Ask the Author: Roger Kean
Answered Questions (8)
Roger Kean
In fact I have written novels about gay men working in or around the film business. Five in fact, but under the pseudonym of Zack:
Boys of Vice City
Boys of Disco City
Boys of Two Cities
Boys of the Fast Lane
Boy of the West End
I am planning a novel under my own name which will touch on the movie business as one of the themes.
Boys of Vice City
Boys of Disco City
Boys of Two Cities
Boys of the Fast Lane
Boy of the West End
I am planning a novel under my own name which will touch on the movie business as one of the themes.
Roger Kean
That's a good question! Yes, I would like there to be a sequel, a "Re-Felixitations," and I have already penned three parts: one featuring the medieval artist Hieronymus Bosch; another set in Manila and the Philippines in the late 1980s; and "What's A Boy Supposed to Do" was intended to be a fourth until it turned into its own novella. But other projects have intervened, not all of them ones over which I have control of the timing and therefore make demands on me to get them completed. Fingers crossed, I should get it together soon!
Roger Kean
Never, ever take for granted anything written in one of those numerous How To Write A Novel or How To Edit Yourself Into Print self-help books. While they do have sensible advice, the tendency I've observed is for aspiring writers to take what's offered as strict rules of writing. There aren't any strict rules of writing, there is only what works for you, the author, and your own innate common sense to ensure that if you want to be read you write something worth someone's attention span.
Find a trustworthy reader to keep your writing, characters, situations on track, then second-opinion their opinion!
Find a trustworthy reader to keep your writing, characters, situations on track, then second-opinion their opinion!
Roger Kean
I'm not sure I am really "inspired" to write as much as it is something I enjoy doing. I am not a great proponent of plot – mostly because I'm not a good plotter. My stories come from character relationships and the way to relate to the terrain/landscape they physically inhabit and which has an effect on them. In fact for plot, I often rely on my partner Zack / Oliver Frey for his inspiration as to the red thread that a story hangs on. Sometimes it is the publisher's requirement sparks the creative juices, such as "Can you write us a Gay Pulp Fiction story."
Well, yes, I think I can… and off I go.
Well, yes, I think I can… and off I go.
Roger Kean
Third in what I'm now calling The Empire Trilogy, following on from "A Life Apart" and "Gregory's Story," "Harry's Great Trek."
This takes Harry Smythe-Vane from the Sudan and the wreck of his love for Richard Rainbow, to Afghanistan, the London of Oscar Wilde, India, the Malakand Campaign, back to the Sudan, and eventually to the Boer War in South Africa. The trek is both geographical and physical, it's also one of discovering a new love. The story features several well-known people, such as Baden-Powell, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill and Rudyard Kipling.
This takes Harry Smythe-Vane from the Sudan and the wreck of his love for Richard Rainbow, to Afghanistan, the London of Oscar Wilde, India, the Malakand Campaign, back to the Sudan, and eventually to the Boer War in South Africa. The trek is both geographical and physical, it's also one of discovering a new love. The story features several well-known people, such as Baden-Powell, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill and Rudyard Kipling.
Roger Kean
The best thing about being a writer…? Freedom to create characters and situations that excite my interest; to be able to ramble for ages and then employ a degree of discipline to pare down to the essential ingredients of the story. I love to bring other times to life, while always aware that you can't expect readers to stick with your story if you actually write like they spoke back whenever. Although often "back then" may only be as far back as the 1960s or 1980s.
Roger Kean
In two principal ways! One, to ignore it and put the manuscript aside for a while; two battle through, usually by going on to write another part of the book. So far (touch wood), a block hasn't resulted in giving up altogether, though I'll admit to one (mainstream) title that's been on hold for more than two years, but I know I'll go back to it at some point.
Sometimes I can work through it by abandoning the keyboard and going back to old-fashioned paper and pencil and scribbling thoughts to get me back on track. I general, though, writer's block has only afflicted me about four times on 20-odd novels.
Sometimes I can work through it by abandoning the keyboard and going back to old-fashioned paper and pencil and scribbling thoughts to get me back on track. I general, though, writer's block has only afflicted me about four times on 20-odd novels.
Roger Kean
Harry's Great Trek, which is nearing completion, came naturally out of the two previous titles, "A Life Apart" and "Gregory's Story", since Harry was the third person in those and he seemed to want to lead his own life.
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