[Carolyn Kephart]

I see that authors seem to have one thing in common: They love their characters ... Want to say something about your leading ladies, guys, creatures or whatever?

Hm. Quite a few of my characters wouldn't enjoy being talked about.

I can't say I 'love' them, because if I did I'd probably spoil them. My best creations are conflicted souls who go against their own inner nature because of forces beyond their control. A particular reader favorite is Lord Michael Essern, my hero Ryel's nemesis, whose powerful wysardry is enhanced by a demonic heritage he wants no part of; his brother, general of a queen's army, is likewise afflicted and driven to terrible acts that give him great anguish. I really enjoy writing those two.

CK

 

[Carolyn Kephart]

Just wondering... do you guys/gals "identify" with any of your characters as maybe being like an alter-ego type thing?

I very much identify with my protagonist, Ryel Mirai. He grew up as a nomad, then left everything he knew to devote his life to learning, then returned to the world to make it better if he could. Naturally, lots of things get in his way regarding the latter.

One of my favorite reviews notes that all my men act and sound like men, and that it's difficult to tell my gender from my writing.

As for my villains...no. Nothing at all in common with those egregious rotters.

CK

 

[Carolyn Kephart]

I'm a historian and am constantly wondering how the heck did men get to control the world.

I grew up around soldiers and very quickly learned.

CK

 

[Carolyn Kephart]

Moby Dick is really misunderstood. Most people regard it as a literary dinosaur, but it is a literary classic and unique.

Edward C. Patterson

I can't count the times I've tried to read MD and set it aside. Just no patience for it yet; it's the Finnegans Wake of its day. I'm saving it for my old age, when I can give it the time it deserves, along with the later works of Henry James (it floored me to learn that HJ dictated 'The Golden Bowl')...and, when my brain cells are giving their last twitches, Finnegans Wake.

CK

 

[Carolyn Kephart]

I love the Grimms and Anderson fairy tales and studied them in college. I'm also just bonkers for fables, but not just updating them. I think we need new fables for our times.

All of my fables deal with what it really means to be human. The subject seems more timely now than ever.

CK