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Author Chat: Karen Hancock
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Dancing Word Author Chatwith Karen HancockSeptember 30, 2005
Hosted by Anne McDonald Dancing Word Publisher/Editor
* This chat has been edited for clarity and flow
Anne McDonald: We'll open in prayer, then I'll explain protocol and introduce tonight's guest. Lord, thank You so much for meeting each of our needs this week. Thanks also for allowing us to meet together here to learn how to improve our writing skills. Be with each of the chat participants tonight and bless them richly...and most of all, bless our special guest. Let us all be faithful witnesses for you. Jesus' name, Amen. Protocol: Please type ? for questions, ! for comments and wait to be called on in turn... So that we do not step on each others' toes, please type ga at the end of your comment or question so that we know you are finished. For those of you new to the chat room, "ga" means "go ahead". Tonight, I'm pleased to introduce an author who has won a Christy Award with each one of her books thus far. Karen Hancock writes thrilling books that keep you wanting more. Karen, welcome. Karen Hancock: Well, thanks Annie, I'm so pleased to be here. Thanks for inviting me. Anne McDonald: Good to have you here. The floor is open for questions. Karen, what genre do you refer to your stories in? Karen Hancock: hmmm. How about speculative fiction? <g> But mostly I just call it all fantasy at this point. Anne McDonald: How did you get started writing fantasy? Is it something you've always been interested in? Karen Hancock: Yes, I've always been interested in fantasy. Some of my favorite stories as a little girl were the fairy tales. I started reading SF/F when I was in the 7th grade and it's gone from there. robert: In world creation, how much do you plan before you start writing? Karen Hancock: I create the world at the same time as I write the story and develop the characters Karen Hancock: Each one affects and changes the other. I do the maps and the world building, but not all at once, and as I'm proceeding, I often go back and make changes or completely ignore some of the things I thought I wanted. Very messy. Shannon: I know this has probably been covered elsewhere, but what has inspired you the most in your writing? (books, music, scriptures, etc.?) And thanks for coming tonight! Karen Hancock: The word of God Barbara Warren: When you write fantasy you write about other worlds. How hard is it to keep the world realistic enough the reader can identify with it? Karen Hancock: With fantasy you know the reader is going to have to suspend disbelief about the fantastic elements so it's very important to get all the other parts very realistic, very grounded. It has to be internally consistent and it has to have attention to detail When I do a scene I try to get right into the character's skin—see what they are seeing, imagine what real life would be like in that situation—and then write it. I read a lot of historical books, look through picture books of different places and then really look at the pictures and try to see everything that is there, all the details. And I'm pretty rigorous with myself about it making sense. robert: I am writing historical fantasy, trying to create a medieval world that is realistic but with dragons. Can this work as a near earth type or should I make a new world?
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Karen Hancock
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