Ask the Author: Ken Cressman
Answered Questions (10)
Ken Cressman
Within a few years of my high school graduation, several members of my graduating class died, often under unusual or mysterious circumstances. One boy was found strangled in his bedroom, and one girl was found dead at the base of a cliff on her honeymoon. One boy was stabbed to death, and several died in assorted "accidents" that could have been real or could have been staged. If I were to write this as a book, I would have a member of the class investigating these deaths while narrowly surviving an accident or two of his own.
Ken Cressman
I was really fascinated by the world author Julie Reilly created in her book Time Watchers: The Greatest of These. A historian is sent back in time to study a community of Mesolithic humans in a prehistoric time. Far from ignorant cave-dwellers, the people of the tribe have a complex social structure, and have created a world and a culture that works for them. The descriptions of their daily lives was vivid and very interesting. I would have loved to visit and see it for myself.
Ken Cressman
My two favorite authors have passed away, and are therefore no longer writing much. To fill the void, I followed the advice "write the book you'd want to read." That's how I got started in the first place. Now, I guess the answer is simply asking, "What if?" My first novel, "The Flight of the Sparrow" was partially inspired by the question "What if James Bond retired?" What would he do? How would he use all those skills he acquired? The answer was a protagonist who uses those skills to do favors for friends and helps those who need it.
Ken Cressman
I love the creative process, and I love coming up with the plots and characters. My absolute favorite thing is the little "happy accidents" that pop up as I'm putting the book together, those little bits that I didn't expect and didn't plan for that come along and make things just a little bit better. And I love it when somebody tells me they enjoyed the book.
Ken Cressman
I've never really had a problem with writer's block. I always seem to have three or four future plots rattling around in my head at any given time. The bigger problem I have is trying to find the time to write them down.
Ken Cressman
I just finished "Little White Lies" by Ace Atkins (the latest Spencer novel) and just started "Blackjack" by Robert Knott. After that, probably "Lost Distinction" by Rachel Sharpe and "Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife" by Francine Prose
Ken Cressman
Spenser and Susan, from Robert B Parker's Spenser series. They may seem to have little in common, with him being a former boxer and tough private detective and she being a cultured Jewish psychologist, but we learn that they see the world and its people in much the same way. The conversation between the two of them, when they discuss the human condition, are some of the best parts of the books. They are both highly intelligent, trying to do whatever they can to help whoever they can, and they are very much in love with each other.
Ken Cressman
Do it. Do it now. Don't put it off and don't say "someday." I write every day, no exceptions, no excuses. That's what works best for me. The only way to be a writer is to write.
Ken Cressman
I hate to admit it, but the original idea of this book goes all the way back to the movie Back to the Future: Part 2. I just thought the flying DeLorean was the coolest thing! The Sparrow actually started out as a flying car and the book started out as a screenplay. It's undergone tremendous revision since then, morphing into a novel and becoming more about the people than the machine.
Ken Cressman
Right now I'm working on a book I'm calling Pegasus. It's about a transport ship to the moon (obviously set in the future) that gets trapped in earth orbit on the way back. The crew is running out of time and air as they try to figure out a way back without burning up in the atmosphere.
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