...REPO KEMPT!
Repo Kempt is a writer I've got to know in the Litreactor workshop and through regular columns there. He hails from the northern reaches of Canada and when I set a story in Nunavut, not only did he give me some literary and geographical insight, he also let me know that I spelled Nunavut wrong. (Nonavat? Nunuvat? Noonavut?) Here's his 7 answers to 7 questions:
1. What's a piece of fiction that's gotten you excited about writing?
An agent recently recommended William Kent Krueger. I am currently plowing through his Cork O’Connor series of novels. It’s great stuff with lots of similarities to the manuscript re-write I am working on. Lately, I’ve also re-read ‘All the Beautiful Sinners’ by Stephen Graham Jones and ‘Pike’ by Benjamin Whitmer. Both of them got me stoked to pick up a pen the first time I read them. Check ‘em out.
2. Do you have any interesting habits to help you settle in to write? For example, before I can write I have to walk in a circle three times, then sit down, like a dog before taking a nap.
I’m not the type of person who writes at a scheduled time in a set environment every day. My life is way too chaotic for that. I wrote a large chunk of my most recent manuscript while sitting in the passenger seat of a car on a three-month road trip across the United States. Airplanes, bathroom stalls, sitting in courtrooms, coffee shops — I’ll write anywhere. I also record snippets of dialogue and ideas on my cellphone. It’s important to always capture inspiration and observations before they fade. You can always transfer them to your journal later.
3. What's the funnest part of writing for you? What's the least fun?
Sometimes I feel like a medium. I have a flash of an image or a line of dialogue. Then I grab my pen or my laptop and everything comes rushing out so fast I can’t get it down on the page fast enough. That’s so rare, but when it happens, it’s wonderful. I also love editing. I worked as a newspaper editor, then as a criminal lawyer, so I’ve done my fair share of editing dry and boring text. Editing fiction is much more enjoyable. The part I enjoy the least is when I have to sit down and think critically about the big picture of a piece. What does it all mean? Character arcs, overarching themes. It’s a necessary part of the trade and I spend a lot of time trying to get better at it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever enjoy it.
4. You've been hired to write Harambe: The Story of Harambe. Give us your opening line and the last line of the book.
I had no idea who or what Harambe was until I did an internet search. I wrongly guessed it was a Japanese philosopher. I don’t read the newspaper much…
5. Tell us about a fiction project you're working on or just finished.
I am up to my eyeballs in a re-write of my latest manuscript based on revisions recommended by an agent. It is a crime novel set in the Canadian Arctic. It’s taking a lot longer than I thought, but I think it will be a much better book once I finish making the changes she suggested. I also recently finished a short story about a woman who buys her childhood home in hopes of finding her father who disappeared in the house decades earlier. I’m pushing that one out for submissions right now.
6. Any blogs, columns or non-fiction projects?
I write a monthly column for litreactor.com about writing crime fiction. I also recently wrote an article about long-term violent Inuit offenders for CBC News as a guest columnist.
7. Where can we find what you've written?
https://litreactor.com/columns/writing-the-crime-scene-guns
https://litreactor.com/columns/writing-the-crime-scene-dead-bodies
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/review-tony-back-from-the-brink-malcolm-kempt-1.3551944
Repo Kempt worked as a criminal lawyer in the Canadian Arctic for over ten years. He is the author of a guide to seal hunting using traditional Inuit methods, a member of the Horror Writers Association, a guest columnist for CBC News and writes a monthly column about crime fiction for Litreactor.com. He lives on a cricket farm with his wife, Joy and his little dog, Galactus. In his spare time, he is rewriting his latest manuscript and submitting short horror stories all over the place.
1. What's a piece of fiction that's gotten you excited about writing?
An agent recently recommended William Kent Krueger. I am currently plowing through his Cork O’Connor series of novels. It’s great stuff with lots of similarities to the manuscript re-write I am working on. Lately, I’ve also re-read ‘All the Beautiful Sinners’ by Stephen Graham Jones and ‘Pike’ by Benjamin Whitmer. Both of them got me stoked to pick up a pen the first time I read them. Check ‘em out.
2. Do you have any interesting habits to help you settle in to write? For example, before I can write I have to walk in a circle three times, then sit down, like a dog before taking a nap.
I’m not the type of person who writes at a scheduled time in a set environment every day. My life is way too chaotic for that. I wrote a large chunk of my most recent manuscript while sitting in the passenger seat of a car on a three-month road trip across the United States. Airplanes, bathroom stalls, sitting in courtrooms, coffee shops — I’ll write anywhere. I also record snippets of dialogue and ideas on my cellphone. It’s important to always capture inspiration and observations before they fade. You can always transfer them to your journal later.
3. What's the funnest part of writing for you? What's the least fun?
Sometimes I feel like a medium. I have a flash of an image or a line of dialogue. Then I grab my pen or my laptop and everything comes rushing out so fast I can’t get it down on the page fast enough. That’s so rare, but when it happens, it’s wonderful. I also love editing. I worked as a newspaper editor, then as a criminal lawyer, so I’ve done my fair share of editing dry and boring text. Editing fiction is much more enjoyable. The part I enjoy the least is when I have to sit down and think critically about the big picture of a piece. What does it all mean? Character arcs, overarching themes. It’s a necessary part of the trade and I spend a lot of time trying to get better at it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever enjoy it.
4. You've been hired to write Harambe: The Story of Harambe. Give us your opening line and the last line of the book.
I had no idea who or what Harambe was until I did an internet search. I wrongly guessed it was a Japanese philosopher. I don’t read the newspaper much…
5. Tell us about a fiction project you're working on or just finished.
I am up to my eyeballs in a re-write of my latest manuscript based on revisions recommended by an agent. It is a crime novel set in the Canadian Arctic. It’s taking a lot longer than I thought, but I think it will be a much better book once I finish making the changes she suggested. I also recently finished a short story about a woman who buys her childhood home in hopes of finding her father who disappeared in the house decades earlier. I’m pushing that one out for submissions right now.
6. Any blogs, columns or non-fiction projects?
I write a monthly column for litreactor.com about writing crime fiction. I also recently wrote an article about long-term violent Inuit offenders for CBC News as a guest columnist.
7. Where can we find what you've written?
https://litreactor.com/columns/writing-the-crime-scene-guns
https://litreactor.com/columns/writing-the-crime-scene-dead-bodies
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/review-tony-back-from-the-brink-malcolm-kempt-1.3551944
Repo Kempt worked as a criminal lawyer in the Canadian Arctic for over ten years. He is the author of a guide to seal hunting using traditional Inuit methods, a member of the Horror Writers Association, a guest columnist for CBC News and writes a monthly column about crime fiction for Litreactor.com. He lives on a cricket farm with his wife, Joy and his little dog, Galactus. In his spare time, he is rewriting his latest manuscript and submitting short horror stories all over the place.