Scott Michael Kessman

Scott Kessman describes his Tales of Tanglewood as the culmination of many years worth of dreams. It is a wish upon a star, he tells us; childhood dreams come to life.

His wish? For the reader to feel the same magic he felt when writing the story. And after reading his book, I believe the fairies have granted Scott his wish. Because his story is absolute magic, no matter what age the reader is.

We are honored he has taken the time to answer a few questions for us about Tanglewood...the inspiration and the creation....

The story of Tanglewood begins with a narration by 'the scribe'. Who is the scribe? Is he you?

The Scribe developed as a combination of myself, and a completely fictional character. As we learn shortly in the beginning of the story, the Scribe is a writer who has always shared an affinity with Tanglewood, and in the midst of old age, has been recruited by one of the druids residing in the ‘wood to write the Tales of Tanglewood, so that a recorded history may be kept.

Many of my own thoughts, feelings and experiences have been instilled within the creation of the Scribe, though he has certainly been developed further, and may play a larger role in future books.

Were you like Colin as a child?

I did always enjoy the woods, and would often go off seeking imaginary adventure or looking for evidence of elves and other fey, but Colin has definitely developed as a separate entity from myself.

When did you discover your talent and desire to write?

I began writing short stories in grade school and have been writing ever since. My style has of course changed and developed over time.

Do you discover your characters, or do they discover you?

I typically make up the story as I go along, or rather, the story writes itself, and I am merely the vessel through it flows from pen to paper; Likewise for the characters. They are there already, simply waiting for their story to be told. I find it much easier to write this way, rather than to force a story or a character to go in particular direction. The story and characters remain truer to themselves in this way.

Do you remember the first time any of your work was published?

I remember the first time my work was almost published! It was the mid nineties, and I had submitted a vampire short story to a magazine whose name I currently forget, but it was accepted and due to be published in the next issue. It was a quarterly publication, so I waited impatiently and excitedly for months for the issue to be released. And then I unfortunately received the news that mere weeks before the magazine was due to be released, it went out of business. Needless to say, I was dismayed.

What do you think of genres? So many stories are blending genres these days, that they can not be categorized into any one of the mainstream genres. Do you think genres put writers in a box?

Genres are good as a general guideline, but often, brick and mortar and even online stores will categorize books mainly by a standard genre, such as "Fantasy", Horror", "Romance", etc. You find typically find books in stores further separated into "Urban Fantasy", "Paranormal Romance", etc., so of course it's best to read the description of the book to gain a true sense of what the story encompasses.

I don't think genres necessarily put writers in a box. Books typically need to be associated with at least one mainstream genre. Note that I said "associated", not "belong". I think publishers are the ones who put writers in a box, mainly for marketing purposes. This isn't necessarily a good thing or bad thing, it really affects each writer individually. For example, my book is categorized as fantasy, but it could be further categorized as YA Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Folklore, and maybe a few others. I prefer The Tales of Tanglewood to remain strictly under the Fantasy genre, because further categorizing it under one of the others might turn some readers away who might have otherwise enjoyed it.