Ask the Author: Robert Kenton
Answered Questions (8)
Robert Kenton
Actually, in a round about way, my next novel is based on an actual murder. My grandfather discovered his next door neighbor murdered and they never found the killer. He tried for four decades to write a novel that solves the crime and he couldn't finish, so I did.
Robert Kenton
I'm going to skip the romantic concept and go straight for Tiffany Aching and Rob Anybody. Pratchett's characters are, each and every one, perfect creations and these two I think I could read forever.
Robert Kenton
I love when the pieces come together. I love when the characters take on a life of their own. I love typing the last sentence. I love most of all, when a reader enjoys my work as much as I have enjoy the works of my favorite authors. These things make the process worth while.
Robert Kenton
Usually I get writer's block when I have a plot point that won't fit into the story, or I need to find an action or bridge between two points in the story and can't come up with a way to get from A to B. I usually spend a lot of time putting myself in the characters head and looking for motive and options. I talk through the action with my wife. I even draw out timelines and various graphs to try to unknot the plot line.
Robert Kenton
Most of my ideas come from a single clear moment in the story. I'll have a snapshot in my head of a moment in the story, very crisp and clear. I'll build the story around that. For example, in the short story "Self Defense" in my book "Shadows in the Dark", I wrote the first draft in one sitting after imagining being in a fast food restaurant when it was being robbed. The character really found a voice quickly and the story spun kind of naturally in his voice.
Robert Kenton
I have so many ideas waiting to make it to paper. I have the bones of a complete novel that I have been struggling wiht for years, as well as piles of notes and writing and revisions from a novel my grandfather worked on for over forty years and never finished before he died. I promised to finish it for him, but I'm a little afraid to tackle it.
Robert Kenton
Write. Period. If you're stuck, move on. Write a different story, a different chapter, a journal entry, anything, just write.
Robert Kenton
When someone reads and enjoys my work, thats the best feelling. When I know I've given someone the same feeling I have gotten from reading my favorite authors.
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