Aspiring Author Thursday: Introducing Kindal Debenham

This is actually a funny story. I used to be a book blogger. Yep. I did. And I really did liked it, but realized I liked writing more! :) Anyway, I met another book blogger a few years ago. Her blog was called Gamila's Review. Little did I know, her husband is a writer! They found me about a month ago and he was excited to do an interview on my blog. :) Oh, and check out his blog here. The name of his blog is pretty hilarious. ;)



When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Well, I’ve wanted to be an author since I wrote my first attempt at a novel in high school. It’s always been a dream of mine, though I’ve wandered towards other careers from time to time. After all, there’s no end to the people who will tell you that writing is an awful career that will never support a family. Around March of this year, though, I got tired of running circles around what I really wanted to do and just decided to go for it.

I think we all get to the point where we realize it's something that the need to write is never going to go away. Good for you!

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you just sit down whenever you get a spare moment?

My current job in the emergency room kind of precludes any specific writing schedule. One day might be very relaxed, while another might have been full of patients coming in with critical problems. Mostly I just try to scrounge writing time whenever I can get it, which generally tends to be late at night. I might miss a little sleep, but it is worth it.

Agh! The emergency room? I think I just passed out thinking about it! lol I'm sure you've seen some pretty crazy things. And lack of sleep is rampant among us writers! :)

Could you tell us a little about yourself? Random facts? Hidden talents?

I like to make up game systems. That hobby started in high school and even earlier, when I made up a roleplaying game for my friends and I to enjoy. I kept it up until college, and even used some of that roleplaying material in the first novel I cobbled together. Since then I haven’t really put a lot of effort into it, but occasionally it is kind of fun to tinker with an idea for a game or study what’s already out there. Kind of a weird thing, but it has really added to my worldbuilding skills for writing.

Cool! Sounds very interesting!

If you were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing you couldn't live without? (Besides your family and a laptop of course.)

A set of pens and a notebook. Laptops are good and all, but I have an almost unhealthy obsession with pens and notebooks, if only just to jot my thoughts down. Plus, when you’re stuck somewhere isolated you’re supposed to keep a journal as you descend into madness, right? Or so I’ve been told.

I love my notebook as well. I do type on the computer more, but you never know when a scene is going to pop out of nowhere. I always have mine with me. For creative emergencies. :)

What is one book you could read over and over and over?

I, Jedi, by Michael J. Stackpole. It’s a great book with one of my favorite characters that I’ve been rereading for like half my life. That, and I am a total Star Wars nerd, and Mr. Stackpole really kind outdid himself with the universe in the story.

I've never read anything by him. I'll have to look into it!  I do love me some Star Wars though. The older ones. Not a huge fan of Anakin going all psycho in the newer ones. But I do love Ewan McGregor, so I guess I did like the newer ones a little. ;)

What book are you dying to read this year?

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson. He’s an awesome writer and his Mistborn series is an incredible read. An opportunity to see the world left behind by that series really appeals to me, and I’m betting that Mr. Sanderson won’t let me down.

Another Brandon Sanderson fan! I swear I've had twenty recommendations to read his books this year. I really have to get on that.

What genre do you write and why?

I write science fiction. That was the genre that really captured my imagination as I read during my own childhood, and it seems to come a bit more naturally to me than other genres. Within science fiction, though, my interests have so far tended to wander a bit. Wolfhound is an action adventure story that would fit into the typical space opera mold. I chose that because I wanted to show heroism and space opera fit very well. Steampunk was the next bit of science fiction I explored, with an upcoming novel I called The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley. From there I bounced back to space opera with Iron Angels, and then I think I might do a cyberpunk novel. I guess that might be part of the reason I chose science fiction; my ideas and interests have the freedom to explore and create without having to worry about a lot of traditional rules and conventions. Pushing the limits and redefining boundaries is part of what science fiction is all about, and I am more than happy to have the chance to be a part of that.

That is so awesome. I've never tried to write science fiction, but I'm very impressed by those who can. Thank you so much for being here today and good luck with publishing Wolfhound this winter!  Let us know when it's available! :)