Ms. Kristin Aragon, Beta Reader Extraordinaire

Kristin Aragon is a native of the Texas Panhandle, the lovely city of Amarillo. A wife and mother of three, step-mother of two puppies, Kristin lives and breathes books, writing about them on her the book review blog, Better Read Than Dead.

Kristin loves spreading the word about new writers and embracing the amazing characters whom she meets in books. There's nothing better than living a thousand different lives in one lifetime.

*NOTE from Kristin: My blog has suffered immensely over the past year. I let it lapse once I started writing full time, but I hope to start blogging more now that life has slowed down. *

For the past few years, Kristin has become a beta reader/editor, devouring every detail of each book she peruses. She is a master of The Chicago Manual of Style, a stickler for uniformity, a wizard of style. Kristin gives her manuscripts a laser focus, and watches for errors in POV, tense, and repetition. She is also a writer and has two manuscripts that she is readying herself.

Q: Kristin, you are part of a collection of Texas-based writers, editors, and readers. What is it about Texas that brings out the creative juices in writers?

Ahhh, Texas. Everything is Bigger & Better in Texas. Don’t Mess with Texas. Etc. The Lone Star state is so eclectic, in my opinion, it lends to authors’ imaginations without them even realizing it.

I live at the tip top of Texas, the Panhandle, where the land is flat and treeless. The winds blow thorned tumbleweeds from bob-wired fence to bob-wired fence. Cattle roam freely. Most of my life, I’ve despised living here; however, when I do travel to Austin or Houston, I miss the perfect sunsets and sunrises of the Plains. Treeless and barren, there is nothing like the pinks and purples of sunrises. I’ve become a “master” photographer, and by that I mean novice.

The Texas Panhandle is rather conservative for my taste. It is a part of the Bible Belt, which is fine, but we recently had one of our “churches” be declared as a hate group that is a threat to the country. This scares me. Sunsets and sunrises be damned, Austin, Texas is my favorite area.

“Keep Austin Weird” is the motto of the city. My sister lives there and I love visiting her. Austin is known as the “Music Capital of the World.” I’ve had the pleasure of attending SXSW, and while the locals are sometimes irritated because traffic increases and they have to detour at times, I had a blast. You can walk around, go from venue to venue and hear everything from unknown Indie bands to Usher. My husband and I are hoping to go next year. I love that Austin honestly embraces their slogan, “Keep Austin Weird.”

I’m probably one of the few people who would call Houston one of my favorite places. It is huge and the traffic is a nightmare, but at the same time, it holds beauty in its skyline. Shopping in the fourth largest city is a splendor, yet daunting all the same. It sits close enough to the Gulf Coast; a person could easily take a day trip to Galveston or another beach.
When you combine all these settings, the diverse populations, an unparalleled history, and hopefully an open mind, you walk away with inspiring and creative stories. From the famous Route 66 to the coastline, people are impassioned about their state.

Q: I know your mother taught high school English. Can you talk about her influence on you?

Well… I was in the seventh grade when I had her for both English and Speech. My class had approximately sixty students, so I had no choice but have her as my teacher. And, all my classmates referred to her as “Mom” since I addressed her as Mom. I’ve never had so many brothers and sisters. To be utterly honest, I never enjoyed school until I reached my late twenties. Now, I would live in a university, take every class they offer, simply to expand my mind.

My mom ran a strict classroom, only to realize later in her teaching career, softer might work better. I don’t recall what curriculum we studied, but I know it never held my attention. This is not because of her, but because school bored me. We had no advanced placement or honors classes. Every year I sat with the rest of my class, listening to lecture after lecture about the mechanics of the English language.

When I look back now, I wish I had loved high school. I wish I had paid more attention in class, but that was never my thing. Mom would get so mad at me because I wouldn’t start writing papers until the night before they were due and I would magically come out with A’s. She always wanted to “teach me a lesson,” but never could. This continued on into college.

