Author Interview ~ Karen Hancock

Karen’s first novel, Arena, won the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, as did Light of Eidon and The Shadow Within, Books One and Two in her fantasy series LEGENDS OF THE GUARDIAN KING. Now the third volume of that series, Shadow Over Kiriath, has also been nominated for the award. Karen graduated from the University of Arizona with bachelor's degrees in Biology and Wildlife Biology. Along with writing, she is a semi-professional watercolorist and has exhibited her work in a number of national juried shows. She resides with her husband in Arizona.

What new book or project would you like to tell us about?

My most recent release (Nov 05) is Shadow Over Kiriath, book three in my four-volume adult fantasy series, Legends of the Guardian-King. It continues the story of Abramm Kalladorne begun in book one, The Light of Eidon. Betrayed into slavery by his own brother in that first book, Abramm has escaped and returned to his homeland to claim the crown he thought he’d never wear. In Shadow Over Kiriath, he finally walks into the destiny Eidon has made for him as a king, and finds it is no easy walk. Eidon’s enemies have now become his, and will do anything to bring him down. Great blessings are in store for him, but they come wrapped in a mantle of conflict and loss that test his faith to the limit.

I confess, of all my characters I like Abramm the best. I love the way he has grown and strengthened, both spiritually and humanly as the series has progressed – especially since I’ve had to grow with him to even write about it. There’s no way I could have done justice to these latter books twenty years ago. In that, I see God’s wisdom and graciousness in making me wait as long as He did to see them published.

Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?

I started writing what would become the Legends of the Guardian-King series about 26 years before my first book sold. From the beginning, my intent had always been to write Christian allegory seated in a fantasy or science fictional milieu, and that’s what I did.

Once I’d completed the first Guardian-King book (The Light of Eidon), I landed an agent fairly quickly in the ABA and while I worked on the second book, she sent the manuscript around. Alas, no one bit, and eventually we parted ways.

I rewrote the first book from scratch and found another agent, a former editor with one of the bigger SF/F publishers. I loved her enthusiasm for my work, but numerous factors contributed to her having to withdraw from the business six months later. By then the market was saturated with the type of fantasy I was writing, I was advised to try something different.

Alternate world stories were in, so I decided to do one of those. Since I was homeschooling at the time, it took me a number of years to complete Arena, the story of a young woman who volunteers for a psychology experiment that turns out to be much more than she bargained for... When I started submitting though, it bounced off desks in the general market.

By then I had realized my primary interest lay in edifying the Body of Christ, so I attended the Mt. Hermon Christian writer’s conference where I met Bethany House editor, Steve Laube. He told me to cut 20,000 words and send him the manuscript. A year and a half later, Bethany House bought Arena.

Steve told me he’d be presenting the book on a specific day, so I knew it was being discussed, and was praying for God’s will in the matter. Steve called me on his cell phone in the early afternoon that day as he drove from one meeting to another: “How’d you like to be a Bethany House author?” I laughed and said, “Ah, it went well.” He replied, “It went very well.”

I was weirdly relaxed and grateful ... maybe it was shock. In any case, I think it took me two or three years to believe it was all really happening, partly because they didn’t publish it for another year and a half.

As for Legends of the Guardian-King, Bethany House signed me to a four-book contract before Arena even came out based on the pre-release reviews that were coming in. That was the sale that had me giddy and jumping around the house in astonished celebration after I hung up the phone!

You're a Christy Award finalist. How was that process? How did you find out about being a finalist?

Shadow Over Kiriath, volume three in the Legends series, and the book that is nominated, released last November, and Bethany House would have submitted it in December to the Christy Awards committee. I think they have about ten judges for each category (Visionary, Historical, Contemporary, etc). These people are widely read and include reviewers, librarians, booksellers, and others active in the industry.

They read and score the different fictional elements of each book (characterization, theme, plot, pace, etc) based on a supplied scoring sheet, which is then turned in to the committee. An independent group eventually tallies the points and ranks the winners.

While all this was happening, I remained blissfully unaware, even of the fact that Shadow Over Kiriath had been submitted. The first time I knew otherwise was when my editor called to tell me that it had been nominated.

Do you still have self-doubts about your writing?

I used to have terrible self-doubts, but I’m getting better about that, reminding myself constantly that God has chosen me to do what I’m doing and given me the ability to carry it out. Not only that, He’s promised to help me, and every day I hold Him to that promise!

It also helps that I’m growing more familiar with my own creative process and now know that when I’m in the middle of the writing itself – especially the first draft – I cannot see if what I’ve done is any good or not. Most of the time, even when it seems absolutely awful, it turns out not so bad. Repeating that experience constantly is teaching me to relax and be patient with myself.

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Not seriously. Never for longer than a few hours. I have always loved to write, and I wrote for 26 years without a single publication. That showed me that it didn’t matter whether I was published or not. I write because I believe it’s what I was made and called to do. Before Arena sold, I had decided that if all I ever had was 20 readers, it was enough. I even made double-sided, single-spaced, book-page-like copies of the manuscript and hand bound them using a Japanese binding stitch. I made three of them, and handed them round to my friends. If worse came to worst, I could do it again.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Let the first draft be as bad as it wants to be: you can always edit later. You can’t edit what you haven’t written.

