Breaux (26:17)
boy, I have one. actually just quit my corporate job. Yeah. Like a month ago. Yeah. Thank you. I miss them dearly, I really do. I was with the company for six years.

Tina Koutras (26:19)
Huh.

When? Like how long ago?

my gosh, congrats. It's fun not working for somebody, right?

Kathryn Breaux (26:42)
I have some of my best friends from there. So that was such a risk. I mean, it was, it was very scary thing to do. You can tell to my body language, I like curl up. I'm like, it was very scary. It was the comfortability of it as well. And like I said, I had friends there. So making the decision to leave was not an easy one at all, but I did it. And I have been full-time writing, I say for...

Tina Koutras (26:51)
Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (27:09)
a full month and a half, month maybe. So yes, I mean, my daughter did decide to get the stomach flu and then the flu. So the whole full-time writing thing. But yes, that definitely has been the biggest risk so far that I have taken. It was a big step, but it was an exciting one. I'm definitely excited to be able to focus full energy on something that I am so passionate about.

Tina Koutras (27:16)
Kind of made up your mind for you.

Kathryn Breaux (27:32)
which I think it's gonna be great. I'm gonna be able to roll out book two, work on some other fun projects that are coming down the tunnel and yeah, focus on that instead of stretching myself so thin to try and do it all, which is very hard.

Tina Koutras (27:45)
Yeah,

remember when I was writing and I was working full time, I was getting up at like five in the morning so I could have a good two hours of writing before I had to go to work and it sucked.

Kathryn Breaux (27:53)
Yes. Uh-huh. It's not fun. Yes, there were a few 4

a.m. for me, a lot of after 9 p.m. for me. And yes, the first day that I actually got to sit down on a Monday to write, I said, my gosh, it is so nice to not be writing at 10 p.m. right now. The sun is up. It's great. I can focus on it. So yes, it will be quite a game changer for sure.

Tina Koutras (28:13)
you

Nice.

Kathryn Breaux (28:22)
Mm-hmm.

Tina Koutras (28:23)
That was not what I was expecting when I asked about big risks, because that is a big risk. I love it. yeah. So being an indie author is a lot of work. How do you balance the creative side of writing with the more logistical business aspects of being an indie published author?

Kathryn Breaux (28:26)
Hahaha

It was a big risk, an exciting risk, but a

man, it has been trial and error for sure. I'm not gonna lie when I first started this process and said, I'm gonna publish this book. That was pretty much the first like thought of everything. And then from there, it was learning tons and tons of research. And I don't think a lot of people realize like you said, the amount of work that goes into it. It's not just the creative.

you know, sit down, I'm gonna write this story and then publish it. You have to market, you have to manage your social media, you have to manage emails, you have to, it becomes so much more than you ever truly anticipate it to be. As far as how I'm managing it, just, you know, positive thoughts and prayer at this point.

Tina Koutras (29:26)
You're pantsing it.

Kathryn Breaux (29:27)
Tina, you know me. I check my emails in the morning and I write. That's it.

Tina Koutras (29:31)
you

Perfect.

Kathryn Breaux (29:37)
I am pantsing this.

But as I'm going and learning everything, it is just getting easier. I know what to expect now. I feel like ripping the bandaid off and just getting that first one out of the way, then you can kind of set things in motion and everything kind of falls into place after that.

Tina Koutras (29:54)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's awesome. So if you were to be hosting a dinner party, which of your three fictional characters would you invite and what would you be having for dinner?

Kathryn Breaux (29:59)
Mm-hmm.

Okay, from my book, who would I invite? Or can it be any fictional characters? My book? Let's do my book. Okay, obviously I would invite Briar. She's our main character. She would be funny. She would provide the snarky attitude. She'd probably be annoyed to be there. I don't feel like that's really her style to want to sit down at a dinner party. She'd be like, I had to put on shoes for this or,

Tina Koutras (30:17)
Let's do your book. Let's get to know your characters a little.

Eh.

Ha ha ha!

Kathryn Breaux (30:37)
She would be annoyed,

so it'd be fun. I definitely have already talked about him. I would invite Oak. He is our comedian. He is our golden retriever, lumar-wilder. He brings the fun. He can never take anything serious, so he would be there to absolutely annoy everyone in the best way. And then, it's hard, because I have like five main people that I really love. I feel like they're gonna be mad at me if I don't pick them.

Tina Koutras (30:47)
you

So who's

gonna talk to you the most?

Kathryn Breaux (31:08)
Probably mains would talk to me the most, so I'll pick her. She is a side character. She is Briar's best friend. She is a healer in the kingdom of Derenbir. Top healer, I will say. I won't diminish her status that she is. She is also a lot of fun. She very much brings a light energy. She is a shadow wielder, but she would help keep Briar in check at the dinner party.