I have picked up one of her habits that annoyed the heck out of me. My youngest, fifteen, loves the word “ain’t” and double negatives are good friends of hers also. We cannot have a discussion without me stopping and making her reword her comments. I look back and remember that my sister and I used to say this stuff just to irritate her, so I’m pretty sure Kara does the same.

Q: You beta read as well as edit. What is the beta-reading process?

The basic definition of a beta-reader “is a non-professional reader who reads a written work, generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements.” They tend to read mainly fiction. I only read fiction as a beta-reader. I usually try to work with authors on a chapter by chapter basis so I can give later chapters the same attention I give the beginning chapters.

Once I accept a beta-reading project and receive the first chapter, my first read-through is solely to look for spelling, grammar, run-on sentences, etc.

Once the mechanics are out of the way, I take the chapter apart paragraph by paragraph. I check for inconsistencies and plot-holes. These two things are problems I usually catch in the middle chapters of a book. I have to keep all the characters, settings, and positions in my mind at all times. Sometimes it is like: “Wait, weren’t we in California? She [the author] never mentioned the character hopping a flight to Texas.” Other things can be much subtler, but you get the idea.

One thing I think authors sometimes don’t understand, is why a problem is caught in Chapter 10 instead of Chapter 3 where it started. It’s difficult to catch plot-holes and inconsistencies until I am absolutely sure that’s what is happening.

I have never worked with a difficult author.

Everyone has been so generous and thankful for my help. I try, and you can ask Lee, to always word things politely. I love feedback from the author. If I marked something wrong or what I marked needs further clarification, it makes me a better beta-reader. Lastly, if both I and the author have the time, I really like to do a top to bottom read-through, because, let’s face it, we are all human. Mistakes will be made, but when this book goes to publication, it’s not only the author’s work going public, but mine too.

Q: You love Young Adult and New Adult novels. What authors most capture you and why?

Like many people, Twilight brought me back to reading. I loved to read bodice rippers in high school, but then life took over and between college, working, and… well, partying, I didn’t have time to read. A coworker suggested Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga to me, and from there, I haven’t stopped reading. I know there is controversy surrounding these books, but I fell in love with her characters and their awkward living arrangements and secrets. Yes, it is a love story, there’s no way around it, but why can’t a YA book be a love story? Honestly, the symbolism in this saga enraptured me.

Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments .and Infernal Devices series blew my mind. I recently finished the first book in her new series, The Dark Artifices. Her writing matures with every book she writes. Lady Midnight

Colleen Hoover Colleen Hoover is one author I have on auto-order. I’ve yet to read a book of hers that hasn’t either left me breathless, in tears, or a bit angry. Her writing is passionate, her characters are multidimensional with wit and charm. Also, I love the way Colleen has integrated social media into her publicity. She holds contests on Instagram quite often and the videos she posts crack me up, especially when she’s with Tarryn Fisher. And wow, the Never Never trilogy they co-wrote. It left me with chills. (I haven’t read the last one yet.)

Anything K.A. Tucker K.A. Tucker writes is tragically beautiful. Ten Tiny Breaths & the rest of the books revolving around that series tore my heart to pieces before putting it back together. As with Colleen, K.A. Tucker’s writing is New Adult and includes heat.

I’m going to list a few of my other favorite authors (some of these are debut authors):

Susan Dennard – Truthwitch

Josephine Angelini – Trial of Fire & Firewalker

Victoria Aveyard – Red Queen

Sarah J. Maas – both her series: Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass

When I need something fun and light to read, I usually look for fun Rock Star Series. Two of my favorite authors are Kylie Scott with her Stage Dive series and Olivia Cunning and all of her rock star series.



Q: Can you discuss your collaborative process with the authors you edit?

I love to collaborate with authors. Editing is an intense process and it demands cooperation and communication from both parties. Usually by the time an author hands over a manuscript, I have taken time to virtually know them via text messages, emails, and other social media. I want to know how thick or thin-skinned they are. If it’s someone who can’t handle constructive criticism, I might change my “tone” in my comments. When someone has been through the editing process a few times and understands, I might just make very short comments, though, you can ask Lee, I try to always be very gentle. These novels are our babies, right.

