- author of dark fantasy and technical consultant for a clinical laboratory
Readers! Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to Kevin Buckner
Kevin is certified as a Medical Laboratory Scientist who enjoys writing fantasy and sci-fi in his spare time. He is a devoted husband and father whose interests include playing guitar, zombies, knitting, playing video games with his kids, and listening to heavy metal.
Kevin, thanks for agreeing to be here today. While most interviews start off with bios and such, and while I’ll get to that as always, let’s start with the important stuff!
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
Dungeons and Dragons has what I would want. It’s a creature called a Psuedodragon. They’re basically playful, cat-sized dragons.
I love them! The joy of a dragon, the mischief of a cat? You’ll be getting into plenty of hijinks with that one!
What do you write? And how did you get started?
I mostly write fantasy but also do a bit of science fiction. I got started writing stories in elementary school and found I liked it. I took a creative writing class in high school, in addition to AP English Literature. I graduated with a diploma of merit (slightly more prestigious than lettering) in English and Science. I knew at that point that I wanted to be an author, but chose a career in science because it had the promise of a steady paycheck.
I don’t think NPR is against covering genre fiction! It’s been known to make it’s way on there from time to time. From avoiding literary academia, I’ve yet to actually encounter genre-shaming in real life, just a lot of writers with trauma from their time there. I hope we’re in a better time now, where things aren’t derided as “not real literature” because people want to read them — outside of classrooms and people wanting to say they read something to impress people.
What do you like to read?
Fantasy, science fiction, classics, and horror.
Well, that sums up your reading pretty quickly. A lot of variety there.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you.
Limit dialogue tags
A lot of people say to limit dialogue tags in writing. I have a hard time doing this because I find it frustrating when I’m reading a book and have to re-read a section in order to figure out who is saying what. Some say that including multiple dialogue tags in a conversation between two people pulls the reader out of the story and interrupts the flow; I find the opposite to be true.
I’ve definitely heard push-back on this lately. There’s a growing opinion that “she said/he saids” are skimmed over and don’t slow the reading. Although, even without dialogue tags, “they” usually suggest having an action attached to the speaker in that paragraph.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that they can pry out of your cold, dead hands.
Write the book you want to read.
It’s the only way I can be satisfied with what I’ve written. I know there are authors out there who write books that they don’t particularly care for because they know they will sell, but if I don’t like it, there’s no way I’m going to finish it, let alone publish it.
I’ve one-hundred percent there with you! I *am* my target audience. Fortunately for my future publishing hopes, my tastes aren’t too far off from things I can find being published (and winning awards… hey. If you’re gonna dream, might as well dream big. Right?)
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
The Advent of Zón : Book one The Cudomerie (epic dark fantasy)
Several years after a demon prince is summoned to the terrestrial world, a respected politician is found murdered in his home. While the hunt for the killer is on, a secret society of necromancers discovers that the artifacts of their legends are real.
As they search for these artifacts, their enemies gather to fight against them in an effort to prevent the necromancers from taking over the world. All the while, neither side knows about the demon prince, who is still at large, manipulating people and events to stir up trouble wherever he can in a city that holds a dark secret.
(Book 2, coming early 2022)
Check Kevin Buckner out across the web!
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
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