Featured Interview With Kenneth Britton Jr.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Tyler, Texas, where I still reside. I have a Chihuahua-miniature pinscher mix named Tinkia and a tabby cat named Max(no, I didn’t get to choose either of their names). I attend House of Prayer Praise and Worship Center, where I’ve been since I was 11(I am currently 22, with a birthday coming up in September).
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I realized my fascination with books when I was in the second grade. My teacher would read us the Bailey School Kids books and I remember thinking, “Well I can write one of those.” So I wrote the Dixie School Kids(Dixie was the elementary I attended) with the main characters being my friends and I. Then my teacher the following year read us Hank the Cowdog books, and I became obsessed with those. Before I even knew the word fanfiction, I was writing Hank the Cowdog fanfiction on my papers, also creating my own series called Casey the Guard Cat and Bubba the Bluffdog. I wasn’t original at that age, but I thank the Lord that those derivative writings at least got me started on the path of being an author, so that when I hit middle school and actually had something to say, I was still writing and able to finally come up with original works. As you can probably tell from my upcoming novel, “A Light to the Ruined”, I’m a long way from writing the Bailey School Kids and Hank the Cowdog.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I still love John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog, though I don’t really read any of the newer Hank books. I like Victoria Aveyard’s work; the Red Queen series has been fun to read. I love the Shadow Club duology by Neal Shusterman. Frank Beddor was amazing with his Looking Glass Wars trilogy. I’ve enjoyed many works by Bill Wallace and Betsy Byars. Despite being a Christian author, I don’t read a lot of Christian fiction or nonfiction; I either read fantasy and science fiction, or I read my Bible(I read my Bible more than anything). Knowing that, it shouldn’t be hard to guess that the Lord inspires me to write, to the believers and nonbelievers alike, because a lot of the messages in my books can apply to anyone.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
“A Light to the Ruined” takes place on a fantasy continent called the Ruined. Supposedly long ago, there was a big war against dragons that left the entire land, well, ruined, to where there’s barely any vegetation or water. The land is populated by roving nomad clans that toil under the harsh conditions. Except, there’s one location in the Ruined that was spared the desolation, a kingdom by a plentiful river on lush plains and hills called Vratigrand.
Our three narrators, Bellamy, Lyssa, and Chauncey are siblings and the children of Vratigrand’s king and queen. For varying reasons, each one desires to one day have the throne of their father and begin their own plots to attain it. Meanwhile, the clans out in the Ruined are fed up with Vratigrand hoarding all the resources for themselves and many of them begin their own plans to do something about it…
There are so many twists and turns, both in terms of plot and character development, that I can’t tell you more than that without spoilers, but if you go to my blog on Goodreads, you’ll find I’ve posted the first three chapters, one for each POV, which will really show you who these siblings are personality wise. If you go, I hope you enjoy the start and look forward to the rest as much as I did. Make sure to comment and or follow me for more updates as well.
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