It is important to me to keep in daily contact with my authors, even if it is just to check in and say hi.

Q: What do you like to see in a manuscript?

Manuscripts that hold my attention must have strong, defined characters. So many people misunderstand the “strong character” remark. Your character can be dying in hospice and you can make their presence strong. We can’t all keep our heroines kicking ass with no emotions. Honestly, that is more of a one dimensional character.

Lee may kill me for this one, but I’m not big on taking descriptions overboard. I tend to become bored and skip over them when I’m cuddled in my bed at night. There are ways to get your descriptions and atmosphere in your manuscripts while still including your characters. As a general rule, at least 50% of a manuscript should be dialogue… I tend to like it more toward 60-70%. As I mentioned, there are ways to make your characters move, discuss, and investigate their surroundings.

Q: You’ve been an early fan of New Adult novels. Can you discuss the sub-category? What New Adult writers do you most admire?

I am so thankful for the sub-genre of New Adult. I’m no teenager, though I do love some YA, I love to read about “adults.” With this genre, authors can add a larger variety of obstacles for their protagonists to conquer. And, maybe as a parent who has seen the darker side of raising a teenager, I can relate to them better. I enjoy the dark atmosphere so many embrace.

So many of the “Twilight Age” readers are now well into college and beyond. I think it is important to provide them with more mature stories, yet not throw them all the way into books which are written about middle-age people. Heck, I don’t want to read about people my own age. I know what my life is about. This generation had been overlooked for so long, and I’m not totally sure why. You can do so much with the New Adult genre.

Yikes, New Adult authors I most admire. This is going to be quite a list, so get ready:

Colleen Hoover

Jennifer L Armentrout

K.A. Tucker

Jay Crownover

Courtney Cole

Jamie McGuire

Jessica Sorensen





Q: Many editors are authors too. Can you talk about your own writing?

As mentioned above, I do have two works of progress saved to this computer. One is a Paranormal New Romance revolving around witchery and magic. I wrote the first draft in NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago. I love the concept, I love my characters, and I love the world in which they live. I’ve had some difficulty getting through the edits, because I am a bit OCD mixed with paranoid anxiety and perfectionism. I change everything, every single time I sit down to look at it. If ever I can get over all my silly phobias, I think it will be quite something.

The second one, which I am currently working on, is near and dear to my heart. Penning this novel is an emotional task at times, which is why it is so slow going. I enjoy a good psychological thriller, but when you are putting pieces of yourself into the manuscript, it is a scary jump. This work in progress is not what I would call a thriller, but it will take the reader on a rollercoaster ride of life events, a variety of severe emotional swings, heartbreak, and eventually a happy for now ending.

Q: What would you say to someone just starting out in the writing world?
First, read. Read anything you can get your hands on from the back of a cereal box to memoirs, romance to science fiction, non-fiction, material inside your writing genre, and everything outside your range also.

Second, write. Write notes to your children or to yourself. Journal. Journal. Journal. Write an exceptionally bad chapter. Write fast and hard. Don’t reread your work until you are ready to stop writing for the day. Whatever you do, just write, every single day.

Next, stop and take in your environment. Write a description about your office space or your child’s backpack. (I could write a novel about the inside of my 15 year-old’s bag.) Get out of your space, go to the park and watch children play. My favorite thing to do is take my laptop to Barnes and Nobles and write. You wouldn’t believe the material you can get from other customers, plus, when I get restless, it gives me somewhere to wander and is an amazing muse.

When it is all said and done, do not be me. Get your work to beta-readers and good editors and get to work on the revisions. Lastly, query those babies. Or if you want to self-publish, do it. But, get a good editor that you can work with, who is willing to look at your drafts multiple times, hire a proofreader if you need to. Just make your work as polished and perfect as you can.

Thanks for having me, Lee. I enjoyed this interview and hope your readers enjoy it.