As far as what we would be eating, it would be something super casual. None of them, nor I would want anything fancy. So like, we'd probably be like sipping on some white wine and have like, I don't know, tacos, but I don't feel like white wine goes with tacos, that all, that like, that makes it even better for some reason. Yeah, it's just chaos. That's what it would be. And that is what would make it so much fun with those characters.

Tina Koutras (31:51)
That's perfect.

No weapons

at the table.

Kathryn Breaux (32:00)
No weapons at the table. We'd have to get Briar to put her axes down. She'd keep them close though, but no weapons at the table.

Tina Koutras (32:07)
So in Trials of Darkness, if it was to get adapted for a movie or a series, which would you pick?

Kathryn Breaux (32:08)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Ummm...

Think a movie. I think, I say a movie. You can tell how sure I am by that answer. like, I'll say movie, final answer.

Tina Koutras (32:18)
Okay. Okay. Okay. And

who's your dream cast? Do have a dream cast or people that you picture in certain roles?

Kathryn Breaux (32:30)
my gosh. I really haven't played with that idea yet. I feel like it's so hard because I'm like, I have the perfect picture of who it is in my brain. And I don't know if I've fallen like across anybody yet that absolutely marks. But now know what I'm going to do with my afternoon and I'll let you know. I'm going to create an entire fan cast. No, it's fine. I wasn't writing anyway.

Tina Koutras (32:45)
fits that rule.

Well, please don't let me interrupt writing to do that though.

So what scene or a moment in your book would you absolutely never cut no matter who in Hollywood begged you to cut it? If you can tell us without a spoiler.

Kathryn Breaux (33:07)
I would fight.

Yes, and this one's fine. so obviously, the entire premise of the book is Briar being forced into an arranged marriage by her father, the king of Derembir. And very similarly to brave. Briar decides that she does not want to do that. She wants to fight for her own hand, her own honor. She wants to be in control of her future and her destiny.

so during the first trial is when she makes her stance and announces to everyone that she will be competing in the trials alongside the men competing for her. Pretty much puts her foot down. She makes the announcement in front of the entire kingdom, her father, all of the men competing. So it's kind of a, can't go back from here moment. and it really kind of sets the entire book in to motion and kind of

when really the chaos starts happening, because everybody's like, my God, she's gonna do this. Obviously her father is very upset with her massive declaration that she had made. So that's absolutely one part that could never, couldn't pry that part out of my hands. It's such a good moment.

Tina Koutras (34:13)
Get cut. So

if you want me, you got to best me first.

Kathryn Breaux (34:19)
Absolutely, that part would

go nowhere. It's such a pivotal, important part. And two, it's so just badass, honestly. I'm gonna be like her.

Tina Koutras (34:29)
So what?

I can feel that. What has been, in your opinion, the most surprising or rewarding part of sharing your writing with the world? I think you kind of said that you're avoiding some of the comments about the writing just as far as what it might do for your second book. But do you have any surprising or rewarding parts about sharing?

Kathryn Breaux (34:41)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Honestly, the connection that I have made with people in the book community, it is such a fun, tight-knit community to be a part of. And before I really got into reading, I really didn't know that there was this space to be creative and find people with such similar passions as you. So that has been amazing to be now immersed in this.

world of you know, the book community and also to the friends that I have made as well as Connecting with people after they have read my book, of course, of course the ones that love it and just hearing their general thoughts and how You know my book means so much to them now and how excited they are to continue the series and how they love the characters

It was such, it was so reward, I mean, it's been so rewarding and also too, it's an odd feeling kind of, because I'm like, it's just me. It's just my book, you know? It's been, that imposter syndrome, man. It's been so exciting and rewarding though to meet everybody that has loved the book and now has cherished the book, you and it's become one of their favorite books. That's been absolutely the best part is the connection that I've made with so many people.

Tina Koutras (36:12)
That's awesome. And do you have a favourite fan moment? One that just stands out?

Kathryn Breaux (36:18)
maybe not one that stands out, but I love it when they slide into my DMs and just like yell at me about something. I think it's so funny.

You did it! my gosh, if something happens to him, all of the fun moments like that, I love it. I love any fan interaction like that. If they slide in there and they, yeah. I had, I will say, and she'll know who she is, I had somebody threaten to curse my family if I hurt one of the main characters that she loved. It was all fun and games, of course, but it's just hysterical. And now she actually has become a friend of mine and is beta reading the second book. So it worked out.

Tina Koutras (36:31)
you

Of course, yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (36:54)
for her and her favor. The threat made me fall in love with her. I was like, I need you on my team. She won, she won that trial. Yes, please don't

Tina Koutras (36:55)
that's awesome. She won that trial. Yeah.

Kathryn Breaux (37:05)
threaten my family. But I love it, I love it, it was wonderful.

Tina Koutras (37:07)
You

So are there any exciting plans brewing for you? kind of alluded a little bit to some stuff in the hopper, but what do you got? If you can talk about it.

