Kay Kenyon's Blog, page 8
January 17, 2019
My science fiction goes wide
Four of my science fiction novels are now available at all e-retailers. You can choose from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Google Play and more. Check these out if your collection is incomplete! 
December 28, 2018
Spycraft in the Dark Talents trilogy
Within intelligence communities, spycraft refers to the techniques used by spies to gather intelligence and remain undercover. The need to manipulate, discover, and remain secret has spawned the time-tested techniques used by spies everywhere.
I used these methods throughout the Dark Talents trilogy, set in England in 1936. Here are some examples culled from Kim Tavistock scenes in Book two, Serpent in the Heather.
In eBook and hardcover. In paperback on Apr. 16.
SIGN OF LIFE. To confirm with handlers or HQ (the “office” in British intelligence service parlance) that one is on duty and pursuing the mission.
In a wool skirt and sweater set Kim made her way down to the castle parlor, where she put in her call to Knightsbridge and Nash Photo Finishing. Someone from the Office answered appropriately and said her photo prints would be ready on Wednesday. Her sign-of-life call complete, she turned to find Powell had entered the drawing room.
THE COVER PERSONA. Obviously, spies wish to remain undetected as such. To that end, they adopt ostensible business and deflecting personal attributes.
“Tread carefully with this Coslett woman, Kim. We’re only allowed a limited operation. You must deploy your witless- American mode to perfection.”
She snapped a look at him. “I didn’t know I had one.”
“What? Oh, yes, quite a good one. Charging around all innocent and eager. Top-notch.”
HONEY TRAP. Female spies might use sex to disarm targets into revealing important information.
“I would like to kiss you,” Powell said. “If that’s all right. If you wouldn’t mind.”
Kim thought it the most awkward proposition she had ever encountered. “Perhaps, given that I’m on assignment, it may not do.”
“Surely, that doesn’t matter.”
“Well,” she said, “perhaps it’s not a rule.”
Powell put his hand on the back of her head and, turning her face up toward him, he kissed her, inexpertly but sincerely.
This had been a bad idea. She had now passed a rotten milestone: pretending affection to further her aims.
ALL THE LIES & DECEPTION. Here, Kim is debriefing with her handler, Owen.
“Lady Ellesmere thought she detected my extreme discomfort. It gave me a start, but I don’t think she could identify my . . .duplicity.”
“Don’t think of it like that,” Owen said. “It’s not a lie, it’s a cover.”
Well. It was both. But it didn’t hurt to use the right words, the ones that helped you live with yourself.
◊◊◊
In this snippet, Kim has been trying to manipulate Powell Coslett into revealing secret information.
After a few strides Powell half-turned to her. “What you said . . . I know you’re trying to bolster me. It’s really very good of you.”
She had been twisting his hopes in front of his face, hoping to crack his facade, so it was not very good of her. The further she walked down this road, the more deception and manipulation she used, almost effortlessly.
It was reassuring to know that she had it in her.
YOU SUSPECT ALMOST EVERYONE. Once you start looking for conspiracies, you see them everywhere, whether real or imaginative.
She checked down the hallway. No one there. The thought came to her: I don’t trust my father. Her discomfort with him had increased since she had been inducted into the service. Julian could not be spying for the Germans. But then why did she feel he had secrets of his own?
CLANDESTINE SIGNALS. Sometimes messages are short and can be conveyed simply while remaining secret.
Owen’s phone call, a wrong number, had by prearranged code terms announced a meeting at Abbey Pond at one o’clock.
PREARRANGED MEETING SPOTS. Here Kim’s father Julian, is meeting with the head of Britain Secret Intelligence Service, called “E.” They are on the Stone Gallery, a balcony of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Sometimes the best rendezvous places are public ones, where a few words can be exchanged without drawing attention.
“Talon is wounded,” Julian said straight out. E took a long, deep breath. He kept his gaze on the view, those intermittent slices of London seen from 175 feet up through the stone balustrades. Against the massive, darkened sky, the gold spires of St. Paul’s caught the afternoon sun like a flame in a storm.
PASSING DOCUMENTS. Julian needs to get a message to the Polish intelligence service, and does so through an intermediary whom he is meeting by prearrangement.
“Young man,” Elsa said, looking worried, “might you know where they’ve buried Wellington? I’m afraid I’ve lost him.”
“He’s over there,” Julian said, pointing. “I say, you can have my guide if you like.” He passed it to her along with his letter to Gustaw Bajek, head of the Polish intelligence service.
