INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE KENMORE

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing author Charlie Kenmore. Before we head on down to the interview, where his amusing wit will be revealed to all, why don’t we take a gander at his debut release, Earth Angel.

There are seven parallel worlds known as the Seven Realms which are separated by a Veil. Six are inhabited by all manner of entities, some natural, some not. That may not be the case for much longer. The first portion of the High Sidhe Prophecy of the Sevens has been fulfilled. The Anarch, who is one with the Veil, has escaped. If she chooses, she can part or drop the Veil or she can lift the Veil in its entirety. The Seven Realms will converge. The laws of physics and magic will collide head on. Unless she is stopped, there will be nothing left.

Queen Amura has called for an assembly of the signatories to the High Sidhe’s Second Accords, a multi-realm peace treaty to consider how to deal with the threat of the Anarch. An Earthside TechnoWitch and other dark forces also are seeking to control the Anarch. Prince Dzhok (Jack) , High Sidhe Ambassador Salash (Jack’s oldest friend and lover), and Valkyrie Brunhilde set out to find and befriend the Anarch before all is lost.

So, Charlie, I understand Earth Angel is your début novel, but the subtitle suggests it will be part of a series. Did you have a vision when you started writing Earth Angel about how many books the series will end up comprising of?

CK: When I envisioned the Seven Realms, I had ideas for several different stories. There are currently four completed stories past Earth Angel. The sequel to Earth Angel is The Flow of Magic. Oceanus seeks to reconstruct the greatest tome on magic ever written to complete his life-long mission to resurrect Old Atlantis. Along the way, he kidnaps three of Jack’s daughters as part of his revenge. Next come two novellas, Que Sarah, Sarah and Play For Me (based on my screenplay).  In Que Sarah, Sarah, a 9,000 year cycle is ending for the Goddess Bastet. She must find a new human vessel, but an old enemy is killing off all of the candidates. Ralph, a huge talking black cat, must escort Sarah, the last candidate, past Inter-Realm bounty hunters, to Bastet’s holy city before the cycle ends. In Play For Me, a young succubus with issues comes to the city for a little grand theft, homicide and sex to take her mind off of the impending death of her mentor. The fourth tale is Arch Enemies. Kellan, a middle daughter of Jack and Salash, and her friends have to help stop the return of Formori (ew!), a misshapen race that hasn’t been heard from in eons. The Formori plan to use the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, as a portal to bring something nasty and huge Earthside. Hopefully, the Muse will share additional tales with me.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? Or was there something in your life that triggered the decision to follow that path?

CK:  I’ve written on and off for years. It is common knowledge that my significant other, D. Alexx Miller a/k/a “Alexx Momcat”, is a paranormal romance fanatic. A couple of years ago, while brainstorming on birthday gift ideas, I had an idea (note the lack of descriptive adjective before the word “idea”). Why don’t I just write her a paranormal romance? How hard can it be? I had written several full length screenplays, and a 20,000 word novella, along with numerous short stories. With a little over three months to go, I figured that I had plenty of time. I barely finished Book One in time for her birthday. Well, I got the paranormal part down. To my credit, there are romantic elements. However, to date, no one has accused me of writing a paranormal romance.

 Hehehehe. Do you have any kind of routine you follow when you’re preparing to write? For example, I have a coffee to hand, my most comfortable trousers on …. What do you do to get into the ‘zone’?

CK: First, I top off my iced tea. Then I make sure some kind of snack is readily available. For serious grind sessions, dark chocolate is snack of choice. Next, I place one or more dictionaries and thesauruses within arm’s reach, aaaaaaaand, I’m off.

Who would you say is your strongest character in Earth Angel? And what characteristics make them as such?

CK: I’d probably have to go with Jack (Prince Dzhok). He gets the most face time. Although the Qpiad are far stronger and faster than humans, he is significantly weaker physically than all of his female companions. So he has to show his strength through compassion and leadership.

