[IDEXED]Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke!

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Thanks for the reply. It's an interesting story on how this book was born. So when you say the readers were given two choices as to where the story would go next did you actually already have two variations ready to go? Just Curious and I will keep an eye out for this title...is sounds like it's right up my alley.

I did have two: one I hoped everybody would choose, and one I didn't. 75% of the time, readers chose the one I didn't want, so it was a constant challenge to keep the story functioning in a coherent way with the contradictory choices I set up for myself. It was a terrific learning experience, it pushed me as a writer, and I enjoyed a lot of it. But when all was said and done, I was less than thrilled with the end result, which is why I'm delighted to have the opportunity to get the book back the way it should have been. I estimate that only about 50% of what originally appeared in the online version will make it into the print version, and that's how it should be with this particular title.

[Ben Staad]

A virus has wiped out three-quarters of the world’s population.

Thanks for the reply. It's an interesting story on how this book was born. So when you say the readers were given two choices as to where the story would go next did you actually already have two variations ready to go? Just Curious and I will keep an eye out for this title...is sounds like it's right up my alley.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Thanks for posting this. It sounds like a "fun" read and I can't wait for this book to be published. I also saw that you have something coming out through CH's Print is Dead. Are you able to give any info on that title?

Absolutely. THE LIVING started as a choose-your-own adventure style novel for Underland Press a few years back. A chapter was posted each week and readers were given two choices as to where the plot would go next. It was fun, but ultimately frustrating, and in the end the book didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped--the inevitable result of leaving the plot in the hands of anyone who wanted it. A few years later, R.J. Sevin at CH contacted me about the Print is Dead line, and THE LIVING seemed a good fit, but only with heavy editing and rewriting, so that it better fit the mold of what I had originally intended it to be. Here was the original synopsis, though it will change to suit the edited version.

A virus has wiped out three-quarters of the world’s population.

For recently deceased Madison McKay, nothing is more important than escaping the city with the child she carries inside her. Her destination: Salus Island, the last remaining sanctuary for those of her kind.

But outside the walls of the farmhouse in which she is hiding with a ragtag group of allies, left behind during the exodus to Salus, a desperate enemy awaits, a horde of murderous, bloodthirsty animals known as The Living. They are the Uninfected, doomed to live life as it always was, as it used to be before the Great Plague, leaving them mere mortals, vulnerable to injury and sickness, and death. Their only hope for a future is to capture Madison, and the hybrid baby in her womb, so that they may discover the secret to everlasting life.

And nothing will stand in their way.

With the help of her fellow Reborn, Madison must escape the farmhouse and make it to the coast and sanctuary while battling impossible odds in a city crawling with The Living.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Thanks Tito!

[Ben Staad]

Another review of KIN, this time from The Crow's Caw...

Thanks for posting this. It sounds like a "fun" read and I can't wait for this book to be published. I also saw that you have something coming out through CH's Print is Dead. Are you able to give any info on that title?

[Tito_Villa]

Looking forward to reading this one!

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Another review of KIN, this time from The Crow's Caw...

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

If I hadn't already made several limited edition purchases during the past month, I would've ordered Kin as soon as I received notification of its imminent release. Since reading Burke's Master of the Moors in its original e-serial format, I became an instant fan and since then have gotten my hands on anything I can that he publishes. Anyway, Kin is at the very top of my To Be Purchased list.

PS: Kealan, you are one of the finest writers to have emerged within the past decade or so. I admire your writing and storytelling skills, and I hope to someday be even a quarter as great a writer as you are. So far, a few stories of mine have been published with a few more forthcoming. In fact, I completed the first draft of a novella on Tuesday. That piece represents my first work of any length beyond, say, 5000 words or so. My point is that I appreciate your dedication to the craft and to the genre, and thank you for being one of my primary sources of inspiration. Keep those books coming please!

Horror Scribe, what an absolutely amazing post. Thank you so much, and I'm delighted to hear that I helped inspire you to some degree. There is no greater compliment as a writer than that. And congratulations on finishing the novella! You mentioned the e-serial MASTER OF THE MOORS above. That's what it took for me to finish a novel--to let the public see it chapter by chapter so that I knew I would have to finish it. Up until then, I was lucky to be able to finish a novella. Over time though, the stories will demand more attention, the threads will get longer, more complicated, and you'll find the worlds you're creating will expand. And what a thrill it is!

Thank you again for your post. You made my day!

Kealan

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Nice review, I am really looking forward to this book. I do take exception at the statement that his novels have been good but not great. I think 'The Hides' was a great story, I would put it right up there with the 'Number 121 to Pennsylvania' collection.

Thanks Martin! Trust me, I can always do better, which is what I aim to do with every book. Comments like that keep me humble, and remind me that in writing, there is always more to learn.

Speaking of the collection, THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA is also available digitally, as of today, for anyone interested. My pet one-star troll even used it to describe me as (and this is classic material, folks): "a talentless writer who seems to not be able to write anything right." That one's going on my next cover.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

My review of Kin is now live at October Country: http://tinyurl.com/3pbcume

Blu

Thanks again for that wonderful review, Blu! I really appreciate it!

[HorrorScribe]

If I hadn't already made several limited edition purchases during the past month, I would've ordered Kin as soon as I received notification of its imminent release. Since reading Burke's Master of the Moors in its original e-serial format, I became an instant fan and since then have gotten my hands on anything I can that he publishes. Anyway, Kin is at the very top of my To Be Purchased list.

PS: Kealan, you are one of the finest writers to have emerged within the past decade or so. I admire your writing and storytelling skills, and I hope to someday be even a quarter as great a writer as you are. So far, a few stories of mine have been published with a few more forthcoming. In fact, I completed the first draft of a novella on Tuesday. That piece represents my first work of any length beyond, say, 5000 words or so. My point is that I appreciate your dedication to the craft and to the genre, and thank you for being one of my primary sources of inspiration. Keep those books coming please!

[Martin]

Nice review, I am really looking forward to this book. I do take exception at the statement that his novels have been good but not great. I think 'The Hides' was a great story, I would put it right up there with the 'Number 121 to Pennsylvania' collection.

My review of Kin is now live at October Country: http://tinyurl.com/3pbcume

Blu

[Blu Gilliand]

My review of Kin is now live at October Country: http://tinyurl.com/3pbcume

Blu

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Many thanks Keelan. Will have a look on iTunes otherwise I will be in touch
Paul

Sounds good, Paul! Let me know how you fare.

[Kealan Patrick Burke]

Now I remember. I read your short Mutiny in CD's British Invasion anthology. I enjoyed that one.

Now I can't wait for Kin...

Thank you sir! I'm glad you enjoyed "Mutiny"!