Krystyna Skarbek
AND MORE. Read the trilogy for other examples of spy tradecraft such as legends, brush passes, dead drops, dry cleaning (losing a tail), surveillance and disguise. And for real-life spy stories, check out my blog series “Women Spies of the World Wars.”
BOOK THREE, NEST OF THE MONARCH IS NOW ON PRE-ORDER!
November 25, 2018
Book 3, Nest of the Monarch on preorder
Coming April 16, 2019
The conclusion the Dark Talents trilogy, Nest of the Monarch is now on preorder. I am deeply and honestly thrilled with this book, and I can hardly wait for it to get in readers’ hands! (Ships on April 16.)
I wanted to pull out all the stops for what Kim Tavistock is capable of, and place the events of the book in the scariest environment I could imagine, at least for a spy: 1936 Berlin and a secret SS outpost. The result is my richest story yet, I’m thinking. A few questions come to mind:
Why does Kim’s Berlin station handler say “Everyone has their limits”?
Can a British spy trust the British Intelligence Service? Can she even trust herself?
Is the man she’s living with going to help her or kill her?
What is it like to be both less than human and more than human at the same time?
Who is the last person Kim could ever expect to meet on Christmas eve among monsters?
You can preorder Nest of the Monarch at these fine retailers:
October 19, 2018
I’m teaching a novel seminar
Write on the River presents a 7-week writing seminar from Kay Kenyon.
For beginners and mid-career writers wishing to pursue a publishing career. The class is limited to six students and will be held in Wenatchee, WA. Sessions consist of an hour of instruction and an hour’s critique of a student manuscript by the instructor and the other students.
The sessions will be designed to deepen students’ abilities to evaluate their writing with an eye to marketplace considerations as well as compelling fictional elements.
Some of these are useful tools.
DATES AND REQUIREMENTS
DATES: Sessions will be held every other Wednesday, February 13 through May 8.
TIME: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
COST: $300
REQUIREMENTS
Must apply to attend by December 15. Details here.
Membership in Write on the River.
18 years of age or older.
Sense of humor; openness to all genres of writing.
Have at least 30 pages of a novel written and ready for critique by February 13.
TOPICS
Feb 13 – The foundation of story.
Feb 27 – The engine of the novel: Character.
March 13 – The shape of the novel: Acts, meaning, and movement.
March 27 – Plot development.
April 10 – Plot execution.
April 24 – Narrative techniques.
May 8 – Revision and staying on target.
Apply by December 15th – For more details please click HERE.
October 13, 2018
See you at World Fantasy
I’ll be in Baltimore and hope to see friends, readers, and fellow writers.
I’ll be doing a special giveaway of At the Table of Wolves, Bk 1 of the Dark Talents novels, right after my “History Abuse” panel at 2:00 PM Saturday.
HISTORY ABUSE?
Historical fantasy writers often twist time periods to suit their stories. Is this fine, or do writers have a responsibility to represent the past truthfully? What is ‘truth’ when we know that many stories have been written out of history?
With Erin Roberts, Carlos Hernandez, Louise Marley, Carolyn Ives Gilman, David Drake
Comment here if you’re going!
October 2, 2018
At the Table of Wolves UK Giveaway
–Giveaway ends Sunday October 7 at midnight—
At the Table of Wolves introduces Kim Tavistock, a woman with a psi-gift of drawing out truths that people most wish to hide. Because of this Talent, she discovers a German plot to weaponize a frightening new power. Now she must face off with a charming and ruthless Nazi intelligence officer and traitorous British aristocrats, all plotting the subjugation of England with a mysterious power over ice and cold.
—Praise for At the Table of Wolves, Book One of the Dark Talents trilogy:
“A superb adventure, worthy to launch a distinguished historical fantasy series. — Publisher’s Weekly, *starred review*
“Once again, Kenyon knocked it out of the ballpark. Highly recommended.” –SFF World
SERPENT IN THE HEATHER now available in print and audio. NEST OF THE MONARCH concludes the trilogy April 10, 2019.
September 10, 2018
The Magic of Plotting at PNWA
Here are some places I’ll be on Friday:
AUTOGRAPHING – Grand Ballroom 8:30- 10:00 PM
WORKSHOP: The Magic of Plotting – Evergreen 1
This workshop has been a popular one at Norwescon and Worldcon.
How do you develop a novel’s plot? Is it luck, or trial and error, or are there classic approaches you can use to bring out your best story? Learn to bring forth the magic within your creativity–and give it form in the world: your story! Kay Kenyon is the author of 14 science fiction and fantasy novels, including a new fantasy trilogy from Simon & Schuster/Saga. She will focus on initial inspiration, and the deep tools of mystery, surprise, originality, conflict, momentum, and transformation.
