Author Q&A with Brandon Ketchum

Brandon Ketchum is a speculative fiction writer from Pittsburgh, PA who enjoys putting a weird spin or strange vibe into every story, dark or light. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, his work has won Writers of the Future Contest honorable mentions, he leads the Pittsburgh Writers Meetup Group, and coordinated the 2019 PARSEC Short Story Contest.

1. Have you always wanted to write?

From a young age, yes. I’d jot down little stories here and there. Nothing serious until high school, though. When a teacher wrote “Worthy of Publication” across the top of my story in red ink, rather than a letter grade, I really got into it–or wanted to. Then I met my nemesis the typewriter. I could type well, but always had to back up to fix errors. Having to ditch pages with a single mistake sunk me. Between that and going away, first to college and then to the Army, where I didn’t have typewriter or computer access, I didn’t get a serious start into writing until my late twenties, and didn’t get serious about prose fiction until my mid-thirties.

2. Tell us about a scene that you loved but had to edit out of your book

In my current work in progress, my main character meets and falls in love with a language professor of Persian descent. There’s a long, languorous scene in a bar where the professor gives her a winding history of ancient Persian languages while flirting and getting to know my protagonist. I loved the scene because I know both women so well and the scene played out so beautifully in my head. Of course it was too long, and they were falling in love too early, and it was such an infodump, so it had to be chopped up and rearranged, with some bits deleted and some bits moved here and there into other chapters. Such is the editing process!

3. What advice would you give to someone wanting to write their first book?

I come across this all the time as the organizer of the Pittsburgh Writers Meetup Group–or did, when we were allowed to meet. Someone has a big novel idea and wants to write it but hasn’t ever written anything before. My advice is always to work on short fiction first. It is incredibly rare for the first book a writer completes to be very good, let alone get published. Why waste that great idea when you aren’t even prepared to work on it yet? Writing short stories allows us to learn the craft without committing large chunks of our lives. How to handle arcs, plots, characters, pacing, and all the other tools in our writing toolbox can be honed in this way. Fill that toolbox, and then get going on that great novel idea.

4. How do you handle criticism?

I absolutely crave constructive criticism. It’s manna from heaven. I remember what my stories were like before I joined the Pittsburgh Writers Meetup Group: good ideas in need of work. Critique groups can be wonderful aids that promote writer growth and development. On the flip side, a toxic critique group can set a writer back. Non-constructive criticism is toxic, and far worse than never receiving any critique at all. It can crush a writer’s spirit or make them think their work is trash. Constructive criticism, though it may be full of hard truths, and may be tough to agree with, is gold. Parse all of it through the lens of what you need, of course–while good, not all constructive criticism will be correct–and watch your writing get better.

5. Tell me about your current work

My current WIP is a novel about a veteran who suffers from PTSD with dissociation who, when an ancient Persian demon possesses her because of her mental health issues, uses what she’s always seen as a flaw to fight back. Sure, the demon slipped in because of her dissociative issues, but she can also access the astral realm because of the same issues.

6. Tell me about your main character

Aileen Byrne is a tough, no-nonsense woman who needs a lot of help and support in her life because she has no one left. Raised by a grandmother who died when she was serving in Bosnia as an Army medic, she formed a trauma group at a local church in order to help herself by helping others. Collateral healing, she calls it. These people become her chosen family, and she will do anything to defend them and keep her family intact.

Where can you find Brandon Ketchum?

You can find a list of Brandon’s publications on his website www.brandonketchum.com

Twitter.

Author Q&A with Brandon Ketchum