Ceramics Engineer Cum Novelist

Here's a lighthearted story for a Friday. Ken Butcher, who has a a B.S. in ceramic engineering from Ohio State University and owns his own company that specializes in projects related to fuel cells and material processing, has just published his first novel, The Middle of the Air. Butcher worked for two years as a reviewer for the Department of Energy’s fuel cell–related projects in the National Labs, holds 15 U.S. patents, and has published numerous scientific papers. In his own words, Butcher parlayed his technical writing experience and discipline into fiction writing.

I guess in my case the breakthrough I had to make was not to try to plan it out too much and just devote a certain amount of time every day. In my case what worked was to do it first thing in the morning. Find something that works for you and just stick to it. You heajavascript:void(0)r a lot about the struggles of writers but the most positive interpretation I can make is everybody wants you to write a good book. Everybody does. The publisher would love to get a great manuscript in the mail. Readers would love to find a good book, with a new author, and even people that don’t read like good movies so they want good books to make good movies out of. So just remember everyone’s on your side.

Check out Butcher's site here. And if you're in the technical ceramics field and have a passion for creative writing, let this be an example to you: You can have your cake and eat it too.