Kenn Ghannon: Blog

I've received a number of e-mails asking whether I am still writing. I think some of these questions come because I've been helping Robberhands edit his 'The Black Rabbit' story (and if you're not already reading the story, you really should; it's a fascinating read and well worth the price of admission). I think some think that editing is taking up all of my time - au contraire; Robberhand's story needs very little in the way of editing. As a matter of fact, there are times I think I'm doing nothing but mucking up his perfectly good prose.

The truth is that I *AM* still writing (you've heard it here first!). I'm working on Calix's next gig (except that, as it reads now, it's boring and I really need to jazz it up), I'm working on a little story I've been writing (off and on) for near seven years now - 'Through the Mirror Darkley', and I've got a new one that has been popping through my head for years that I'm trying to actually get down on paper.

The problem is my muse (more or less). She is in desperate need of massive doses of Ritalin - or maybe Adderall. Every time I start one story, she interrupts me with another great story premise. It got so bad that I was up to fifty-four stories in my 'Active' bin - none of which had more than four chapters (except for the Calix story and the Darkley story). So, a few weeks ago, I cut and pasted ALL of my stories (except those two) into my 'Inactive' bin. Then, I started going through the inactive bin to clean it up. It turns out that I had four stories of perhaps three chapters each which all revolved around a near identical character - and the premise I'd written for each one was pretty darned good. So, I combined those into the story I'm actively writing right now that is tentatively called 'Runesward'. It's a little sword and sorcery thing I'm putting together that I have great hope for; I'm really kind of enjoying writing this (so far).

I think part of Runesward's appeal is that editing Robberhand's epic tale has put me in the mood for it. Perhaps another is that I've been watching the 'Mythica' movies (with a little 'Andromeda' thrown in - though how SF equates to Fantasy has me at a loss).

Anyway, the 'TL;DR' version (which I am far, far too late getting to) is that I am writing and I hope to put out another story this year - I'm just not sure which story will win.

I wonder how many of us are sitting here on the 'Home' page of SOL constantly hitting 'refresh' on our browser waiting for the next installment of Jay Cantrell's new work? Jay only promises installments 'early in the week' and 'late in the week' but trends towards Monday and Friday releases. I tend to spend an inordinate amount of time on Mondays and Fridays hitting the 'refresh' button (every five minutes or so) to see if he's uploaded it. Of course, on weeks when he chooses to upload on Tuesday/Saturday it's going to make for a long day...

If you haven't read one of Jay's excellent stories WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? There are truly great, epic stories on SOL and, trust me, his are some of the best.

I'll let you in on something that probably isn't a secret: I read more than I write. It's my form of entertainment; a way I can 'veg out' and leave the real world behind. Many times, I'll find inspiration in another author's work or maybe I can take what has been written and wonder how I would handle a similar situation. When I'm reading, I have a number of pet peeves. I'm going to tell you my biggest one.

Every story requires a certain suspension of disbelief. It's the price you pay for reading fiction; you know it's not real so you 'bypass' some things that are obviously unlikely if not impossible. I feel the author is responsible for not breaking that suspension by not doing anything so outlandish that there's no way it could possibly happen. I have a very difficult time reading a story where the author goes so far that there's no way I can keep that disbelief from creeping in.

The most obvious way that an author can break the suspension is through dialog. If you're character is a 14-year-old, he should probably talk like a 14-year-old. (That's one of the great things about the Harry Potter series to my mind; book one talks about like you'd expect an 11-year-old to talk and as the series progresses, the conversation gets more 'adult'-like.) His maturity level should be the maturity level of a 14-year-old (unless you prove he's a super-genius - but even then, believe it or not, a 14-year-old super-genius talks quite a bit like a 14-year-old non-genius because language skills improve with age - you don't just wake up one day and start sounding like you've swallowed the SATs). This means that there is likely no way in hell a 14-year-old is going to say something like '...I tacitly agreed to another meeting...' or '...to put it in perspective...'. Now, I can buy that one or the other might be used - but both together in the same conversation? It's not going to happen - and it intrinsically breaks the suspension of disbelief.

So, that is my biggest pet peeve. Specifically, having an x-year-old character who doesn't speak or act like an x-year-old character. If you don't know how an x-year-old character speaks or how they act, you probably should go and be around x-year-olds to study them - it'll make your writing so much better!!

Not writing, that's for certain. After finishing 'Pretty CAPable', I started writing the sequel 'Fairly CAPable' - but I just wasn't feeling it. 'Pretty' was a very tight story (at least, in my mind) and I had a definite sequence of events that I wanted to depict. I'm not having similar success with 'Fairly'. The other Swarm writer's warned me about taking on too many diverse personalities with Calix's harem and perhaps they were right. The problem is that in building the personalities of Calix's concubines, I somehow lost Calix; the story I was writing became more diffuse as I threw more personalities at it.

So, I did what I always do - I took a break. Re-charged. I worked on other stories I've started and haven't finished (including some work on my upcoming 'magnum opus' that I started over three years ago and have yet to finish - but I'm getting close; I'm 18.25 chapters in and my thought is I can finish it out in 6 more or so - maybe less). I put together some new stories. I relaxed. Heck, I haven't even checked my email account in weeks (and I can see that I have HUNDREDS of emails in there that are going to take some time to get through).

So, for those of you waiting patiently on Calix's next adventure - I apologize but I'm not certain when it will be ready. I really need to out-think the story at this point and I'm not there yet. As for any other ramblings bouncing through my head - that's going to be a bit as well. I've got two vacations coming up in the next few months that I need to do some extensive preparation for and that's going to consume a lot of what little free time I have. Plus, I have my oldest in her first year of college who is having trouble acclimating so that's time consuming as well. No offense, but family, work - the ubiquitous Real Life - has to come before writing. At least, for now.

Thanks for your understanding and patience,
Kenn Ghannon

Please accept my most humble apologies that the final chapter to 'Pretty CAPable' is a day late. There was an issue yesterday and I wasn't able to post. The conclusion has currently been submitted and should be available shortly.