Behind the stories

Kenneth L Powell

Kenneth L Powell wrote the first book in his series Dragonkind after twenty years of trying and continuously quitting. It was a long and arduous process that involved many years of ignoring it and trying to forget it existed. Unfortunately things that are meant to be are destined to overwhelm at some point in time. It all started in high school with a fascination for dragons and stories. His life was extremely chaotic back then. Between existing as an emotional teenager, like all of us do at some point, and his home life, there wasn’t a lot of time for creativity. Eventually, the first idea for the story was put to paper, though he had no idea where it would have ended. In that version, Kail was the King of the people and slavery wasn’t even an idea for the story. It was still about people falling from the heavens, transforming into dragons, and wielding elemental magic. The characters who currently exist weren’t even an inkling back then. “At one point it was just Kail Claskan. He was the hero and the King of all. It was going to be this epic romantic fantasy.” Kenneth laughs because he realizes who he was then. “I couldn’t have written anything about romance, I knew nothing of it and because of that I couldn’t write it.” Romance exists in Dragonkind, but that’s not the inspiration behind the story. Fast forward to the age of thirty-six. He had a chance to live life and explore the world, at least a little bit. Gaming drove him then and he thought he wanted to become a game designer, and even went so far as to get a degree. “I realized that I enjoyed playing the games far more than designing them.” He hasn’t done anything with that degree except realize how much money he wasted on it. “It wasn’t the school’s fault. I just had no passion for the work I had to put into it.” He went on to learn coding, which he says he enjoys but has only really put to use on his own projects. After receiving his first position as a Helpdesk employee, Kenneth started writing Dawn of Prophecy, Dragonkind book one. “It was a different process. I started writing and realized I had a story. As soon as I put pen to paper, in this case, fingers to keyboard, it just started flowing.” He smiles. “I never thought I would be able to put ten pages together, let alone four hundred.” After the release of Dawn of Prophecy Kenneth aimed to reinforce his coding skills and attended a software engineering bootcamp. “I walked away a better coder, that’s for sure, but I’m not sure what I want to do with it. I’ve found I really enjoy writing more than anything else.” He shrugs. “The point of life is to be happy and learn. I honestly feel that I’ve never stopped learning.” When asked about the process of writing he confessed that he is lost in the worlds he creates as he writes. “In my mind, the acts of the people I’m writing about are clear, mostly unplanned, and therefore unpredictable. As I write I’m witnessing what my people are doing, what my worlds are growing into, and where the story is heading. The entire process is bafflingly easy when you’re so enveloped in the world you’ve created.” In July of 2024 the world was introduced to his next book, The Hybrids. The story is a spinoff of the Dragonkind series and part of a long road map for Dragonkind, The Hybrids, and another spinoff called Savior. Kenneth, along with his family, looks forward to where the worlds he’s creating are going to take them. He has many more ideas than he did before he started writing Dawn of Prophecy. “It’s a career that may never pay the bills, but it definitely keeps me busy.” Kenneth L Powell says that people can expect him to be around for some time and he hopes that everyone can be as happy as this passion has made him.