Kathryn Breaux (37:20)
Of course. Book two, like I said, is finished. The first draft is done. It's with beta readers, so that is in the works. I feel like that is very exciting. And I feel like finishing book two was more exciting than maybe finishing book one, because I'm like, I've written two books now. I need to like, you know, on the back.

So next up for me, exciting, is just continuing with the series. This is gonna be four books total. So a lot more to do, a lot more to do. And of course, in all of the spare time that I have right now, I have started another project that I hope to get that first draft going as well.

Tina Koutras (38:03)
wicked and is it in the same genre?

Kathryn Breaux (38:05)
Yes, ish. Dark, darkish. Yeah. Yes, definitely dark. haven't decided, you know me, my pantser I haven't decided how fantasy it's going to be. So we'll see. Dark romance for sure. TBD on the fantasy, on the fantasy aspect of everything.

Tina Koutras (38:07)
ish. Okay, so dark romantasy this time around.

you

Okay.

Okay,

that's fun.

Kathryn Breaux (38:31)
I'll let you

know, because I don't know either right now. I haven't pulled up right here and I'm a whopping 1,500 words into it right now.

Tina Koutras (38:41)
well that's a good start.

Kathryn Breaux (38:42)
I mean, yeah, kind of.

Tina Koutras (38:44)
So how long

did book one take you to do?

Kathryn Breaux (38:47)
goodness. Book one, when I actually sat down to write it, I feel like I typed obsessively at night at the 4 a.m. or 9 p.m. that we talked about. From end of January, I think I finished in April. I'd say February to April.

Tina Koutras (39:05)
Okay.

and book two.

Kathryn Breaux (39:09)
What month is it? January, I finished early March. It was faster, much faster. And it's much longer. I'm not sure how I did that, but I did. I'm tired.

Tina Koutras (39:17)
much faster. Good for you.

Time for a little break.

Kathryn Breaux (39:25)
Mm-hmm, time for a break. No, I'm I'm like,

why not start a brand new project?

Tina Koutras (39:29)
So where can listeners best connect with you and find your books?

Kathryn Breaux (39:35)
Best connection for me is definitely Instagram, and I say that because that's pretty much the only social media platform that I have. I have not dabbled in the TikTok or anything yet, and I sound, man, I said the TikTok. The TikTok, I sound like my mom. Definitely Instagram, that is where all of my stuff is typically posted. I of course have all the links in my bio, but Trials of Darkness is available on Kindle Unlimited.

You can purchase through a smaller indie bookstore, the Crafty Bookstore. All of that, like I said, is in my bio though. And then also copies are available on Barnes & Noble.

Tina Koutras (40:09)
do you wanna show us that gorgeous book?

And you said this one's about 400 pages, you said, right? Look at that, it's a gorgeous cover.

Kathryn Breaux (40:14)
it

is so pretty and here you can see too, there's the little crystals I was showing you. It looks just like the one on my desk. Yeah, there's the back. Yeah, it's very, very pretty. Very pretty. I love the cover designer that I worked with and she's going to be doing book two for me very soon and I can't wait. I'm like foaming at the mouth wanting to get the cover for this next one. So bad. huh, yeah.

Tina Koutras (40:21)
Nice!

I can't wait to see the reveal. How fun was

it to open the box when you got the box with those books in it?

Kathryn Breaux (40:46)
it was so much fun. It was so much fun. And then again, it was like a pinch me moment where I'm like, wait, is this really my book? Did I really do this? And it's like the just you just stare at it for a second and you're like, wow, I did this. Yes, I did it. It's mine. It's me. Yeah, it was it was fun. But yes, the hardback version, it is bigger. It's about three hundred thirty ish pages paperback three.

Tina Koutras (40:56)
Look at it, my name's on it, look at it!

Kathryn Breaux (41:11)
90 something, but yeah, average is about 400 close to pages. Yep.

Tina Koutras (41:12)
Mm-hmm.

Wicked. That's awesome. I

love this. This was a great chance to talk and I'm actually really excited. That's what I was talking about earlier that my TBR just keeps growing because of all of the authors that I get to talk to and getting to experience their world through their eyes really does open it up for me. So I really appreciate getting the opportunity to talk with you and getting to see things from your perspective.

Kathryn Breaux (41:22)
See?

No.

Mm-hmm.

Of course.

Yeah, it was so fun. I hope we can do this again. Book two, we'll have to reconvene. yeah. Just add me to the roster and we'll just keep it going.

Tina Koutras (41:47)
Absolutely, we gotta get and of course with the new project, whatever that may be.

Sounds fun. That's awesome. So thank you again for joining us and

this is available on all your different channels for watching your podcast on YouTube and all your different socials. So I really look forward to chatting with you again.

Kathryn Breaux (42:10)
Thank you.