Temeraire Interviews

Sci fi Award Winner: Kymeraent

Congratulations to Kymeraent for coming first place in the science fiction category of the Temeraire Awards 2021 with Anna in the Garden. As the first place winner, you were entitled to a free interview. Thank you for sending your responses! I love your work, and I was so happy to get a chance to interview you! :) 

Basics

Username: Kymeraent

Book title: Anna In The Garden

Genre: Sci-Fi

Short synopsis: Two girls. Separated. Connected.

For Anna, her world is one of privilege and safety. A lonely prison.

Ken lives with complete freedom, but her world is one of darkness and danger around every corner.

When their worlds collide, neither knows if the other is real or only a dream. To find out, each must undertake a journey that takes them far from the worlds they know, into the unknown.

General questions

When did you start writing?

I've been writing since I was a wee un, on and off, mostly off. I've always loved writing. It's about the only creative thing I can do! lol

What is your favourite and least favourite thing about writing?

Favourite is just seeing this thing flop on to the page. This thing that was in my head and then, there it is, and I've written something! After so many fallow years, just getting something written is a joy. Least favourite is something I know others get. That horrible feeling that everything you've written is awful and that I should delete it all. That feeling can be crippling and I have great sympathy for anyone that suffers that.

For sure! I think every writer has felt that every now and then haha. Who is your inspiration in writing? Do you have a favourite author or book?

Favourite author and book are Douglas Adams and his The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy. That book influenced my humour for so many years and directly influenced another of my stories, "Foston Slacks". As for other inspirations, I like all sorts of books and movies and I think I've nibbled bits and bobs from all sorts of sources. As inspiration! I'm talking dialogue flow and world-building, not ripping chunks from other work! lol

Would you consider yourself a planner or a pantser – do you like to have a detailed plan for your story, or would you rather dive straight into it and see where it takes you?

Oh, I'm a pantser! I have the characters in mind, spots I want them to hit and where it ends. Everything else is ~throws pack of cards in the air~ that. :-D

Again, very relatable lol. Which genres do you prefer to write?

I prefer Fantasy, then Sci-Fi. I'm trying my hand at modern dramedy and also a horror for ONC. Don't know how well they'll turn out.

Regardless of genre, what do you feel makes a good story?

I'm a dialogue person. Good dialogue will keep me interested. But also flow and humour. Flow, for me, is like a cadence, a timing to stories and if the flow is out of sync, I think it hurts otherwise good stories. Humour doesn't just mean laugh-out-loud lines, but a sense that, even in the darkest of passages, I can tell the author *enjoys* what they're doing. You see some professional works where the author clearly isn't enjoying writing, it's a job. Rote. There are some stories on Wattpad that may not be professional quality, but there's sheer joy in their writing. I love that.