Today, Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Ken Brosky, author of Grendel

Good day Ken and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm:

In your introduction to Grendel, you mention that the Beowulf myth was an important catalyst inside the novel. What motivated you to use this Norse myth as a catalyst? How easy or difficult was it to interweave it into your story?

Ken:

Everything came about naturally. The story, originally without the Beowulf myth attached, always felt like it was missing something. I knew where I wanted to go with the story when I first conceived it, but I never knew HOW to get from the beginning to the end. It wasn’t until I was well into the climax that I first decided to incorporate the Beowulf myth into it, and at that point I had to go back and start over from scratch to ensure that everything fit in and none of the story felt too contrived.

Norm:

Was Grendel improvisational or did you have a set plan?

Ken:

I originally put together a much longer plot, with the chapters divided into “THEN” and “NOW,” and only the “NOW” chapters made it into the final version. The “THEN” chapters focused on Tyler’s climb to power in his father’s company, and how he took advantage of the board members’ weaknesses to get what he wants. Some of that made it into the final version, revisited while Tyler is asleep. The rest, unfortunately, was thrown out, but maybe I’ll put it up online sometime in the future so people can see what the original vision was. I’m a fan of meta-fiction, and I’m more than happy to reveal the “behind the scenes” events if readers are truly interested.

Norm:

Tyler Leto is a real handful. How did you approach writing this character? Did you plan him out or did he evolve as you wrote the book?

Ken:

He was originally much meaner, more conceded and vengeful. But with every good jerk, there needs to be at least some hint of redemption, especially if the reader’s going to follow him around for an entire novel. The more punishment he takes throughout the book, the more he realizes his own humanity. So I suppose he evolved a little bit throughout the book … perhaps that was my own fault, because there was certainly no shortage of pain on his part.

Norm:

You include some very detailed dialogues and scenes in the book. Where did this come from? Did your teenage years writing and drawing comics have anything to do with it?

Ken:

I take pride in the dialogue I can produce, and I wouldn’t be surprised if part of it came from the fact that I talk to myself so much. Who thought that would end up being a good thing? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe I’m just going crazy and I don’t know it. Well, I’d better write some more before that happens, I suppose. Or maybe it was all those Lego’s I used to play with when I was a kid. God, I loved making Lego worlds and giving those little guys stories and … you know what? That’s probably it. I’m not crazy. No, that would be highly unlikely. So far.

Norm:

What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing your book? How did you overcome these challenges?

Ken:

Finding a publisher was the hardest. Before that, the editing process was long, especially when I needed to cut a lot out. Eventually, I found that the process was a good one, and it’s helped me a lot in my newer stories where I can chop entire paragraphs out without feeling too attached to any of them. And then, of course, when my publisher dropped me, putting the book together myself was pretty hard, too. Luckily, I had a slew of volunteer editors ready to help out, and I say thanks to them in no particular order: Barbara, Judy, Dagny and Steph. Many thanks from the bottom of my heart for finding all those pesky errors I couldn’t see.

Norm:

Does Grendel have a broader mission than simply entertaining or storytelling? Can you talk more about that mission and what you hope readers will take away after reading Grendel?

Ken:

I want people to be entertained, first and foremost. But I also always want to give readers something they can think about, too. They don’t have to, but in the case of Grendel, maybe it’s worth sitting down and taking a good, long look at the entire concept of eternal suffering. What does that mean? Who deserves it? What’s the cutoff point? Does God see these issues with a black-and-white point of view, or does He see in shades of gray? Is there a God, if there’s a Hell?

Norm

Do you worry about the human race?

Ken:

I think, given our desire to want more, there are times when we take too much.

Norm:

What's the most difficult thing for you about being a writer?

Ken:

Getting my work noticed. I don’t care about money. I just want to tell stories to an audience. That’s what I’m going to look for with my next publisher: someone who will present my book to an audience. Money doesn’t matter for me. It’s nice, but this is my passion, and finding an audience is all I need. The problem, of course, is that finding an audience in this day and age can be pretty difficult.

Norm:

In the last year or so have you seen any changes in the way publishers publish and/or distribute books? Are there any emerging trends developing?

Ken:

My original publisher, Harbor House Books, gave me this particular reason for dropping my book: it wasn’t local. HHB is located in Georgia, and so their goal was now to publish books from Georgia authors and set in Georgia, in order to really localize the stories. It’s a good idea … even though I was pretty pissed when they dropped me, they might have the right idea. Regional publishing may be a good step for publishers. That, and writers (and publishers) need to take a step forward with fiction in general. Think outside the book. This can go anywhere, but we have to continue to advance with everyone else. Simply putting books in “e-book” format isn’t enough.

Norm:

How have you used the Internet to boost your writing career?

Ken:

I love the internet. It’s an entirely new step in the fiction process. I wrote a song to correspond with one of my newest short stories (and one of my favorite thus far) called “On the Tenth Day, I Kept it Down.” It’s a story about Darfur, and the song I wrote for it is available on my Web site with the entire story available. It gets read by more than 30 people every day. Not bad for a small potatoes son of a gun from the Midwest. Here’s the link:

http://www.KenBrosky.com/onthetenthdayikeptitdown.htm

Norm:

How do you come up with ideas for what you write? What methods do you use to flesh out your idea to determine if it’s salable? As a follow up, how do you approach the work of writing?

Ken:

Ideas can come at any time. I try to carry something to write on at all times. Any idea can be fleshed out if you approach it correctly. My best advice is to think outside the box. If it doesn’t come out like a traditional story and no one will take a risk with it, then publish it yourself! Don’t deprive the world of your creation just because no one thinks is salable!

Norm:

How can our readers find out more about Ken Brosky? Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Ken:

www.KenBrosky.com

I try to put up all of my short stories, unless there’s a link to the magazine it’s published in, of course. There’s also a soundtrack for Grendel available for download and a couple of essays as well.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

To read Norm's Review of Grendel CLICK HERE

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Grendel