What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?

I wish I’d really believed that God is the one who has His hand on it all, and that all promotion comes from Him. That no sales numbers, awards, fan letters or any other form of success depends on me or anything I do, but on His grace alone. He’s called me to write, with the personality, background and ability that He’s given me, and I do it to the best of that ability, and that’s all I’m called to do. Not worry about what’s going to happen with it all tomorrow or next year, not try to read the tea leaves of Amazon sales rankings or count up fan responses or reviews as some sort of indication of what the future holds. Though I had reached a point of being very relaxed and content about the whole success and publication thing before Arena sold, once it came onto the market, I’ve had to fight the battle all over again.

What are a few of your favorite books?

C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series, many of Dean Koontz’s books, especially Watchers and Twilight Eyes, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, Kathy Tyers’ Firebird Trilogy, Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book, Frank Herbert’s Dune..

What work have you done that you’re especially proud of and why?

I think I’m especially tickled with how Shadow Over Kiriath turned out because I spent the bulk of my time writing that book feeling like I had no idea what I was doing. Everything seemed so disjointed and flung together, I couldn’t see how it was ever going to work. And then, just at the end, as I finished up the final draft it all began to click into place. That was a wonderful time. And I think it says some very deep and important things about us and God and our relationship with Him.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has spoken to you lately in regards to your writing?

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy. Ro 9:16

Faithful is He who calls you and He will also bring it to pass.
I Th 5:24

You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will help you... Is 41: 9,10

Show me the way I should go, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul.
Ps 143:8

For the Lord GOD helps me, therefore I am not disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Is 50:7

I like to run them all together and I use them every day.

Can you give us a look into a typical day for you?

I usually get started about 8 or 9 am depending on the day, and write – or plan/outline, or sit staring out the window – until about 2 or 3 or 5 o’clock. Sometimes, I read blogs instead of working. Sometimes I take breaks to do small cleaning chores.

On alternating days, I leave at 2 to go to the gym, and at 5 every evening I listen to an online bible class from the church I consider to be my home assembly in Massachusetts. Evenings, when I’m not close to a deadline I spend making dinner, reading, watching 24 and Lost with my husband, or just putzing around. Sometimes we take a walk around the park.

Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?

Seven pages, if I’m actually writing a draft. Otherwise it’s more an amount of time devoted. Many days I just sit and think or write nonstop to help my thinking.

Are you an SOTP (seat of the pants) writer or a plotter?

Both. I have a broad outline of events I think I want to happen, but it’s only when I really start trying to transform them from events to dramatic scenes or sequels that I figure out what I really want to write.

Usually I will write a few chapters to get an idea of where I’m starting and who I’m working with and where I want to go... then I’ll outline in greater detail, not chapter by chapter, but just setting down the events as they begin to take shape in their order and context.

Then I start to write through that outlined material chapter by chapter, which almost always deviates from the outline. I have to laugh at the number of times the actions and discussions I thought were the most important parts end up reduced to narrative summary – if they survived at all -- and the parts I thought weren’t important end up the meat of the scene.

Once I’ve completed that section I’ll repeat that process, so I guess I’m more of a leapfrogger than anything.

What author do you especially admire and why?

Dean Koontz, for his mind-boggling skill with words, his awesome ability to create wonderful characters, and fascinating plots, and the intensity, humor and sheer intelligence of his writing. He’s also incredibly gracious for a guy who gets 1000+ fan letters a week! His newsletter, Useless News, is really cool, too.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

My favorite part of being a writer is that magical moment when the writing starts to work. When the scenes come and the words flow and you know it’s right. I love that. It’s also fun toward the end of the book when everything starts to fall into place and you see things you had no idea were there. I love the revision process as well.

My least favorite part is first-drafting, when my head is blank and I can’t make anything happen. I’m getting better about that, as I realize it’s part of the process and will eventually pass. I just have to be patient.

How much marketing do you do? What's your favorite part of marketing?

I don’t do a lot of marketing, mostly just what appeals to me and I have time for. I have a website, a newsletter, and a blog. I do interviews whenever I’m asked, but don’t seek them out. My approach has mostly been to let the opportunities come to me, rather than getting out there and trying to make a lot of contacts. I found that my work suffers when I do that, because all the contacts tend to pull me away from the place I need to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually to write.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

Be patient with God and with yourself, learn to enjoy the writing process and all that comes with it, including the times of waiting. Learn to be comfortable with who God has made you to be and what He has made you to write.

Of course always keep learning and striving to improve and listen as humbly as you can when a writer or editor you admire offers you some advice on how you might improve.

But at the same time, don’t let others’ opinions of your work matter more to you than your own. It’s your work. If someone has some suggestions for improving it, try hard to see exactly what they are talking about and how the work would be improved. Sometimes it won’t be improved by the changes, only made different.

It’s important to learn how to evaluate your own work and not rely exclusively on the opinions of others – good or bad. If you don’t, it will be very hard for you to ever feel good about what you’ve done.