WRITER WEEK-FEATURED KENDER MACGOWAN

Kender macgowan interview

This week's featured writer is Kender MacGowan. I met Kender in a facebook group called Book Junkies. He captured my interest as he is very witty and fun to talk to. I was also drawn to him because he writes poetry which was my first writing medium. I have read his love poem saga entitled The Hunter and the Elf Queen which I will have a review up sometime later today. He also write about politics. His political books are not what I was interested in but I'm sure they are quite well written as he seems to be a good debater. He has generously donated one or all of his books to one lucky commenter. 
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Now onto the good stuff:)

Hello Kender:)

What your favorite genre to write? Poetry or novels??

Actually my favorite genre to write is satirical commentary on current affairs of state, I just happen to write in in poetic form most of the time. I hate love poetry. Let me restate that. I don’t like writing love poems because it’s either to someone or because of someone. If it’s too someone the chances are eventually things will crumble and I will end up writing death of love poems because of them. My best stuff has come from having my heart shattered. Then again, they say from pain comes beauty, so maybe it’s a good thing in the end.


If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?

Persuasion. I would like the ability of complete and undeniable persuasion. To be able to persuade others to your point of view without fail would be an amazing superpower to possess.
What would be the musical soundtrack of your life? And why??

I think it would depend upon what I am doing. Celtic music would probably figure in prominently, ranging from the Drop Kick Murphys to Lorena McKinnet, but there would definitely be times for the soundtrack from Boondock Saints and Raiders of the Lost Ark. When I am in a funk it’s almost always a Brian Travis Band soundtrack. His music has a way of reaching into your soul and reflecting the shiny bits back at you.

How do you get into the writing zone? What steps do you take?

My writing zone usually hits me like a freight train. It almost always starts with a turn of phrase or an image popping unbidden to mind. I run with that and almost always have a finished product in minutes. I rarely rewrite anything beyond small changes in word order or tense and my average time for a poem is under ten minutes. My best (and favorite) poems have all been from thought to completed in less than ten minutes. On the rare occasion I do run into a wall I mute my phone, shut off the IM and put on some music. A few times I have walked away to let something percolate for a couple of days when I am stuck. In one case I knew a comment I made would be a short story, and for a year this comment sat in the back of my head, nursing and growing while I gave it no conscious thought. Suddenly one night, while on a conference call the story was in my head, complete, so I ignored the call and wrote it in ten minutes. It’s one of my favorite stories, called The Man Who Could See Angels, and I sometimes perform it at renaissance faires when I am storytelling.

How do you see your characters? Are they real to you or just  pictures? Do you dream about them??

My characters surprise me constantly. I know nothing about them when I sit down to write. For instance I have started a story, it may be a short story, but it could turn into a series. I knew nothing more of this story outside of the image of a cowboy watching a cattle drive. As I started writing it I was surprised to meet the characters in the story, and definitely have my favorites. I have yet to dream about any of my fictional characters, however.

What is your motto in life?

Follow your heart. It may lead you to places that hurt you but it is always somewhere you needed to go. You’ll never go wrong following your heart.

Can you share some of your writing secrets for aspiring writers like myself??

Write from the heart. Don’t skimp on the story and for the sake of all that’s Holy please learn grammar, punctuation, spelling and most importantly, homonyms. OH, and get a thesaurus.

If you could have dinner with someone famous alive or dead who would it be and why?

Patrick Henry. He gave perhaps the most important speech in the history of America. When things hung in the balance, without notes, in a speech called perfectly orated, he persuaded the colonists in Virginia that the time had come for action. His speech, in fact, was the inspiration for my most requested poem, Keep Your Powder Dry, and I have been honored to have people tell me this poem speaks to them on a primal level. I’d like the chance to tell Mr. Henry thank you.

Do you experience writer's block? If so, what do you do to help yourself get over it? The writers block I get usually comes after I have started something. To get over it I just walk away and let the story tell me when to start again.

If you could travel back and forth in time, where would you go and why??

If I could travel through time I would shoot back to take a peek at the pyramids being built so I could settle that argument once and for all and to try some Egyptian beer. I would go watch the Battle of Culloden, the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of Agincourt. And I would zip around time buying new things to bring them back and resell them today.