YA Sci-Fi
Date Published: 1/5/2016
It's been 133 years since the Specters invaded Earth. Like ghosts they haunt the planet, devouring anyone foolish enough to venture outside the last remaining protected cities. For some, venturing out isn't a choice--it's a necessary evil to prove yourself to your clan as you come of age.
But when a team of ambitious youth—New Adults—undertakes a mission deep in Specter territory, they discover a terrible secret. Everything they've learned may be wrong ... and Earth is in grave danger.
Interview
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
Change is natural. The natural world is beautiful and wonderful
and worth preserving. But also: the truth is more complicated than you think.
The world is more dangerous than you know. Sometimes, we’re most vulnerable
when we feel safest …
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I’ve often found that I just can’t get bogged down in tons of
details on the first draft. I need to let my writing flow and then I can go
back in the second draft and really let the details fly. Then, on the third
draft, I can spot the weird areas that make no sense and work on those. But
seriously, I really, really, really cannot stop on the first draft. The moment
I do, good ideas start to flitter away like butterflies.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I wrote an entire YA series, The
Grimm Chronicles. I love that series, but I would say that Volume 2 of that
series is my absolute favorite. It’s got everything: a monstrous pirate, an
orphanage of doom, a wish-granting fish, magical powers, and a secretive cult
that worships a golden dragon. What more can you WANT, people??!!
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I just don’t know enough about Hollywood to make this call.
Hollywood is very … uh, bland in
terms of looks. Everyone follows an aesthetic script (mainly because a lot of
them have to) and it ends up creating these very interchangeable human beings.
Look at all the teen actors on the superpower and supernatural shows … the
tropes are pretty obvious, right? Attractive, dangerous redhead. Token
non-white guy. Smart Asian. Attractive white lead with rippling abs. It’s
insulting. I can’t cast my characters in that environment because some of them
are overweight! Some of them are ugly! One of them has a crossed eye! Imagine
if a famous actor had a crossed eye. She’d be cast out of Hollywood!
When did you begin writing?
Really, really young. When did I start writing good? I’m sorry … I
mean well? That’s probably somewhere in my twenties. I did a lot of writing and
failed a lot. But then I started to get good after I got my Master’s Degree.
Now I can’t stop. I don’t know how to stop. I literally pass up the chance to
watch new movies so I can create my own movies in my head and write them down
in book form. I have an addiction, folks!!
How long did it take to complete your first book?
I wrote it while in college. It was pretty awful, but it took a
long time. I found a couple readers, who volunteered to read it for fifty bucks
and they ended up being very nice. But they also thought it was pretty awful.
But I persevered because I loved doing what I was doing. I still go back to
that book from time to time and think about how to make it good. There’s
something good in that book, and I think I can remake it. Mythical monsters,
man. They’re just a fountain of inspiration.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
Not really. I read a lot
of Stephen King when I was younger. Some Beverley Cleary. Some David Eddings.
They were all so fun to read.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Being done! No, seriously, it’s probably the last draft of a book. I
love reading stuff that’s ALMOST done. It’s so refreshing, especially because
my first drafts are always such disasters. But that final draft always feels so
freaking good. I’ve accomplished something cool. And now it actually feels so
cool that I enjoy reading it. That doesn’t happen in the first draft.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
ALIEN GHOSTS ARE DANGEROUS!!!!
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
Still working on book 2, almost done, getting ready to send it to
the publisher. Should be out before the end of the year. Pretty darned excited.
And if the publisher doesn’t like it? Well, then I’ll just put it out myself!
The Proving is Ken Brosky’s newest YA sci-fi adventure. His first series, The Grimm Chronicles, ran from 2012-2014 and is available on Kindle. Ken received his MFA in writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
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