Author Interview, Kevin Rau

Interview #61, with obsessive/driven/optimistic author: Kevin Rau!

Describe yourself in 5 words:

Obsessive. Driven. Optimistic. Creative. Fluffy.

Share a short excerpt and blurb of your work (10-100 words):

From my book in progress: H.E.R.O. – Gene Front

“Winterfury knew the danger of the brick, but had been warned about the woman and her ability to telepathically control him. He threw the ball of cold at Psystar, who barely opened her mouth in reaction before the sphere hit her. When it struck, a thick mass of ice formed over the heroine. Her body froze in position on the chair. The brick, Mr. Drake, reacted faster than Winterfury expected. He closed on the master of ice in a few steps. Winterfury grew a thick shield of toughened ice over his left arm as the the large man moved in and swung.”

Share an excerpt of your favorite author’s work (10-100 words):

By Laurel K. Hamilton:

“Come, Anita, join me on the stage.” His voice wasn’t as good as Jean-Claude’s, it just wasn’t. There was no texture to it, but the mind behind the voice was like nothing I had ever felt. It was ancient, terribly ancient. The force of his mind made my bones ache.

Comment on the writing versus publication process, in your experience:

Writing is a creative process. Working with the flow of the story and the plot(s). Ensuring each character’s voice is their own. Generally, it’s an enjoyable process.

Publication would depend on what you specifically mean in this context. If you mean the process of converting a book to e-book formats and prepping a book for sale, then for me it involves editing (often tedious reading and re-reading your work and tweaking it, and then sending it off to others to get their input, and then go back and make modifications). It also involves creation of art for the cover, which is a creative process as well, since I create 3D art for my superheroes, and then use that to render an extremely high detail image for use on the cover.

Next, we’ve got the creation of the “back cover text,” which I personally dislike. I write a story for the full story, not to shorten it into a few hundred words. Last are the details of converting the Word document into the right format for e-books, which is minor for me. The true hard part is the marketing afterward, which doesn’t come naturally to me.

What is your definition of “good writing”?

I don’t believe there is a single definition. To me, the point of any fiction is to make a story that someone can sit down and enjoy. Ideally, the characters will be identifiable, and the reader will be able to “put themselves” into the situations in the book. “Good writing” to me certainly aren’t the nitpicky things such as minor grammar issues and formatting. (I pay close attention to these in my work, but that’s an attempt to make my work as professional as possible. However, a “proper English” story can be entirely boring or unenjoyable, and that would fail the “good writing” test to me.)

Yes, that kind of story would fail the “good writing” test to me too (subjective as it is!). Please share your #1 tip for writers:

I only get to give one? Hmm. Since I’m assuming those reading this will be more interested in releasing a story for sale, I’ll advise them to have others edit their work. Few people are truly good at editing out our own stories, we know what to expect, and end up glossing over errors.

Your websites/blogs/etc:

http://www.kevinrau.com is my primary author website and blog.

http://www.facebook.com/herobooks is my facebook page, I put images up here on a regular basis of my superheroes and some villains.

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Much thanks to Kevin for stopping by — be sure to check out Kevin’s website for more info about him and his action-packed books ;)!