Is your writing ever influenced by TV or movies?

CK: All the time. I frequently see shows and movies and think, Wow, that was awful. It serves as a constant reminder that my readers deserve something better including better dialogue, internally consistent plotting and temporal consistency, and believable characters and motivation.

If you could host a twenty minute Q&A session with any author, who would you choose and why?

CK: Tough call, probably James Patterson. I met him at a book signing a few years ago.

Oooh, interesting choice. Okay, exposure time: What are the first three books on your bookshelf—top shelf, left-to-right?

CK: We have bookshelves and books everywhere. I can’t even find the first bookshelf, much less the first three books. At one time, we attempted to sort Alexx’s paranormal authors alphabetically. That shelf has four books by Amanda Ashley. The glass covered case that holds signed editions starts out with Jim Butcher’s Cursor’s Fury, Christine Feehan’s Dark Celebration, and Karen Slaughter’s Indelible.

I have a Jim Butcher on my TBR list. And finally: I’ve been known to run from anything that resembles sci-fi or high fantasy. How would you convince me to stick around and read your book?

CK: First, I’d appeal to your rational side. Earth Angel is sui generis, a singular, one of a kind creation. It incorporates elements of fantasy and science fiction, but does not fall readily into either category. The settings are not so far removed from your experiences that you need to put on 3-D glasses to imagine them.  The science fiction elements focus more on the effects than on the workings of the technologies. Accordingly, you can tell yourself that you are not really reading a fantasy or a sci-fi novel.

Still not convinced? Then next I’d appeal to your romantic nature. Earth Angel may not be a typical paranormal romance, but it has romantic elements. Jack is a Qpiad (commonly misspelled as “cupid” in Earthside English). He is a Realm-class lover, who finds everything he is looking for in the heroines. The story ends at the reception for a double wedding. Seven Hells, the story was written as a birthday present!

If you are still pushing back from the table, I’d try sex next. Haven’t you ever wanted a lover who was a perfect fit every time, in every position, who guaranteed simultaneous orgasms? Haven’t you ever wondered about the consequences of having oral sex with an ice sprite? Honestly?

Okay, still not sold? Let’s try national pride. Some of the scenes take place in London, UK, Earthside. Jack drives a light blue 1973 Austin Marina by British Leyland.

If all of the above fails, then there is always duct tape.

Hehehehehe, okay, okay, you’ve convinced me this may be one to break the mould, LOL.

Many thanks, Charlie, for the interview. It was a lot of fun.

So … what about you guys? Has Charlie convinced you to give his book a go? It has romance …

Just in case, here’s where you can grab yourself a copy:

Damnation Books  (you have to register-free)

Amazon

All Romance Books

Charlie is a 52 year old professional from St. Louis, Missouri with one very significant other (A.K.A. “Alexx Momcat”), two grown kids, and two cats.  He enjoys collecting books, art and cooking.  But with his double and triple stacked bookshelves sagging, he looks forward to the new era of e-publishing.  An avid garage sale hunter, he is still searching for an oil painting by Edouard Leon Cortes (or anything from the Drip and Drool School like Pollack or Rothko that can be sold so he can buy my Cortes).

charliekenmore@gmail.com
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THAT BIT BEFORE THE END …

… of a novel that drives me nuts!

How many of you out there are novel writers? Who of you are plotters, and who’re the pantser’s?

Either way, I’m betting you all have/reach a certain point of your novel(s) that you struggle to get past.

Am I right?

Yeah, well … me, too.

Mine is that bit before the end.

You know the one?

You’re kinda trying to make the run-up to the stuff that will wow the reader–and to make the grand finale as grand as possible so it’s not forgotten by the time the reader turns the last page. But at the same time you don’t want to take away from the HEA you have planned, or the (for non-romance writer’s) ‘everything’s going to be okay’ reassurance, or (for the more convoluted minds out there) the twist you hit the reader with that leaves them staring at the page with a chill down their spine.

