eSpecs Books Focus #8: Ken Shrader
What inspires you to write?
On its most basic level, I write because I can’t not tell stories. I am constantly making up little entertaining—or what I hope is entertaining, you’d have to ask my wife—embellishments and anecdotes about everyday stuff. Writing is a greater outlet for that.
On a higher level, great stories inspire me to write. I won’t get into specific authors yet, because your mileage may vary about a particular author but I guarantee, if you’re reading this, you’ve read *that* story. The one that grabs you and just won’t let go, even after you’ve finished it.
I finish a story like that and I’m like, “I want to write something like that.” It’s something to work toward—not to duplicate, exactly, because that’s impossible. More like a drive to improve, where the destination is a moving target and not nearly as important as the journey.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
Found Family is something that appears in my work over and over. Disparate people coming together for a variety of reasons and finding that ties of friendship and love are much stronger than any blood ties. That feeling of belonging, that knowledge that there are folk out there who simply love you for you, that is important to me.
One other thing that is a constant in my work is that good will ultimately triumph over evil. It won’t be easy; neither will it be without sacrifice and struggle. I suppose that makes me predictable, in a way, knowing that no matter what story of mine you pick up, you know that it’s going to turn out a certain way. What you don’t know is how I’m going to get there, and who is left standing at the end.
What writers have influenced your style and technique?
I think initially, when I was just starting out, the writer who had the greatest impact on me was Jim Butcher. Overall, though, the writer who has had the greatest influence on me has to be Kalayna Price. When I wanted to learn how to write better female characters, I read her Alex Craft books – among others, namely: Faith Hunter, Rachel Aaron/Bach, and Kim Harrison to name a few. And not just for female characters. I learned a lot about description and worldbuilding from them as well.
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https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2021/08/especs-books-focus-8-ken-shrader.html
