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This is the official website and blog of Kay Kenyon, author of the science fiction epic, The Entire and The Rose. You can sign up for my mailing list, above, to receive a bi-monthly digest of my news and highlights of my blog topics. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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The first book of The Entire and the Rose is now free on Kindle. Get it now.
twitter-bird On roller skates, hair on fire: our profound and fun writing conference on Friday! We busy, yeah.

Warm hugs

Category:Books I'm Reading
January 30, 2012
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Ever get discouraged in your writing?

Is the pope Catholic?

The latest book from writing guru Larry Brooks

Discouragement, not to mention torment, is normal in this delightful profession. We claim to be writers while our family secretly worries we’ve joined a cult, strangers at parties want to know when we’ll get a movie deal, the rejection letter pile gets ever higher while the publishing advances get smaller, newcomers zoom past those of who’ve been in the trenches for . . . well, skip that . . . and we’re now on the fifth re-write and the damn novel is still short of the goal post.

Do you need a warm hug?

Buy this book. It is chock full of masterly advice and perspective from one of our industry’s best–Larry Brooks, and contains a forward by James N. Frey which we should vow to reread once a month, and definitely before giving up writing for a real job.

Here is the book for Kindle.

It is also available as a pdf on Larry’s website.

Warm Hugs for Writers. Because sometimes fame and glory are not enough.

Facing an agent

Category:The Publishing Industry,Writing Tips
January 25, 2012
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Sooner or later you’re going to find yourself face to face with an agent. It’s an important meeting, but an odd one. You have only a couple minutes to achieve your goal.

A couple minutes? Aren’t most agent appointments (at conferences) more like 10 minutes? Yes, but the most important part of that interview (by far) is the first few minutes.

The test of a writer

It’s in the first couple of minutes that you’ll demonstrate your grasp of story. Read More »

The rich are not like us

Category:Writing Tips
January 16, 2012
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Some people get all the breaks. Like rich people and household-name authors. Sometimes it seems that you have to have money to make money and you have to be successful to succeed. That is, if you have certain advantages, all your efforts are disproportionately rewarded.

It reminds me of the oft repeated lament of authors that only those who don’t need more sales actually sell books at signings.

The rich–in whatever field–really do play by different roles than the rest of us. It’s not fair, and it hardly seems American. The myth of the land of the opportunity dies hard. We’re not all starting from the same place of visibility, contacts, appeal and privilege.

No one hates this more than I do, so for those of you who are getting in touch with resentment, I share your pain.

But given the truth of my post title, there are a couple of lessons that we can take away, and they are doosies. Read More »

This year no excuses

Category:The Publishing Industry,Writing Tips
January 4, 2012
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This year, we’re finally going to do it.

We’re going to buckle down and write more. If you haven’t started your dream project, you’re going to. If you’re stalled on the novel, you’re going to plow ahead. If you are mid-career and writing so very slowly, you are going to trust your fingers and type faster.

We’re going to pin our ears back and go straight down the middle to the goal posts.

Because if you’re not on the field, you’re not going to have the ball (pardon all the football talk, but ’tis the season) and if you’re not going to do it this year, then when?

The thing about writing

The thing is, you’re going to have to write a lot to have a career. It really won’t do to be a one-book wonder or a v-e-r-y s-l-o-w writer. The reasons for this are many, but generally have to do with visibility, dependability, building a base of readers, giving publishers something to sink their teeth into, promote and have faith in.

That being the case, it’s time to hustle, people. Read More »

Kay’s Best of 2011

Category:Miscellaneous,Personal
December 28, 2011
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I’m looking back this week, isn’t everybody? Here are my 2011 picks for crucial random categories like: Best conversation at a con, Most peculiar sight, and Best critter event.

Best new TV program

OK, talkin’ trash here, but I got hooked on this one. Most of it’s pretty good acting, but what’s with the the wild-eyed colony military leader?

Best sf/f books I read

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins. IQ84, Haruki Murakami. The Brahms Deception, Louise Marley, Tongues of Serpents, Naomi Novik. Read More »

What I Believe

Category:Personal,Writing Tips
December 18, 2011
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Every December I find myself waxing philosophical about myself, the writing life, storytelling and the perfect lasagna recipe.

No, I’m not going to share my current lasagna recipe (some things are just too personal for blogging) but I am willing to share my articles of faith about writing. None of the following can be proven, but:

I believe that . . .

1. – the world is becoming a better place for writers.

2. – the writing life is the most rigorous program in the world for self-knowledge, inspiration and personal growth. And yes, I Have tried Buddhism.

3. – no matter how good a writer you are, you can always improve. And need to.

4. – the marketplace disciplines us, if we will only listen.

5. – to keep my writing fresh I need to move out of/beyond what I’ve done before.

6. – fine stories are much more important than fine writing.

7. – the most inexplicable part of writing is where stories come from. I  build novels up carefully, but where the glittering story kernel comes from in the first place remains an astonishing mystery. But if asked, I will always say: A PO Box in Spokane.

8  – despite my thwarted desire for a year on the NYT best seller list, I am mightily compensated in this work by my friendships with, and the company of, the people I’ve met in publishing.

9. – this story (whatever the current work in progress) is the best I’ve ever done. When I stop believing that, it won’t be fun any more.

10. – if I’m not giving back to aspiring writers and the writing community, my lasagna will turn watery and the top strip will be too crunchy.

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