Featured Author: Angelina Kerner

Dear readers, it is my pleasure to introduce to you author Ken La Salle. Hopefully you have seen my blogs featuring his books, Heaven Enough and Heaven Denied.  Ken is a wonderful multi-genre author with a vast catalog of books, and he was kind enough to do an interview with me. So, let's get to know him!

​​

1) When did you first get into writing? 

 

My favorite “how I started” story addresses novels head-on, because I had been writing for some years when this story took place in my junior year of high school. I’d written a column in my school newspaper, short stories, and had even dabbled in some poetry.

But, when Roy Johnson walked by one day holding the first draft of a novel he’d written, I was young enough and cocky enough to say, “Oh, a novel? Yeah, I could write one of those if I wanted.” I’ve spent my life hoping to measure up to the potential Roy presented when he showed me that book.

I went home that very day and wrote three chapters… but I never finished that book. I wouldn’t finish my first book for years. The apprenticeship of an author has a rather steep learning curve, but I decided to dive into the deep end, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

 

 

2) Many authors have favorite authors who they feel influenced or inspired them to write. Do you have authors whom you feel that way about? 

 

Kurt Vonnegut was my first literary hero because he taught me that novels could be short. I hated reading, as a child, but I loved books. I loved finishing books. One day, walking through a library, I passed a rack of these thin books by Kurt Vonnegut and I thought, I could read that! He helped me love reading and, when I started writing, I probably aped his style more than necessary.

I feel I have a relationship with reading that differs from other authors. I often hear or read about authors talking about their favorite book of the moment and the truth is that I don’t read very much. For years, I would read several books at once, stacks of books, an entire set of encyclopedias, but once I cracked the secret of writing my own books, my desire to read fell away.

It's like a watchmaker never needing to ask the time; once I saw behind the curtain and could write my own books, I didn’t need anyone else’s. I was on a trip of my own, one that becomes richer and more complex, across genres and styles, with every book I write… that is, until very recently.

I learned about a philosophy professor of mine, Ted Shigematsu, who had a book published called Struggles Against Time. Then, I found out he had another book published as well. And the man is brilliant, so why wouldn’t I read his books? This has set me back to reading a little bit every day, simply so I don’t miss out. This is something I am grateful for, and I might even go back and read Vonnegut’s stuff again.

(Note: I met Mr. Vonnegut back in the 90s and, yes, he was really great.)

 

 

3) Since you are a multi-genre author, do you have a favorite genre to write? Also, do you have a favorite genre to read? 

 

The problem is I don’t think in terms of genre. It always gets me into trouble.

I can read just about any genre, for instance, but I don’t like reading characters who are bad people, characters who offend something inside of me and make me think: I don’t want to know this person. This may sound like moralizing, but I like to read books about smart people doing good and doing well, solving problems, facing things head on – are all books like this? Are all my books like this? No, but it’s a goal.

Fortunately, I believe this filter allows me to engage in the world of writing in a positive manner. That said, I love a good sci-fi/fantasy. I love a romantic comedy. Reading or writing. I tend to mix it up and I like authors who do as well.

 

 

4)Do you infuse real life situations and people into your books? 

 

True story: I just finished the first draft of my first Christmas novel called Up On a Rooftop. It’s about abused kids getting through a bad Christmas break in 1975 and it is based entirely off my own life. It’s also funny as hell.

I look to real situations when I write because reality gives me an anchor, holding my flights of fancy to something tangible. I say Up On a Rooftop is funny as hell because the jokes all spring from something real.

Let me give you something less tangible, though. The first scene in An Intention of Flowers, Book One of my Work of Art series, takes place in a parking lot in Santa Ana. I come from Santa Ana, California and love placing scenes in real places because, again, that real anchor gives you a real setting. This allowed me to fill my city, or a corner of my city, with art and a story readers have loved.

I’d say that “making things real” can apply to so much more, as well. Emotions, for instance.

There is one real person I have used in writing and that is my wife, Vicky. She appears prominently in my audio monologue (available wherever you download your audiobooks), Cambria. In fact, her voice appears in the recording as well.

 

 

5) Are you more of a planner, a "pantser", or a mix of both?

 

I like to say that depends on the book, on how much control I wish to have in any situation.

One rule I always tend to fall back on is that I like to plan, to write outlines, but I limit myself to writing down only the “hows” and the “whats.” For instance, Max Dedge may have to be in a certain place to solve a crime, but I don’t want to know why until I’m in the moment and, in that way, I’m a pantser. I can conjecture on reasons and justifications, but I won’t write anything down because I like to allow the book to reveal itself to me in the moment.

