Interview with Charlie Kenmore

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Charlie: I’m the author of Earth Angel and other Seven Realms Tales, several screenplays and numerous short stories. I’m a 53 year old from St. Louis, Missouri with one very significant other- Alexx Momcat, two grown kids, and two cats. I enjoys collecting books, art and cooking. An avid garage sale hunter, I’m still searching for an oil painting by Edouard Leon Cortes (or anything from the Drip and Drool School like Pollack or Rothko that can be sold so I can buy my Cortes). You can find me on Facebook, and at the Seven Realms Earthside Communications Center,http://charliekenmore.blogspot.com/ or the FandomFest blog Fandom Scene http://fandomfestblog.com/blogs/charliekenmore.

2. What do you do when you are not writing?

Charlie: I read, watch movies or television, actually do my day job, then waste inordinate amounts of time obsessing over not writing.

3. Do you have a day job as well?

Charlie: In the alternate reality known as the real world, I’m a licensed professional.

4. When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

Charlie: Alexx’s birthday is the Fourth of July. In early March, 2008, I was wondering what to do for her birthday that was a bit different. She loves paranormal romances. I thought, “Hey! Why don’t I write her a paranormal romance? How hard can it be?” By her birthday, I had Book One done. I gave it to her, never planning go any further. She informed me that since it was her birthday present, I had to finish the tale. I finished in September. I got the paranormal down, but to date, no one has accused me of writing a romance even though the hero gets all of the women.

5. How did you choose the genre you write in?

Charlie: I’ve written science fiction and fantasy on and off since I was in grade school. When I was in fifth grade, I wrote a twenty page story about an underground society that collected humans for its zoo. My classmates liked it, but the teacher thought it was a bit dark for a fifth grader (there’s no accounting for taste).

6. Where do you get your ideas?

Charlie: Everywhere--the news, the web, Facebook, traffic jams, sporting events.

7. Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Charlie: I keep a couple of works in progress going at any given time. If the Muse doesn’t want to work on one WIP, then frequently I can convince her to work on one of the others. 
When things get slow, there are always external scapegoats. For example, they are installing a sound reduction wall on the highway behind our house. For those who like extended oxymorons, they are reducing sound by blasting, crushing rocks, chipping wood and pulping vegetation, pile driving and operating heavy machinery. In addition, unfortunately, our home has very poor air conditioning. During the recent heat wave and noise, I’ve had some trouble convincing her to work with me on anything, but we just spent a hardcore week and turned out a new novella (“Danijela”-a dhamphir and a vampire have to have a baby to save the world).

8. Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Charlie: I’m a pantser. Sometimes I have great finale in mind and have to write a story to get there. Other times, I have a couple of characters that interest me or an off-beat scenario, and just let the story go wherever the Muse wants to take it.

9. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Charlie: Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard.

10. Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Charlie: Glad you asked. I finished Earth Angel, but really didn’t think about trying to get it published at the outset. Around May of 2010, I was chatting online with an author friend who suggested that I put a post up at a new Yahoo group Publishing (sic?) Trove. I put a blurb up, and immediately got a request for the book from a new publisher. I sent it, and they took it within a week. We set an initial publishing date of mid August. We rushed through editing, and were all set for an August release. But the publisher had an issue with someone (a business partner?), and the release got pushed back to November. In November, I got all pumped up for the release, and the publisher went out of business without releasing a single title. I got the rights back. 

In December, I reached an agreement in principal to place Earth Angel with an new publisher for which I was doing some editing. I received a contract. A day or two later I received a message to hold on returning the contact because the publisher was revising the standard contract. I never received a new contract. Subsequently, this publisher stuck it to me three times in a single month, so it was just as well that it didn’t have any rights to Earth Angel.

Third time’s a charm. I sent an email to an acquisition editor that expressed interest in the book when it was under the first contract. She asked for a copy, then put it under contract. Everything went pretty well until I got the final cover art that I supposedly approved. This final art was the first time that I’d seen any art. It was nice except for a major problem, the angel had wings, and the Earth Angel does not have wings. We took the wings off, and I love the cover.

11. How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Charlie: Marketing is still a bit of a mystery to me. I’ve done guest interviews like this one (thanks again), and guest blogs, and social media bombardments. I just made some great contacts at FandomFest, and I’m looking forward to making more at Archon this fall.
12. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

Charlie: I have a WIP called 2052. A comet explodes in the mid teens which greatly increases male mortality and decreases male fertility. Women become a super majority. Politics and society shift accordingly.

And some fun questions:

What is your favorite food? 

Charlie: Like the square root of a negative number, a single favorite food is an imaginary thing. When eating a fine steak, there is nothing I like better. When I’m three napkins into some barbecue ribs, there is nothing I like better. Lamb chops? Ditto. Lobster? Yep. So the answer to your question is -- chocolate.

How do you feel about fuzzy socks?

Charlie: Definitely preferable to fuzzy chocolate.

Thanks for having me.
CK
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Blurb:

There are seven parallel worlds known as the Seven Realms which are separated by a Veil. Six are inhabited by all manner of entities, some natural, some not. That may not be the case for much longer. The first portion of the High Sidhe Prophecy of the Sevens has been fulfilled. The Anarch, who is one with the Veil, has escaped. If she chooses, she can part or drop the Veil or she can lift the Veil in its entirety. The Seven Realms will converge. The laws of physics and magic will collide head on. Unless she is stopped, there will be nothing left.

Queen Amura has called for an assembly of the signatories to the High Sidhe's Second Accords, a multi-realm peace treaty to consider how to deal with the threat of the Anarch. An Earthside TechnoWitch and other dark forces also are seeking to control the Anarch. Prince Dzhok (Jack) , High Sidhe Ambassador Salash (Jack's oldest friend and lover), and Valkyrie Brunhilde set out to find and befriend the Anarch before all is lost. 
Purchase Links:
http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615724840 (you have to register-free)
http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Angel-ebook/dp/B005KMQAA2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315450669&sr=1-1
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-earthangel-599934-140.html
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Excerpt:
Jack took a moment, and then he saw the light. Unfortunately, it appeared to be attached to an oncoming train. Jack was no pacifist. Like Salash, he would kill to protect his children (and had). But as a pansexual high blood Prince of the Human Whisperers and Allied Kinds, "make love, not war" was not a mere platitude, but rather was the very core of his being. Jack knew that he would have little influence on the upcoming gathering in Paradox. This was not a symposium. It was a war council. The outcome was fairly certain. His Mother and her allies would seek to kill the Chosen. And they would fail miserably.

"We have to find her first."

"Exactly, Jack."

You've got mail.

Salash reached over and pulled the MAPP out of Jack's pocket. She rolled down her window, and with a flick of her wrist, sent it pin wheeling into a fresh steaming pile of bison dung. Salash paused and scanned the tree line. She was fairly certain at least one of the shadows had flinched.