Ask the Author: Kristopher Kelly
Answered Questions (8)
Kristopher Kelly
The child, all of four years old, had never learned to read. As she traced the letters etched in the granite stone above where she had woke, she did so uncomprehendingly.
Kristopher Kelly
Dr. Frankenstein and the Creature he created. I think there should have been love there. Instead, Frankenstein showed horror. Revulsion. Cast out the being he'd brought into existence. It's about responsibility, hubris, a lack of foresight, and the destructive consequences of Frankenstein's actions speak to so many situations. It's great stuff -- and it's great because of how erudite and compassionate the Creature is, especially when compared the gentleman scientist who manages to show far less humanity than the novel's would-be monster does.
Kristopher Kelly
Always have something submitted somewhere. Never let the number of responses you've received catch up to the number of submissions you've made. And count rejections as successes, because they mean you're doing the work and taking your shots. Also: read. Always read.
Kristopher Kelly
I'm working on a novel, a dark romance, titled Ed at Eleven. It's about a girl, a cult, and a strange local news anchor who likes going places no one else would ever want to go. It's kind of a dark little waltz, with this sad ballad jammed into the act breaks. I hope it works, but it's a really bizarre story. I've had the thing fully drafted for a while, but the revisions are taking a lot of time.
Kristopher Kelly
Without question: spending time with fascinating characters, living in interesting worlds, and experiencing dangerous situations. At least, I hope they're fascinating, interesting, and dangerous.
Kristopher Kelly
If I'm truly stuck, I shift my goal from trying to write something amazing to writing something totally stupid and horrible. It's usually enough to get the truck out of the mud. If that doesn't work, I pick up another book and read until another idea hits me and my fingers start to burn.
Kristopher Kelly
I am generally not inspired when I sit down to write. But I sit down and put my hands on the keys. Then I try to concentrate and fully describe what I'm seeing in my head until it becomes convincing. If a story is a garden, then I'm the guy who has to plow the rows -- and plow to the end of each one -- and plant enough seeds so the whole thing grows good and lively (and not too weedy) in the reader's mind, with a minimum amount of dead spots. It's rarely, if ever, a fever of brilliant, euphoric inspiration; it's more like Tom Waits says, "You got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow."
Kristopher Kelly
Abraham Road came to me almost at once while I was eating lunch, pondering how to turn Of Mice and Men into a horror story. I was also thinking a lot about Lovecraft at the time, so I guess the two just blended together in my mind.
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