HUMOR
My Name Is Ken Follett and I Am Now Going To Write Short Fiction
I suppose if Tolstoy could do it, I could have a go at it
Good evening, I’m Ken Follett. After decades of putting out complexly woven spy thrillers and sprawling historical trilogies that explore multitudinous themes and vast settings, I have decided to close up shop on the novel form and focus solely on the short story.
It all came to me when I was writing my first draft of Never (2021), a novel where I imagine the incremental outbreak of World War Three. In order to deliver some exposition, I had created the minor character of a sheepherder in the war-torn country of Chad, and realized that there was a story here — besides the 799-page story I was already telling.
So I talked with my editor, who is currently swamped with trying to catch up on reading my last submission, really putting in those overtime hours. She advised me to give it a go, and before I knew it I had a collection of short stories.
My first short piece is about a struggling journalist who finds that one day his car has broken down and he’s got to get about reporting on a story while relying on public transportation. A day-in-the-life vignette, if you will.
