I've got a special treat for you this month and next month. I'm going to devote Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays to writers from eSpecs Books. They're a great bunch of folks whom you need to get to know.
Next up, Ken Shrader!
Tell us a bit about your latest work.
My latest work—a short story titled “Brimstone” appears in the Predators in Petticoats anthology. "Brimstone" is a Weird Western where Chaha'oh—a Navajo scout—is offered the opportunity to both avenge the deaths of her family, and stop a madman from burning a bloody trail across the West. To do this, she must become Coyote’s Shadow.
"Brimstone" was a lot of fun to write and, since the anthology was female-themed, it was an easy decision to also portray Coyote as a woman.
What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?
On some level, I have always wanted to be a storyteller and I can remember a few times where I thought it would be writing. There were a few false starts over the course of my life. Animation and Film-making were two of the more formative attempts but, where the lights really clicked on for me was back in college (for the second time) and an introductory screenwriting class.
The End-of-Semester project was to complete thirty pages of a script, after handing in a *very* rough outline of the full story. After the class, I went on to finish the script. Naturally, it never went anywhere but that class gave me a real taste. This was something I could do. I was writing every day, there was feedback beyond the form rejection. From there, it was a short step from scripts to short stories, to novels.
What inspires you to write?
On its most basic level, I write because I can’t not tell stories. I am constantly making up little entertaining—or what I hope is entertaining, you’d have to ask my wife—embellishments and anecdotes about everyday stuff. Writing is a greater outlet for that.
On a higher level, great stories inspire me to write. I won’t get into specific authors yet, because your mileage may vary about a particular author but I guarantee, if you’re reading this, you’ve read *that* story. The one that grabs you and just won’t let go, even after you’ve finished it.
I finish a story like that and I’m like, “I want to write something like that.” It’s something to work toward—not to duplicate, exactly, because that’s impossible. More like a drive to improve, where the destination is a moving target and not nearly as important as the journey.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
Found Family is something that appears in my work over and over. Disparate people coming together for a variety of reasons and finding that ties of friendship and love are much stronger than any blood ties. That feeling of belonging, that knowledge that there are folk out there who simply love you for you, that is important to me.
One other thing that is a constant in my work is that good will ultimately triumph over evil. It won’t be easy; neither will it be without sacrifice and struggle. I suppose that makes me predictable, in a way, knowing that no matter what story of mine you pick up, you know that it’s going to turn out a certain way. What you don’t know is how I’m going to get there, and who is left standing at the end.
What would be your dream project?
I would *Love* to write a Star Wars Novel—either a movie novelization, or a tie-in. Just to say that I’ve written for that universe—created “Canon”—would be such a blast since it’s had such a tremendous impact on my life.
What writers have influenced your style and technique?
I think initially, when I was just starting out, the writer who had the greatest impact on me was Jim Butcher. Overall, though, the writer who has had the greatest influence on me has to be Kalayna Price. When I wanted to learn how to write better female characters, I read her Alex Craft books - among others, namely: Faith Hunter, Rachel Aaron/Bach, and Kim Harrison to name a few. And not just for female characters. I learned a lot about description and worldbuilding from them as well.
If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?
The story I read most often at conventions is called “Haven.” It appears in the Weird Wild West anthology and I read it more often than any other story is that it’s got a perfect cliff-hangery stopping point at about (at my reading pace) 12 minutes in—which is the usual cutting off point for a 3-person panel reading.
As I read it, I can see how my voice has developed over the years and the language/style that seemed so smooth back then, now seems a little clunky to my ear, after so many readings. I think I would take Haven, which I am still very proud of, and run it through an editing pass with my current voice and smooth it out some.
Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?
For me, writing is far more of an art than a science. Certainly, there are bits of science to be aware of though.
Let’s say that you’re writing a romance. As you’re crafting that romance, you need to be aware that your readers expect a certain outcome. If you’re conducting an experiment using Hydrogen, there are also certain things that you’ve got to be aware of:
A romance is expected to end with a “Happily ever after,” or a “Happy for Now” scenario.
Hydrogen is Flammable.
You ignore both at your peril.
That’s the science bit—the underlying structure, or the canvass if you will. But what you choose to put on that canvass? That’s pure art, all the way.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
The hardest part of my process is that no two projects are the same. As such, the parts that worked for a previous project, might not work for this current project.
I’m working on a draft right now, that I couldn’t get anywhere with until I had an idea of what each character looked like, so I scoured Google images for pictures of actors and actresses until I had a ballpark look. I’ve never needed that before but being able to work on character creation having a particular face to refer to…well it helped out a lot. And it’s not like this change just appeared with a “Ding” sound when I opened up Scrivener to get to work. I had to flail around a bit until I ran across it.
How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?
Oh they do. Far and away they do.
The most obvious way is generously offering their time to read what I’ve written and, even more importantly, to let me know what they think about it. A second and third pair of eyes is essential for me, primarily because by the time a project is ready for someone else to see it, I’ve gone over it several times before then, and I need a fresh perspective.
Less obvious is that my writer friends “Get it.” They’ve been there on the bad days when it seems like every word is crap, or your rejection pile seems to be visibly growing while you watch. They’ve been there on the good days when you *Nail* that scene, or that paragraph, or that line. They know what that feels like and you can talk to them about it. My writer friends are folks who I can talk to about the story when it isn’t working, and about when it is. And I can do the same for them when they need it. We’re all in this together and the support system I’ve found in the writing community has been invaluable.
What does literary success look like to you?
Literary success means being able to at least partially support myself by publishing stories. That’s one level.
On another level—a more important level - hearing from readers that I’ve given them some kind of escape, or provided entertainment, or moved them in some way—I would count that as success.
Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?
I am currently working on a project with eSpec Books on a steampunk adventure as part of the Systema Paradoxa series. Crimson Whisper will take readers from London, England down to the jungles of South Africa. That’s about all I can say about it at the minute but, when I can provide more, you can find out all about it on my website—speaking of which…
For more information, visit:
You can visit my website—www.ken-schrader.com. I keep a running blog that updates twice a week. You can also find excerpts, appearance information, and a link to sign up for my Newsletter there.
You can also find me on Twitter @kenschrader4882 where I shout about all of the awesome stuff my friends have coming up, women’s rugby, music, and the occasional moment of semi-brilliance on my own behalf.
No comments:
Post a Comment