I’ll have some books to give away, and if there’s nothing to write on in the room, you can watch me hold a mic and a small white board and no less than Three magic markers, all while holding forth on the wonderful world of plotting! (I did it at Worldcon in San Jose, and I have witnesses!)
August 9, 2018
Find me at Worldcon
Eager to get to Worldcon 76 in San Diego! Hope lots of you will be there. A jam-packed schedule of stuff to do (laboriously rewritten in last few weeks) means that there’s something for everyone. Hope to see new friends and old. Here’s my schedule:
Friday 10:00 am panel. If This, Then What (210DH)
What if Hannibal and his elephants had frozen in the Alps, and never made it to Rome? How can we extrapolate what would have changed as a result of one of these turning points? Where do you begin? What do you focus on when constructing an alternate history? What stays the same? Along with Kaja Foglio, Yasser Bahjatt, Steven Silver, Harry Turtledove.
Friday 12:00 noon. Trading Card Awards Ceremony (210E)
Authors and fandom luminaries receive their Science Fiction Trading Cards – and sign them! Free packets of cards will be handed out to all attendees.
Saturday 3:00- 4:00 pm. My presentation, The Magic of Plotting (212C) Plotting techniques you can use to bring out your best story. Learn to bring forth the magic within: your creativity–and give it form in the world: your story!
Sunday 2:00- 3:00 pm. Autographing. With John Scalzi, Irene Radford, Nancy Etchemendy, Mimi Mondal and Juliette Wade
Sunday 7:00 pm. See you at the Hugos!
July 18, 2018
My new short stories
Though I don’t write many short stories, I must have been on a roll last year, and now out come two new short stories in anthologies within a few months of each other. Check ’em out:
One man’s insurgent is another man’s freedom fighter…
From The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to The Hunger Games, there is something compelling about someone who throws caution to the wind and rises up in armed defiance against oppression, tyranny, religion, the government—you name it.
Win or lose, it’s the righteous struggle we cherish, and those who take up arms for a cause must walk The Razor’s Edge between liberator and extremist.
With stories by Blake Jessop, William C. Dietz, D.B. Jackson, Gerald Brandt, Sharon P. Goza, Walter H. Hunt, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Steve Perry, Seanan McGuire, Christopher Allenby, Chris Kennedy, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Alex Gideon, Brian Hugenbruch, and Y.M. Pang.
And my story, “The Gunslinger.” Meet Maximillian, a notorious killer whom everyone agrees deserves what’s coming, an unthinkable justice. Unless he repents. Max won’t of course, and now must turn to an innocent young woman to save him from his implacable jailers.
The development of “Avatar” technology—the fusion of human awareness consciousness with remote robotic bodies—offers breathtaking advances in medicine, culture, work, transportation, education and imagination.
The transformational potential of avatars is endless—and in these fourteen stories, you will imagine a group of remote spectators traveling remotely during a rigorous mountain climbing expedition. Or a severely injured athlete able to play his favorite sport vicariously through another body. Or medical specialists using avatar bodies to enter hot zones that no vulnerable human can breach.
With stories by: KEVIN J. ANDERSON, MIKE RESNICK, TINA GOWER, KEVIN IKENBERRY ANDREA G.STEWART, MARTIN L.SHOEMAKER, RON COLLINS, HARRY DOCKLOOR, OSH VOGT, MARINA J.LOSTETTER, BRAD R.TORGERSEN, TODD J.MCCAFFREY, JODY LYNN NYE.
And my story, “The Gathering” about a man who loves butterflies who defies a despotic ruler to give his people a glimpse of the greatest moment in human history: The touch of an alien.
June 26, 2018
At the Table of Wolves audio book giveaway
–Giveaway e nds Saturday June 30 at midnight–
At the Table of Wolves introduces Kim Tavistock, a woman with a psi-gift of drawing out truths that people most wish to hide. Because of this Talent, she discovers a German plot to weaponize a frightening new power. Now she must face off with a charming and ruthless Nazi intelligence officer and traitorous British aristocrats, all plotting the subjugation of England with a mysterious power over ice and cold.
“A superb adventure, worthy to launch a distinguished historical fantasy series. — Publisher’s Weekly, *starred review*
“Once again, Kenyon knocked it out of the ballpark. Highly recommended.” –SFF World
SERPENT IN THE HEATHER, book 2, now available in print and audio. NEST OF THE MONARCH concludes the trilogy next winter.
