Q&A

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

If you have any questions you'd like to ask me, here's the place!

I'll start us off...

Q. WHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?
A. No idea.

[Greenelk]

OK.

How about WHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Not?

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Because...it just wouldn't be right.

[Ben Staad]

I"m guessing I could find this elsewhere but quite frankly I'm lazy tonight...so I'm curious when you started to write and what compelled you to write "spooky" stories.

[Greenelk]

Oh, sensible questions. Why didn't you say.

What do you miss most about Ireland, and do you have plans for futher forays into acting?

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

I"m guessing I could find this elsewhere but quite frankly I'm lazy tonight...so I'm curious when you started to write and what compelled you to write "spooky" stories.

Great question. I've been writing since I was eight years old. I started submitting (terrible) stories when I was about fourteen, after my mother ( a big Stephen King fan) bought me a typewriter for Christmas (see the dedication in THE HIDES) though we didn't have much of a market in Ireland for horror. I had no idea what the submission process required other than sticking a manuscript into an envelope and sending it to the editor (without proper formatting, etc.), so I was amazed when an editor at one of the biggest publishing houses in Ireland took the time to write me a three page critique of the story with advice on how to proceed from there. Over the years I lost the letter, but last year I sent an email to the same publishing house hoping to track the editor down to thank him for the time he gave some clueless adolescent, and sure enough, he was still working there. It was nice to be able to tell him how much that letter meant, and how much it encouraged me to continue.

After that, my high school English teacher saw my potential and pushed me to write. He once wrote at the bottom of a story I had written for his class that if I didn't end up writing for a living, there was no justice in the world. Once I started getting professionally published, I called him and he was thrilled. He even did a special write up on me for the school magazine, and asked me to come speak to his class whenever I got back home. I made sure he got a copy of every one of my books, and even dedicated VESSELS to him. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago, but I'm glad he got to know how much he contributed to my development as a writer.

I think having a mother who loved horror novels and woke me late on Friday nights to watch movies like THE OMEN, FRIGHT NIGHT, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, HALLOWEEN, SALEM'S LOT, THE FOG etc., contributed greatly to my wanting to write horror. I was reading Poe at an early age, and by the time I graduated to King via PET SEMETARY, I knew I wanted to scare people as much as those books scared me. Hence my decision to write the spooky stuff. Plus, when you grew up around grandparents who told the kind of true ghost stories that had you cringing in the company of shadows, it's somewhat inevitable.

Kealan

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Oh, sensible questions. Why didn't you say.

What do you miss most about Ireland, and do you have plans for futher forays into acting?

I miss the people, first and foremost. All my family are still in Ireland, and though we keep in touch a great deal, I miss my mother and brother desperately. As I left home when I was sixteen to cause as much trouble around the country as possible, I never really got to spend much time with my brother, who's six years my junior, and every time I get home, we're inseparable. I also miss the atmosphere, the age of the place, if that makes any sense. The country smells like rain, the towns exude history. It's so old over there, you feel it.

As for acting, if I was asked to be part of a project I found too much fun to pass up, I'd definitely do it, but I'm not seeking them out. I have no delusions of being a movie star, B-movie or otherwise. SLIME CITY MASSACRE was just a lark for me, a means of doing something I'd always wanted to do but didn't think would ever happen. I don't think I belong on film. I think I belong as the voice you hear when you read one of my books, and that's all.

[Ben Staad]

I was amazed when an editor at one of the biggest publishing houses in Ireland took the time to write me a three page critique of the story with advice on how to proceed from there.

After that, my high school English teacher saw my potential and pushed me to write.
Kealan

Thank you very much for the reply. It's always so interesting to me how relatively small gestures can have huge impacts on an individuals development. I also love the facts about your family. I've been having my children read Poe for the last few years and my daughter absolutely loves The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by SK. Hopefully when they are a bit older I will have them reading some KPB. Keep up the great work.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Cope: I'd be honored to hear that they were.

[Ben Staad]

Cope: I'd be honored to hear that they were.

You don't have any young adult books do you?

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

I haven't, but for some reason THE TURTLE BOY keeps getting classified as one.

[Ben Staad]

I haven't, but for some reason THE TURTLE BOY keeps getting classified as one.

I didn't think you did but since I don't own your entire catalogue I figured I would ask. Thanks for the reply!

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Interestingly enough though, Cope, there are about six partially written children's books on my hard drive, so it seems inevitable that I'll write one someday.

[Ben Staad]

Interestingly enough though, Cope, there are about six partially written children's books on my hard drive, so it seems inevitable that I'll write one someday.

Very interesting. Although you better hurry up (and finish them) because my children are growing up pretty damn fast.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

A scary story in itself!