Ask the Author: Keith R. Fentonmiller
Answered Questions (9)
Keith R. Fentonmiller
Hi, Shawn Thanks for your interest in Cursed Hat. FYI I am splitting that book in two and adding a bunch of material. It will become Books 2 and 3 of my Water Nymph Gospel Series. The grandmother-granddaughter book I referred to is a novel in that same series, though not technically a sequel. I will be sending it to my editor soon. As to Viktor Frankl, yes, I am very familiar with his work. Man in Search of Meaning and logotherapy are foundational to my personal philosophy and creative work.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
Hi, Sean. Thank you for your condolences. Losing Bay is a horrific thing. I think about her all the time, including when I write. Although I haven't written songs or poetry, I have channeled the experience into a short novel I just finished. I doubt I would have written it, or written it in the way that I did, had Bay not died. That story involves a grandmother-granddaughter relationship and the ultimately-futile lengths the grandmother goes to save her granddaughter from certain doom.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
Although I can't single out a favorite, these are the couples who come to mind when I ponder this question: Charlie (Bogart) and Rose (Hepburn) from The African Queen, The Dude and Walter from The Big Lebowski, Kirk and Spock, and Fred and Wilma Flintstone. All these couples have distinctly different personalities. As a result, they frequently conflict, often to a humorous degree. Fundamentally, however, they love each other, which makes them feel like family (or at least how family should feel).
Keith R. Fentonmiller
I generally don't have an issue with writer's block when I'm in the middle of a project. Sometimes, perhaps often, I do wonder, "Where the hell is this going?" and feel stymied. The key is to have confidence that your imagination will pull you through. I free-associate. I take a walk in the woods. I put the problem aside and let my subconscious wrestle with it in my dreams.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
Writing allows me to wrestle with my existential struggles in a creative way. I may not consciously realize certain fears and anxieties until I have fleshed out characters and conflicts on the page. By reflecting on these conflicts with both brutal honesty and humor, I'm able to maintain some semblance of sanity.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
Try to figure out what you don't know, which probably is a lot. Read as much and as widely as you can, so you can internalize different styles of writing. Take writing workshops, but develop a filter for criticism, which is not always helpful. Join a local community of writers and exchange your work on a regular basis. Thicken your skin, because criticism and rejection are inevitable. The good thing is they also make you stronger.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
I have just published two short stories and recently finished a speculative essay. I also am polishing up the sequel to Kasper Mützenmacher’s Cursed Hat. Titled Memoirs of a Water Nymph, the second book in the Life Indigo series picks up in the 1970s and focuses on an interrelated curse involving Daphne, the water nymph who turned into a laurel tree while fleeing Apollo's sexual advances.
Keith R. Fentonmiller
I usually write while listening to music. The rhythms and musicality bleed into my writing, helping me "lose myself in the dream."
Keith R. Fentonmiller
I wrote a speculative fiction novel for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel competition in 2011 that revolved around a family curse stemming from the ancient theft of Hermes' wishing hat. That book, which was set in the present day, briefly described a black and white photo sitting on a main character's fireplace mantle. It was a photo of his grandfather, Kasper, from the 1930's. Kasper had been a Berlin hatmaker, and the photo depicted him wearing one of his whimsical creations. That image haunted me for a while. I wanted to explore how whimsy might have existed during the rise of Nazism. This inspired a tremendous amount of research into hatmaking and day to day life under Nazi rule. I learned that at the core of Nazi ideology was the creation of an idealized Aryan face to which the German people--the Volk--had to conform. Of course, certain people--Jews, blacks, Roma, homosexuals--could never conform. The Klaus character, the "Stealer of Faces," embodies this concept.
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