Thanks to the lovely Kate Aaron, we got to find out all about the Lost Realm series last week. Now we turn our attention to Ken Magee, a Northern Ireland resident and software developer who loves nothing more than to indulge in time travelling with his humorous hero!
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Tell us about yourself? Do you write for a living? If not, what’s your day job?
My name is Ken Magee and I’m an… author. I live in Bangor, Co Down. I worked for many years in the computer industry in a wide variety of roles including programming and sales. In the middle of it all, I served in the Navy Reserve for five years… which was hard work, but fun. In 2010, I decided it was time to finish the book I had started many years ago (writing not reading). I would have finished it sooner, but life got in the way. It’s finished now, but I don’t think any of the original book survived the process!
I’d love to make a living out of writing, but it’s so hard to get noticed. I will keep plugging away at it until I crack it. Software development actually pays the bills at the moment.
Favourite food, place, colour and writing zone, please.
Food – Seafood – particularly crabs claws, scallops and mussels.
Place – New Orleans
Colour(s) – Black and white… howay the lads!
Writing zone – A little room at home, surrounded by the knickknacks that I love.
You write in the fantasy genre….who’s been your inspiration? Favourite books? Movies? TV Shows?
I write humorous fantasy and Terry Pratchett has been my main inspiration. I’ve had a lot of reviews which have compared me with him… it doesn’t get better than that as far as I’m concerned.
Favourite books – Mort By Terry Pratchett, Better Than Life by Grant Naylor
Favourite movies – Pulp Fiction, Terminator, Memento.
Favourite TV Shows – Dexter, True Blood (season 1), The Good Wife, Battlestar Gallactica.
Who’s your favourite all time fictional character?
The Stainless Steel Rat – Harry Harrison’s creation is such a wonderful villain/hero. I was going to say Death in the Pratchett novels, but some might argue he’s not fictional!
Who’s your favourite character in your own work?
Tung. He’s the inept thief who time travelled to the 21st century and he’s struggling every day to come to terms with it. He’s a hoot.
Let’s talk superpowers….there’s no denying we’d all love one. What would be your choice, and why?
Invisibility, so I could find out what some people really think about me.
Inspiration’s a funny thing. Where do you find yours?
I find inspiration from conversations, observations of life, the TV… just about everywhere.
Writers have very different approaches to completing our works. Are you a heavy plotter? Jump back and forth between scenes? Sit down, start at the beginning and just write?
I like to have the skeleton mapped out and I always write the last chapter very early on. It helps keep the story on track. After that it’s just write, write, write.
What’s fresh about your books? Quirky and different? Likely to entice readers and keep them coming back for more?
My first two books Dark Tidings
What are you working on now?
I’m writing the last book in the ‘ancient magic meets the Internet’ trilogy. It’s called A Darker Shade of Black.
How can readers connect with you?
I have a Facebook page and I’m @KenMageeAuthor on Twitter. I’m also happy to answer questions at ken.magee@gametheworld.com. Finally, my author page on Amazon is a good place to find out more about me and it links to the two books and some of their reviews as well.
Geoff Wakeling 