Who is Who in KSK and Why?
The acceptance of "The Keystroke Killer: Transcendence" since launching on Halloween has been crazy. I knew when I released it, people would talk about it and asking questions and forming their own theories, but I didn't realize the readers would ask so fast. This means, they purchased the book, read it and didn't put it down. I promise I won't give away any spoiler alerts, what fun would that be? It has only been two days since the novel launched.
I think I can answer one question without giving it away. The question is, what inspired me to write KSK and how did I create each character? I will spend the next couple of blogs answering this question, which is more like thirty since there is a bunch of characters in this book. There are characters you love to hate and hate to love. Each character unique with their own voice.
I’ll get the first part out of the way – What inspired me to write KSK?
Easy enough, “The Keystroke Killer” was born about eight years ago when I wrote a very short film by the same title. To me, it was nothing like the book is now and it only had four characters; e.g., Matthew, Blaze, Mag and Judas. It wasn’t but seven minutes long, but it had impact as the short went viral on Youtube. From there, I developed it into a screenplay with the intent of a television show. I ended up writing 67 episodes creating new characters and intertwining all of their lives. Of course, that took several years of writing and development. From there, I decided, with a push from my sister and a potential funder to write the screenplay into a novel. There was just too much in 67 episodes that I had written the screenplays – enough for six years of television; so, I took the first season and transformed it into “The Keystroke Killer: Transcendence Part I” and the rest is history. KSK is available on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/1718872569 both in paperback and on Kindle. If you want an autographed copy, you can go to my website and order one here https://drmelcaudle.com/autographed-copy-of-ksk.
I am in the process of writing Parts 2-6 and I will be releasing each one as I finish them. So be sure to subscribe to my blog to keep updated.
How did I create each character for KSK?
I love a character driven story and plot. To me, that is what brings life. In order for that to happen, I have to live and breathe these characters as if they are part of my family or my closest friends. That is my starting point. For Matthew, I always saw him as being torn and grieving not being able to get over his sister’s death. As a writer, I understood this feeling because my oldest sister Livia Lynn was killed when I was in my late twenties when she crossed a railroad track and a train sideswiped her car. Needless to say, I comprehended grief of losing a sibling.
Also, Matthew believes he could have stopped his sister’s death because she called him for help. I too understood this because two weeks before my sister’s death, I dreamed her death and how she was going to die. I told her, I went and saw her, and it didn’t change her fate. Again, something that I could build from on Matthew.
From there, I did an entire storyline and built his history/backstory using a form I created in one of my books I wrote on writing screenplays. I knew everything about him: where he went to school, where he played as a child, his favorite toy, his first kiss, his first love, his relationship with his mother and mother, his favorite color, favorite animal and about three hundred things. And, now you know the inspiration behind Matthew.
In the next couple of Blog posts I will be discussing other characters and plot developments.
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