SIX MINUTES WITH WESLEY KING:

Today Jedi and author Wesley King joins LitPick for Six Minutes with an Author! Wesley is the author of the The Incredible Space Raiders from Space, which was just released this week! In addition, Wesley is also the author of The Vindico and the sequel to it, The Feros.

How did you get started writing?

I was always writing, even as a kid. I used to sit at my desk for hours and write stories about superheroes and space and basically all the things I’m still writing about now. I never thought about writing professionally; I just did it for fun. In fact I never even truly considered writing novels until a particularly supportive creative writing teacher in high school told me to give it a shot. After university I published my first novel, The Vindico, and I’ve been writing ever since!

Who influenced you?

I read a lot growing up, so the list of authors who influenced me would probably take up this entire page. I used to read a lot of Star Wars books as a kid, so those definitely had a huge impact on my imagination and love for space. If I had to pick an author though I guess I would go with the obvious one and say JK Rowling, because I still admire her world-building so much and always aspire to write such immersive stories.

Do you have a favorite book/subject/character/setting?

Short answers:

Book: Super tough. Best ending: A Tale of Two Cities. Books I’ve read most: The Lord of the Rings. Favorite book overall: Shogun.

Subject: I love origin stories and anything where a character realizes their potential.

Character: Harry Potter.

Setting: Space, fantasy worlds, and the past (I also love historical fiction).

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?

Don’t worry about how “good” what you’re writing is. Who knows what’s good or bad? Just write things that you like or that mean something to you, and maybe someone else will like them too. Remember that you have your own unique voice that no one in the world can replicate: everyone has something special and meaningful to contribute, so never doubt your potential based on trivial things like your spelling or use of metaphors. Write from your heart and good things might just happen.

Where is your favorite place to write?

My own office. I like to write by myself where it’s nice and quiet, since I can be easily distracted.

What else would you like to tell us?

Writing as a job is pretty awesome. You get to be weird and eccentric and it’s totally acceptable because that’s what authors do. But I happen to think that being weird is a compliment for anyone. I spent most of my life training to be a Jedi, and I still kind of think that I might figure it out eventually. If you’re one of those people who spaces out and thinks about superheroes flying beside your car or just generally wants to find a spaceship one day and take off for the distant reaches of the galaxy, I totally sympathize. I speak to a lot of teens and I know kid talk and bully and all that other stuff, but those are temporary problems and trust me, the galaxy awaits.

If you ever want to submit letters, fan art, or just ask a question, you can write to me on my website at wesleytking.com, like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter at @WesleyTKing. We also have giveaways for The Incredible Space Raiders (From Space!) on Goodreads so check it out!

Finally, we’ll be launching a campaign called The Splendid Search for Space Raiders, a program to find some of the bravest, most unique kids in North America. You can win an author Skype visit for your class, ISR membership certificates, and exclusive signed copies. Stay tuned for more info!

Wesley, thank you for joining LitPick for six minutes! We’re looking forward to hearing more about The Splendid Search for Space Raiders!