Melinda's Writing Pages: Pen to Paper

Hi Ken, I am so glad you can be here with us today.  Please lets get started on our interview.

1. Tell us something about you and your books

I am a person who has spent his life trying to understand the minds, hearts, and souls of humans  including myself. The avenues I have used have been liberal education, psychology (I have a PhD), religion (I'm an ordained minister.), travel (extensive), living my own life (including a marriage of 41 years and a great adult son), and writing. Not surprisingly my writing deals with personalities and with the questions of faith and religion that these characters must face. My first novel, Widow's Walk, was just released by All Things That Matter Press. It is the story of a woman who decides that it is time to start over, her relationship, and her grown children. Immediately after Widow's Walk was released, the publisher offered me a contract of Memoirs From the Asylum, a powerful novel of mental illness and of the human spirit. There is yet a third completed novel for which I am seeking a publisher. Songs For My Father, an anthology of my work was published by Inkwell Productions in 2002, and a great many of my poems have been published. Recently my first play, Right Number was workshopped to very positive reactions.

2. Are there any new authors who have grasped your attention?

Cormac McCarthy is very important to my development as a writer. Tim O'Brien's, The Things They Carried is also important. I studied with Ron Nash so of course he has my attention.

3. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write. Then write some more.  Second, relate to your characters and let them help tell their own story. They are more than extensions of your ego.

4. What's your latest book about?

Widow's Walk, which is the novel that I'm hoping folks will buy now, is the story of a middle-aged woman who decides it is time to start her life over. It is also the story of her romance with a great guy and the stories of her two adult children and their attempts to have full lives. The two adult children are both unique. One works in a hospice and is very embittered. The other is a quadriplegic who is neither bitter nor sorry for himself.

Widow's Walk is also a very strong exploration of religion and of faith, which are not necessarily the same things. This is a book that investigates human values.

5. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

I must admit that some of my characters are drawn from years of practice as a psychologist and a pastoral counselor. Situations, plot ideas, dilemmas, and emotional concerns: all come out of life as I experience it. However, I should add that once characters and situations have been started into the universe of a novel, they each take on their own unique qualities and dimensions.

6. What promotional ideas can you give to other beginning authors?

The only advice I dare give is don't be ashamed to talk about your work and to ask others to support you. If you are not for yourself, who will be for you?

7. What advice would you give to somebody trying to get a literary agent?

Since I haven't got one and wish I did, I can only say keep trying. I have been told that getting published in literary magazines helps, but getting into them often seems like trying to break into the proverbial Old Boys Network.

8. Are there any thing you would like to say to other aspiring writers?

Inspiration is usually not enough. This is a difficult trade, and perspiration is also very necessary. That means rewriting, deciding to throw away material, and editing. I might write a ten line poem and take three days to do it. When I'm finished I then ask others for their reactions and do some more rewriting if necessary.

9. As a child what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be a writer. Family pressures and expectations produced a professional, somebody with the first name of Doctor. Now I'm doing what I always wanted.

10. As a writer and published author how do you feel about e-publishing?

Writers deserve a decent wage for our efforts. I have no problem with any method of reproducing my work as long as I get paid in a reasonable manner. For myself, I like the smell and feel of paper in my hands and the look of a well-designed book cover.

11. What advice would you give to other aspiring authors about getting their work placed with a big publishing company?

Give me a call and tell me how you did it. While All Things That Matter is great to work with and the management has become good friends, I would much prefer to have the cachet of the big house imprint.

12. Please give us a list of all of your books currently available.

Right now only Widow"s Walk.

13. How long does it take you to do research on the books you write?

Since I've been writing fiction it isn't so much an issue. I do sometimes have to do a little digging on a specific. For example, in my next book there is some action in Machu Picchu. I used not only photographs but also some archeological papers to develop the idea I wanted.

14. How do you give credit to any research you do?

In fiction that isn't really necessary. If it were in a specific instance, I would probably resort to a foot note unless I was using a first person narrator who could tell somebody in the story.

15. What inspired you to become a writer?

As a child I read and read and read some more. The world of books became my reality.

16. How did you go about getting published?

I sent out copies to publishers until one gave me a positive response. I must admit

with some pride that once I got off the fantasy of the big houses it didn't take too many letters.

17. What is your novel Widow's Walk about?

Widow's Walk is the story of a middle-aged woman who decides it is time to start her life over. It is also the story of her romance with a great guy and the stories of her two adult children and their attempts to have full lives. The two adult children are both unique. One works in a hospice and is very embittered. The other is a quadriplegic who is neither bitter nor sorry for himself. Widow's Walk is also a very strong exploration of religion and of faith, which are not necessarily the same things. This is a book that investigates human values.

18. Where do you do most of your writing?

I write at my computer and I write in quiet places outside my home. For example, I still go to libraries, and I love to sit in coffeehouses with pen, notebook, and latte.

19. Are you working on other things, if so what are they?

I'm tuning up my next novel, Memoirs From the Asylum. There's another novel that is written but will need some work, Times to Try the Soul of Man. I am just starting a play, one that has me obsessed and helpless for the moment. Then, perhaps a non-fiction.

20. What do you enjoy most about your writing?

That is like asking me what enjoy about breathing. It is the very life-force of my day. I love my wife, son, grandkids, friends; but from writing I obtain sustenance for my brain and nourishment for my soul.

Here is Ken's Links, check them out 

http://widows-walk.webs.com/

http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/buynow.htm

Well Ken your book is a must read.  Again thanks for being here today and hope to have you back in the near future.

Walk in peace and harmony,

Melinda