I hit that spot in Darkness & Light and rewrote a certain few chapters about three or four times before comfortable with their direction—I won’t clarify which ones/where due to spoilers for those who haven’t read it yet.

I hit that spot in Blue Moon (#2 of The Holloway Pack Stories and not yet released). Again, I shan’t clarify where for the same reasons as above.

Now I’ve hit that exact same spot in Caged (my current NiP and #3 of The Holloway Pack Stories). I’m less than 10k words away from ‘The End’. I know ‘how’ it ends. I know what has to happen between ‘now’ and ‘then’ for the reader/characters to reach the end. But … man, it’s like my head is trying to rush through it at manic speed because it’s seeing that light at the end of the tunnel. You know—that brilliant white light which pulsates with an energy that you know will leave you feeling 100% exhilarated, ecstatically happy, sad and exhausted all at the same time. You ever seen that light? Yeah, well, I can see it like a beacon in a storm and my darn stupid head wants to be there already.

So … what am I doing to ensure I don’t write something totally crap along the lines of:

Ethan headed back in, kicked everyone’s butt before they retaliated and he had to rely on help to win. Then he cleaned up the mess. Then he went home. Then he and Sean participated in an event which brought some exciting news for the pack. Then he reunited with someone he’d p****d off. And everyone was happy again. Yay, Ethan!

The End!

You see the dilemma I have? If I sent stuff out written to that standard, I’d be put in the stocks and have cabbages thrown at my noggin. Because it SUCKS!

So … because I have a perseverance I’m proud of (though it only exists in my writing), and I have more patience than is healthy for one person to possess, I’m making myself write it at the speed of a slug. To rush would be catastrophic. My tale would end up a mess. Whereas if I take my time, I’m forced to think about every scene between ‘now’ and ‘then’, and have far less chance of dragging the reader past details that have the potential to be important.

What about you?

How do you overcome it? Do you assume you have writer’s block (pffft—does … not … exist!)? Or do you slog on through? Maybe toss the novel aside and tell yourself you can’t finish it?

Where is your stumbling block? Do you have any great tips for getting past it?

Darkness & Light is available at the following outlets:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

WHSmith & Waterstones

JUDGE JULIE!!!!

Chortle.

In case you’re wondering, Judge Julie is ME. Ha!

Why? you ask.

Well, there is a challenge afoot and … well … someone needs to keep the participants in line.

When two of my writer friends, Jocelyn Adams and Aimee Laine, boldly and publicly challenged each other in a race to the finish line in writing their current NiP’s the fighting talk commenced between the deadly duo.

Of course, they asked me to participate, but thanks to the edits due Book #2 of the Holloway Pack Stories (and the fact I type at, like, half the speed they do), I politely declined …

BUT a judge was still needed.

So … as judge (chortle) I get to make up some rules.

1)       The author canNOT write garbage. Each and every word must be relevant. No waffling (who d’you think you are? Me?)!

2)       You must both post your current word count in the comments section of this blog post, as well as your intended/estimated goal.

3)       You may each use whatever distraction techniques you deem necessary to give yourselves an advantage.

4)       You may toss complains my way about your challenger’s stalling methods, but you may NOT ask me to step in and mediate on them. I fully intend to remain impartial.

5)       Once you have written a bone fide conclusion to your novel, you will send the finished article to me via e-mail. I will check the word count, and I will also skim through to validate that you haven’t written garbage and that you have a worthy ending.

6)       Whoever sends me their finished novel first AND has me declare it a worthy product will be announced the winner!

7)       The winner will get to revel in their greatness in whatever way they choose.

8)       The loser will be expected to a) write a blog post bowing to the brilliance of the winner, and b) send chocolate (weighing no less than 100grams) to the winner.

RIGHT … LET THE GAMES COMMENCE!

What a great motivational tool this could turn out to be, eh? What ideas have you come up with to spur your fingers into action?