First-Time Novelist Tim Kenyon
by V.T. Borger
Author Tim Kenyon |
|
Ersatz Nation: Read the Review Buy the Book |
A game of "what if?" led to the writing and eventual publication of Tim Kenyon's first science fiction novel Ersatz Nation.
His background is apparent when listening to the strains of New England in his voice. "I was working at a local bookstore, and a friend and I brainstormed ideas for novel with the 'what if?' idea," Kenyon said in a recent telephone interview. "One of the things we came up was a girl's body in the trunk... I decided to start with that image, and went from there."
Ersatz Nation is the story of two men, Patrick Dolan and Selmar Rayburne, in two different situations who are controlled by a greater power from which they cannot escape. "They're looking for a way to claim their self-worth," Kenyon said. "They have the answer in themselves, and the other person holds the key to release the other. This is more humanistic; more about people than machinery."
A first novel, as many aspiring writers will attest to, is difficult to publish. At the time he wrote the book, Kenyon was working for a publisher in New Hampshire who knew a lot of people in the publishing world. Kenyon's boss shopped the novel around, and found an acquaintance that was setting up a small science fiction press in England. The publisher was interested in the novel, and offered to publish it.
When he learned that his novel was going to be published, Kenyon reported his joyful reaction: "I actually got an e-mail from the publisher at about 7:00 p.m. This is when I lived in New Hampshire. I read it about three times, first thinking that it had been sent to me by accident and that someone else had written a novel with the exact same title as mine. After letting it sink in for about five minutes, I got very excited and decided to call the publisher directly and accept his offer of publication. Of course I forgot that he lived in the U.K., and it was midnight there. Very embarrassed, I apologized a hundred times. Luckily, he was a young single guy like myself and was awake. Nevertheless, it wasn't the first impression I wanted to leave with the guy who was publishing my book. But it made it to print anyway."
Unfortunately, the press - Big Engine - went out of business a few months ago. Copies can be ordered from the author's Web site, where readers also can read the first chapter of the novel.
"I got back the rights for the book from the U.K.," he said. "I've shown it to a few agents, who were not interested in picking it up, but were interested in my next project."
|
"Publishing is a money-making industry. Just because you're rejected by one publisher is not a knock on your talent." Tim Kenyon |
Within the next few months, he plans to complete his next manuscript, entitled "American Melancholy," a crime story set in a near-future San Francisco. He also is working on screenplays, teleplays, more scripts, and a script for a science fiction mini series. He recently sold a short story, "The Weather Artist," to Hadrosaur Tales, scheduled to appear in their April 2004 issue.
Before he began writing full-time, he worked as a police officer for several years. When asked how many dead bodies he had seen in trunks, he said, "None. I worked in small towns. There weren't a lot murders or suspicious deaths in small towns."
His biggest literary influences were Philip Dick, who wrote the novel upon which the classic science fiction movie Bladerunner is based; and Jim Thompson, author of The Killer Inside Me. "I read Vonnegut's Player Piano six months after I finished the book," he said. "I was amazed how similar the universes were. I like the quirkiness of his work."
His advice to other hopeful authors: "Young authors need to get to know the industry. That's imperative. Publishing is a money-making industry. Just because you're rejected by one publisher is not a knock on your talent. It's not based on whether something is good literature, but can it make us money? Unfortunate, there's a lot of good writing that's unpublished. That best thing is to write and keep writing - it's the only way to get better."
Science fiction and fantasy is a "young genre," Kenyon said. "It's still trying to find its place in the world. It's a literature of ideas and thoughts that doesn't get the recognition it should. Fantasy is taking off - it's where science fiction can be. Fantasy is dominating the whole realm. I'm hoping it comes around. Until then, I'll keep teaching comp."
Kenyon was born and raised in Dover, N.H. He was graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire, and earned his M.F.A in Creative Writing at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.
He and his partner, JodiAnn Stevenson, and their son, Estlin, currently live in Reno, Nevada, where he is an English instructor at the University of Nevada and Truckee Meadows Community College.
V.T. Borger has been a journalist for a number of years, and currently teaches English and journalism at Miami University. Borger has written one novel, "Running Amok," a very famous unpublished (as yet) thriller, and is working on a second novel and a screenplay. The author's spare time is devoted to hobbies, such as perfecting a warp speed engine and transporter, walking Neo the wonder dog, photography, and answering e-mail at: vtborger@yahoo.com.
© V.T. Borger
Ultraverse e-zine is Copyright 2003 Parola Scritta and Chris Africa.
All articles published in this e-zine are copyrighted by their authors, with limited publication rights given to Ultraverse. All other rights are reserved by the author. Distribution without permission is a violation of copyright law.