Kay Kenyon
I've been reading science fiction my whole life. It was only relatively recently that it occurred to me that I could write it. Today, when I talk to aspiring novelists, I admire their courage and focus. Writing a novel has its challenges of skill and technique, but even more, it tests your determination and self-confidence. In some ways, novel-writing has been tougher than I could have imagined. But it's also been more exhilarating.
I was raised in Duluth, Minnesota, where I spent 18 years. My mother, Catherine Kenyon, was raised there as well. We both went to the same high school, an old castle-like edifice, Duluth Central, which now is an historical landmark. My first real job was as a radio/TV copywriter for WDSM-TV in Duluth, where I also did a weather show. They called me "Diane" on the air, because the previous "weather girl" was named that. Thereafter, all the weather girls were, in their turn, known as Diane. I could have made that up, but I assure you, I didn't.
Since that time, I've worked at various radio/TV jobs as a copywriter and voice talent for commercials. That work led to an interest in marketing and I gravitated into public-sector work, eventually focusing on transportation planning. With several partners I now run a transportation consulting firm. They let me name the company, and I chose Mirai Associates. Mirai means "future" in Japanese. I fell in love with the word Mirai. And of course, I'm already in love with the future!
My next novel, Maximum Ice, will be out in February from Bantam. It deals with an earth transformed by a geography of information, one that is rapidly killing the land in a quest for ultimate knowledge. It's another big-canvass novel, but, as always, the personal element drives the story.
I'm fascinated by the theme of transformation: physical landscapes, and internal ones. Like many science fiction writers, I also have an affection for things that are strange, and sometimes dark. Aliens and alien cultures provide the clay for fantastic shapes, but humans and their institutions can also evolve in strange ways. SF/fantasy readers not only allow you to explore weird terrain, they expect it!
I've recently moved to Wenatchee, Washington, land of sun and horizons, See the "What's New" page for more on that. Suffice it to say that my husband Tom got a new job in Wenatchee, and I was more than happy to go along, since we've been vacationing in Eastern Washington for years.
Tom is my biggest supporter, my champion, and valued critic. He also loves science fiction, and never seems to tire of discussing stories, the publishing business, and all the preoccupations writers are heir to. I would probably still be a writer if it weren't for him, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.
Books:
The Braided World
Tropic Of Creation
Rift
The Seeds of Time
Author's Homepage:
http://www.kaykenyon.com
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