Interview with YA author Kevin King

Young adult author Kevin King chats with me today about his new fantasy adventure, Song of the Adoël.

As Kevin does his virtual book tour, he will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn participant. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Kevin works as a software developer in the Seattle area by day, and an author by night. He enjoys Renaissance Fairs, bookstores, fencing, and daydreaming. He has been reading Fantasy from age six, and writing from age twenty-two. He loves exploring fantasy worlds, and especially exploring human nature through fiction. Fantasy is his first love, but he also dabbles in Sci-Fi, creepy horror, and devastatingly sad dramas. He posts regular Flash Fiction to his Instagram and website.

Welcome, Kevin. Please tell us about your current release.
Song of the Adoël tells the story of Raendel, who is one of the Adoël, a race of people who suffer under an inherited curse. The Adoël work as servants to the king’s household in return for protection against the common people, who fear them for their bizarre looks and unique magic. Although the curse blocks them from using the standard magic available to others, they have developed their own style of magic: they create illusions by singing.

Raendel struggles with self-doubt, compounded by living in a culture that tells him he should feel guilty for the wrongs of his ancestors. When the Necromancer who cursed his people finds a way to return from the dead and attacks the king, Raendel must find the courage to fight through his personal fears, and face the literal demons of his past.

This is actually the second edition of the book. I ended my contract with my first publisher, and wrote a new extended ending. The first edition was released in February 2022.

What inspired you to write this book?
This is the story that inspired me to be a writer. I had a job with lots of free time, so I did a lot of daydreaming. I got the idea for the core issue of the book first, as some random chain of thought led me to wonder what would happen if a group of people were all cursed, but some side effect of the curse actually gave them a unique and powerful ability. Only they didn’t see it as powerful, because it was associated with the curse they could only see it as a bad thing. I built on that seed concept, imagining what that might look like and then what kind of world that could happen in, and what kind of characters would live in that world. I loved the story, and wanted to read it. But to read it, first I had to write it.

Excerpt from Song of the Adoël:
Kenan shifted his energy, a little for speed and a little for strength. He rolled just far enough to get clear of Peristra and his blankets, jumped to his feet and sprinted headlong into the approaching figure. He ran at an angle across the clearing to get between the stranger and Timothy, who had wakened but still fought to get free of his bedding.

Kenan grabbed the man’s knife hand and twisted. His extra strength had no effect. A normal man would either have dropped the knife and fallen back or suffered a broken arm. The knife arm barely turned at all, and the man didn’t stop moving forward in his vacant-eyed march toward Timothy.

More strength, Kenan thought. The Art would allow that. But at what cost? He would either have to give up his speed or drain his mental energy, and there wasn’t time to think about the utter exhaustion that would result. He had to act now.

Again, Master Jabal’s training saved him. He left one small part of his brain to handle automatic bodily functions and focused the rest of his energy into strength. At last, the attacker responded, turning the knife toward Kenan and grabbing at him with his free arm. Kenan’s arms flexed and stopped the knife inches from impact with his chest.

What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m working on a story set in a kingdom that is so isolated, it has not had contact with any other nation for as long as anyone can remember. With no external conflict to focus on, all the fighting has been internal. Assassination by poison is the number one cause of death for nobles. It’s so bad, every noble has their own personal cup that they carry with them, and they will only drink from sealed bottles from trusted sources, and they all employ food tasters. The main character works as the Court Apothecary, where he develops antidotes to save the lives of poisoned nobles. He is also secretly an assassin, using his position as apothecary to get him close to victims and avoid suspicion. But when he takes on a new apprentice, she changes everything.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I can’t point to one specific date when I decided that I’m a writer. I started writing poetry as a teenager, just as a way of working through emotions and life changes. I started writing fiction in my twenties, but only thought of it as a hobby. Over the last ten years I’ve gradually become more serious about writing, going to conferences and joining critique groups. Somewhere during that time period I began to see myself as a writer, but it felt like discovering a part of myself that was always there, only I hadn’t noticed it yet. It kind of just snuck up on me when I wasn’t looking.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do not write full time. I work a forty hour office job as a software developer. I only manage to write in the random little gaps between other activities. I’m lucky to carve out a few hours a week of writing time. Somehow, in that time I manage to produce a five hundred to a thousand word flash fiction story almost every week, plus make some progress on my novel project(s). It’s not moving quickly, but it’s moving.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
My imagination is strange and random. I try to write a new flash fiction story every week from prompts, and you never know what you’re going to get. Bizarre ideas come to me, usually in the shower or when I’m walking the dog, and they could be anything – super creepy horror, rom-com, fantasy, emotional drama. But apparently my favorite method of killing a character is poison. One of my writing groups has given me the nickname KTP – Kevin the Poisoner.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I never considered what I wanted to be. I just wanted time to myself to read my books – I always loved reading. So I tried out a few different things before I found a career. I started by training as a missionary, but after trying it out for a couple of years decided that was not for me. Next I spent a few years as an ASL interpreter in schools. From there, a random chain of events led me to work in computers, which is what I’ve been doing since then.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I wrote this story because I enjoyed it. It falls into YA only because my main characters happen to be that age, but really I wasn’t thinking of a specific target audience. It has multiple POVs, and several of them are older characters. The character that most of my readers have named as their favorite is the middle-aged Queen Havilah, mother the Prince Kenan who is one of the main characters.

I won’t be offended if the story is not for you, but if you do read and enjoy it, please let me know. It makes me happy to hear of others enjoying my story.

Links:
Website | Amazon | Instagram

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