I met Kurt at the Kentuckiana Author Fair. Kurt Robinson was born and raised in Frankfort, Kentucky. He has always been fascinated with story-telling from watching movies since he was very young. His writing began in high school when he wrote several short stories as assignments, but it didn’t stop there. He is not set on one genre and has already written in three different genres and plans to mix it up for years to come.
How did you decide to become an author?Ever since I was young, I have loved stories and in particular, movies. I didn’t get into reading until later. I wrote several short stories in high school and in college, which my teachers and professors really enjoyed. After college I decided to try and write a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed writing my first novel, which inspired me to continue my writing.
How does your professional background help with your writing?
Writing my short stories while in school gave me a lot of experience in how to tell a story. My job at the Kentucky Historical Society helps as well since we write, read, and edit a lot of text for our exhibits.
Can you tell us more about why you wrote your latest books?
My first novel, A Journey of Heart and Mind, a coming-of-age story actually came to me while I was in high school and some in college. I just expanded on the view of how a teenage boy would deal with being rejected by girl after girl. I myself had those problems during that time, so I used some of those experiences to drive the story.
My second novel, Catfish Alley, first came to me as I was looking through a Historical Images of Frankfort book when I came across a man by the name of John Fallis, my main character. The story takes place in my hometown of Frankfort, Kentucky and I am a history buff as well, so I felt like I had to tell his story. Fallis was practically the Al Capone of Frankfort and controlled a small area of downtown called Crawfish Bottom. He was a political boss, bootlegger, gambling guru, womanizer, and ran a prostitution ring. I had no idea that Frankfort had an area like that at one point in the early 1900s, so I was intrigued from the start and spent almost a year researching and a year writing the long epic novel.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Just write as much as you can non-stop and get your name out there. If you have an idea for a new story write it down as soon as possible and start writing your story. Getting your material and name out to readers is very important.
What are some upcoming publishing projects you are working on?
My third novel is now in the edit phase and I am hoping to have it published in the summer. On that note, I am hoping to turn that novel into a vigilante series. I also have several other ideas in the development phase, one being a crime novel, which I would also like to turn into a series. Since I am a history buff, I would like to write more historical fiction on certain events in U.S. History. So, I have several more projects that I would like to get off the ground, just going to have to take them one at a time.
Andrew M. Friday 