Interviews

June 2021 - Interview with Kelly J Burke

Good morning everyone, Elveloy here, with KellyJBurke, the author of The All-Seeing Eye of Og, our Book of the Month for June 2021.

Elveloy: Welcome to the AdultFiction studio, Kelly. Lovely to have you here. Firstly, can you tell us a little about your non-Wattpad life?

Kelly: I'm a prairie boy at heart, born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. That's Canada for those unfamiliar with my part of the world. When I'm not Wattpadding, I'm reading or hitting the river trails on my mountain bike, chilling at the lake with a little fishing, or queuing up a little Zombie action on Call of Duty: Black Ops. I'm a family man, closing in on 25-years with my wife, with a 12-year-old daughter who is morphing into a teenager in front of my eyes. Professionally, I'm a Digital Ecosystems Librarian at a local polytechnic, so the nerdy book type kind of suits me.

Elveloy: I see you have been a member of Wattpad for a few years now. What drew you to Wattpad in the first place? Can you remember?

Kelly: I remember running across Wattpad during my time in Vancouver while a PhD student (I've since dropped out, so no, I won't be getting called Dr. Burke in the future). I read a short story called Armie by Wendii Mciver who goes by the handle spite- on Wattpad. I couldn't sleep and read the story, then explored the platform and thought to myself "Shit! I kind of like this." I think what drew me to Wattpad was the fact that there was a sense of community, and I'd be able to get feedback on my stories from up-and-coming authors who, like me, were getting their feet wet with the craft. Not soon afterwards, I started posting my own work and have been pretty dedicated to Wattpad since.

Elveloy: And talking about your own work, do you consider yourself a 'plotser' or a 'pantser'?

Kelly: I've been both, and kinda jump between them all the time. I love outlining and filling in background information that you may not necessarily see in the story but help flesh it out in my mind. Then again, I can be lazy and go off script, for better or worse is hard to say.

Elveloy: I see your story, The All-Seeing Eye of Og, has made it to the Short List of the Open Novella Contest 2021 and was also one of the Longlist Ambassadors' picks. Congratulations! How is / was that experience for you?

Kelly: This was the first time I'd say I truly pansted it. I just sat down and started writing. The original prologue with the town drunk/a-hole all around introducing us to the eye in a fun kind of way, which is odd since it's intended to be a horror. That first scene really kick started the story for me, until I stalled in the dreaded middle. But, I think I pulled it out of the fire and managed to 'get 'er done' as they say around these parts. Overall, I loved writing to the ONC deadlines, and the word counts weren't hard to achieve. After failing NaNoWriMo for three years running, completing this novella was satisfying. The contestants made it easy to keep going to, and the comradery and support for fellow readers was pretty cool. Now, I just have to plow through the over 80 stories on my ONC reading list...

Elveloy: Yes, I have more than a few stories on my own ONC Reading List to get to! Do you have any plans to enter The Wattys later this year?

Kelly: After two or three cracks entering the Watty's , I may take this year off. However, I've learned to never say never.

Elveloy: True, that. So what's next in the pipeline for you?

Kelly: Horror was a sidebar for me as far as my preferred genre, but I really enjoyed writing outside science-fiction and fantasy. I definitely have Road Kill in mind for Camp NaNoWriMo in July, but I may meander into some short stories in horror/supernatural/dark fantasy worlds here and there.

Elveloy: (laughs nervously) Road Kill, eh? I'm sensing a theme here... Well, unfortunately that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for coming in, Kelly, and all the best for the ONC!

~~~~

And to our readers, you can find The All-Seeing Eye of Og, by clicking here or by checking out KellyJBurke s' profile. The work is complete, so no need to wait for updates.

You can also read more about the story in our AdultFiction Book of The Month for June 2021 , by clicking here .