I’m of the belief that I don’t do most of the writing, not consciously. I don’t attribute this to anything metaphysical. Rather, I have been a writer for so long that I’ve taught myself a lot of the skills that have made writing so much easier at this point.

I get ideas for books I won’t write for years, and I’ll store them away until I’ve figured out all the “whats” and the “hows,” until the story and the characters have stood up to strenuous cross-examination and I know this is a book I have to write. That’s when I put the book on my schedule… and hope for the best.

 

 

6) What would you say is your biggest hurdle being an indie author? 

 

It all comes down to sales and marketing. Unfortunately, I don’t have the kind of exposure a big publisher provides at this point. This may sound like a lot, and it is a lot, believe me. Fortunately, that’s not the whole story.

Because, few years ago, I lost a publisher. Then, I lost another. I felt like my options were drying up and I no longer had the exposure I had one enjoyed – but I don’t like to dwell on negatives until I can see around them. As a writer, you see, I can think of a LOT of negatives. I need a way to see around them. So, I look.

There’s a huge advantage to being independent if you’re fortunate enough to survive it and that is freedom. When I thought my opportunities were drying up, I decided to flex some of that freedom and launch two new multi-books series. The Breakthrough is a nine-book sci-fi/fantasy series and Work of Art is a five-book series about artists. Using that hurdle to my advantage helped me reconnect with my creativity in a big way.

 

 

7) What do you love most about being an indie author?

 

The thing about me is I didn’t always want to be an author.

I wanted to be an actor. I loved it for a while, too, until it became clear to me that I wanted to act and direct and build the sets and create the world. I wanted to play God, which is what being an author is.

My writing is something of an acquired taste, I think, so I tend to review better than I sell. And it was years before I began seeing any reviews. I suppose that’s why what I love about writing, about being an author, and I do love it to my bones, has nothing to do with the years I spent without recognition or the years I spent acting when I could have been writing.

What I love about being an independent author is that at a certain point I got good at it and every book gets a little better. There are stories I have planned, I don’t know how they end. I don’t know how The Breakthrough ends but I get to find out and I just know it’ll be amazing, and I get to tell the stories. How cool is that?

 

 

8) We readers can often get hooked on a certain book or character. Is that true for you too? Do you have a favorite book or character out of what you have written so far? 

 

I get hooked on whoever I’m writing at the time, which is why I write them. Is that a terrible answer? Let me explain.

I get hooked on Max Dedge because he’s always trying to fix a part of himself that nobody else sees is broken. I get hooked on Sue Jorgensen because nothing stops her from standing up, perhaps even when she shouldn’t. I get hooked on Matt Murphy because he has such a big heart. I get hooked on Andy Hollis and Joseph Arillo because they know they’re not good enough, but they do it anyway.

The thing is that old adage – you write what you know – applies in every corner of your writing, including characters. We all have wrinkles and these are the wrinkles that hook me.

If that doesn’t work, though, it would have to be Max Dedge. I mean, it’s Max Dedge!

 

 

9) I know that each author has a unique process when writing especially when it comes to where and/or when they write. 

Do you have a favorite place and/or time to write? 

 

I’ve been fortunate to do this for a while and my process has changed over the years. For example, I used to have to write (by which I mean type) in complete silence, which was about as convenient as you might imagine.

Now, I write long before I type. In fact, I’d say anyone who sits down to write with no idea what they’re going to write is doing it all wrong. I prefer to create my stories while I’m out on a walk or a hike and I do that just about every day. I can spend years on a story, if I feel it’s worthwhile, or a story can come to me fully formed, ready to write. Those I dissect, just to make sure.

When I write, I do so as I do now, with my feet up on my desk and my keyboard in my lap, which my wife tells me is very bad for me but what can I say? Some meditative music/binaural beats are playing through headphones and the typing itself takes only about 3-4 months on average, sometimes less.

This can happen at any time, day or night. It does and I like it that way.

 

 

10) Finally, is there an upcoming work you'd like to talk about? 

 

I’m very excited to let you know that I’m expecting to release three books in the coming year. I’ll be releasing the third novel in my Breakthrough series, The Death and Life of Arturo Delgado, followed by the third book in my Work of Art series. Before those are released, however, Wormfood will offer something brand new and disgusting to the zombie horror genre.

​