The Interview - Ben Kilgore, Author of "Escape from Tridon" and two other novels.

There are a few main characters that carry the story forward. These require the most care and attention to keep them in-character throughout the book.

That's a hard question. Walter Isaacson for biography. Erik Larson for interesting insights into history. Michael Lewis for novels giving fresh perspectives about our world. David McCullough for history generally and Nathaniel Philbrick for New England and Revolutionary war history. I haven't mentioned authors focused on mathematics and specific fields of science since they are very topic specific. And I have always been a Hemmingway fan. 

I enjoy how the stories take on a life of their own. While I start with a concept, the details often surprise me. I could never write to an outline. None of the books came out like I expected when I started.

Escape from Tridon is my third novel. It's about an alien species that is on a planet very similar to our earth. The people there are very similar to humans differing only by evolutionary differences. Their society is very different. There are three classes. Everyone is dominated by the ruling class. One takeaway is how social organization impacts their ability to colonize a new world. Tridonians are from a very technologically advanced society. The story also reveals how difficult it is to transport their technology across the galaxy.

Generally, I don't mind critique if its well-reasoned. There was one case where the reviewer clearly hadn't read the book. His setup misrepresented the main characters in ways that would have been obvious if he had read a few chapters. I like it when a reviewer notices small details, I planted to foreshadow events to come. 

Each of my three books has required some research. My second book, "Through the Raging Storm" takes place in the Texas Hill Country and the roads and towns and places are all real. I used Google maps to drive the roads studying scenery and the details. You can visit the places mentioned in the book. "Will Normal Return" takes place in the mountain west in a fictional setting, but scenes are described from travel and experiences I've had in a variety of mountain locations. There is also detail specific research done in all three books. "Escape from Tridon" is in two parts, the first being their journey across the galaxy. The second part is their landing and first months establishing a colony. There was much less research done on the setting and more on details related to their daily life.

I had an excellent design firm do the cover for "Escape from Tridon." The cover for "Through the Raging Storm" didn't seem right, but the timing caused me to use it. It doesn't do justice to the story. I suggested ideas for "Will Normal Return" and I liked that cover which portrays two of the central characters.

While I became an ardent reader in middle school and have enjoyed writing, my early interest was in science. That's what I pursued well into graduate school, but found a serious career had to be narrowly focused. I didn't get serious about writing fiction until I retired.

I have a love for reading and science and read a great variety of books and articles. I also have been a student of the stock market for years and am in the market most days. Golf gets me outside.