Featured Interview With Terrence King
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born an American Air Force brat, born bin Wiesbaden, Germany. We bounced all over the place, didn’t make roots until I moved to San Diego over 16 years ago. Our family has an amazing Bernedoodle who added a whole dimension of love and chaos into the household.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I didn’t like books until college, really. I couldn’t appreciate them. I honestly envy younger readers now, they are so far ahead of me when younger. Writing started in high school with poetry, and then on to student and independent films. Books are a whole new world. Looking back, I had quite the audacity to write the first one.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love SFF, of course, but I love reading work by writers with their own path. Cormac McCarthy had that and I loved him. Should say, I love his work still. John Kennedy Toole, too. Michael Crichton. But I loved work from Margaret Atwood and Stephen King to Hugh Howey, A.G. Riddle, Colson Whitehead, Lawrence Wright, Andy Weir, Marie Lu, Chuck Palahniuk, and most recently, Kotoro Isaka. Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is one of my favorites behind Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. Critical Habitat, my latest novel, wouldn’t exist without Toole’s book.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Critical Habitat is a fantastical sci-fi action adventure. It bends sci-fi tropes, archetypes, and conventions, as well as those of The Hero’s Journey. Anyone who knows Star Wars well knows of The Man With a Thousand Faces and how those archetypes are cultural beyond genre. I enjoyed creating a world that created both spin and homage to The Hero’s Journey. I wrote it in respect and honor for the readers that understand.
It took me six years to write, rewrite, and publish Book 1, which is Critical Habitat itself. (It started as one book but became too sprawling and dense so I broke it out into three initial volumes.) I was picked up by a publisher before being dropped and faced more rejections from agents and publishers than I can count, honestly. Stubbornness and conviction kept me going.
Book 2 is currently in its fifth round of editing which, if anything like Book 1, will take a bit more honing to get where it needs to be. The third book is also in the works. It’s dystopian without being bleak and fun without being for kiddies. I’m thrilled to finally share Critical Habitat.
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