Meet Keith Pyeatt - Author
Keith has two published novels. Struck is a paranormal suspense novel set in Albuquerque, a fictional pueblo, and the Anasazi ruins in Chaco Canyon. It was published by Regal Crest Enterprises in 2009, and it won the New Mexico Book Award for best mystery or suspense novel that year.
Dark Knowledge is paranormal horror, and it was just released by Etopia Press. Dark Knowledge is the novel Keith is here to talk about today.
Keith refers to his novels as Horror with Heart. They're high concept with a paranormal element, deeply developed characters, and plenty of psychological tension to add to physical threats. Before the heroes can save the day, Keith forces them to look deep inside themselves and find their very best, putting the heart in Horror with Heart.
Dark Knowledge is paranormal horror, and it was just released by Etopia Press. Dark Knowledge is the novel Keith is here to talk about today.
Keith refers to his novels as Horror with Heart. They're high concept with a paranormal element, deeply developed characters, and plenty of psychological tension to add to physical threats. Before the heroes can save the day, Keith forces them to look deep inside themselves and find their very best, putting the heart in Horror with Heart.
Julia: Why do you write?
Keith: Mostly to make the voices in my head shut up (I particularly hate it when they bicker). Other than that--and this sounds overly simple, but it's true--it's what I want to do. I get completely engrossed in writing, lose track of time, and work until I'm exhausted. I think about it when I'm trying to think about something else. And the next day, I'm ready to go again. I also love the accomplishment, not only weaving all the pieces of a story together and having it all make sense, but also in editing it, making the writing tight, the verbs strong, the characters real, the dialogue natural, and the story gripping. Finally, I love to be read. I treasure those moments when a friend I haven't heard from in years reads one of my horror novels and contacts me to ask, "What the hell happened to you?" Ha.
Julia: You are throwing a dinner party and can invite four fictional characters. Who would you invite, and why?
Keith: I'd invite the girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, because she'd keep everyone on their toes. Odd Thomas could entertain any lingering spirits and keep them out of mischief, or at least warn me if any got up to something. I'd invite Deputy Trudy Hauser from Peace, Love, and Murder for a police presence and because she's likeable, entertaining, and so incredibly awkward that she'd make me look smooth and composed by comparison. And I'd invite Skeeter from The Help so there'd be another person who's passionate about writing. If I have trouble making small talk with the other guests (or ghosts that Odd points out), I could always talk writing with Skeeter.
Julia: If you were stranded on a desert island which book would you like to have with you?
Keith: Well, the obvious answer is How to Survive When You're Stranded on a Desert Island, but I'm thinking you'd like a different answer, and frankly, I'd pick escapism over how to. I'd probably take It, by Stephen King, the big novel with a short name. It's probably been 20 years since I read it, there's a variety of characters to entertain me, then I get to meet them all over again as adults, and I remember being engrossed in that novel, start to finish.
Julia: What do you consider to be ‘good writing’?
Keith: Good writing makes me forget I'm reading. I may care about the characters and feel a need to know what will happen next, but that's not enough to make it "good writing." Concise writing with well chosen words and interesting phrasing helps me sink into a story, but wordy, redundant, or lazy writing with stilted dialogue makes me look at the writing itself and think, "this could be better." Great flow and surprising twists lock me into a story. Unmotivated actions and illogical conclusions make me stop to consider what I missed, or what the author missed. Active writing lets me live in the story; long blocks of narration or summary or description toss me out of it. It's very difficult for a writer to get out of the way of a good story, but that’s what it takes for me to classify something as good writing.
Julia: What inspired you to write Dark Knowledge?
Keith: Dark Knowledge was the third novel I wrote, and I wanted to unleash my imagination. I decided creating a dark fantasy world, something that keeps changing throughout the novel, would exercise my imagination to the fullest. Turns out, I created two ever-changing fantasy worlds. Also, I quickly latched on to a "good and bad together" theme, my own twist on the old good vs. evil theme, and that kept me excited and inspired.
Julia: Are there any scenes you found difficult to write?
Keith: Definitely. Physical tension creates the fast pace of this novel, but there's also a great deal of psychological tension. There are scenes in the last quarter of the novel where psychological threads came together or were resolved, expanded, or redirected. Every edit, I'd sail along until I hit those scenes. Then I'd spend days on them, writing and rewriting and rearranging to make the scenes flow while creating more tension and suspense. Then the scenes would look just as rough to me the next edit, so I'd do it again until I got it right. I find physical action to be easier to write than psychological tension, but I love a strong psychological angle and the dimension it adds, so it's worth the extra trouble.
Julia: What do you hope your readers will take away from your story?
Keith: Interesting question. We concentrate so much on keeping readers engrossed while they read, but yes, there are things I hope readers take away. The biggest by far is what Wesley learns and helps others realize. It doesn't matter how gifted or limited you are, life's blessings belong to us all.
Julia: What are you working on next?
Keith: I'll be going into edits soon for my afterlife thriller/horror novel, Above Haldis Notch, which is scheduled to be released by Musa Publishing in late November. I'm also working on another dark novel that has a prominent fantasy world. The fantasy world itself isn't as dark as the one inside Wesley's mind, but what goes on there is very dark indeed. And, of course, there's plenty of heart, because that's me, the Horror with Heart guy.
Julia: If you were to write a book about your own life, what would the title be?
Keith: Unfinished. I think I'm gaining all this life experience, but I never get over how much more there is to learn and feel, understand and accept.
Keith: Mostly to make the voices in my head shut up (I particularly hate it when they bicker). Other than that--and this sounds overly simple, but it's true--it's what I want to do. I get completely engrossed in writing, lose track of time, and work until I'm exhausted. I think about it when I'm trying to think about something else. And the next day, I'm ready to go again. I also love the accomplishment, not only weaving all the pieces of a story together and having it all make sense, but also in editing it, making the writing tight, the verbs strong, the characters real, the dialogue natural, and the story gripping. Finally, I love to be read. I treasure those moments when a friend I haven't heard from in years reads one of my horror novels and contacts me to ask, "What the hell happened to you?" Ha.
Julia: You are throwing a dinner party and can invite four fictional characters. Who would you invite, and why?
Keith: I'd invite the girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, because she'd keep everyone on their toes. Odd Thomas could entertain any lingering spirits and keep them out of mischief, or at least warn me if any got up to something. I'd invite Deputy Trudy Hauser from Peace, Love, and Murder for a police presence and because she's likeable, entertaining, and so incredibly awkward that she'd make me look smooth and composed by comparison. And I'd invite Skeeter from The Help so there'd be another person who's passionate about writing. If I have trouble making small talk with the other guests (or ghosts that Odd points out), I could always talk writing with Skeeter.
Julia: If you were stranded on a desert island which book would you like to have with you?
Keith: Well, the obvious answer is How to Survive When You're Stranded on a Desert Island, but I'm thinking you'd like a different answer, and frankly, I'd pick escapism over how to. I'd probably take It, by Stephen King, the big novel with a short name. It's probably been 20 years since I read it, there's a variety of characters to entertain me, then I get to meet them all over again as adults, and I remember being engrossed in that novel, start to finish.
Julia: What do you consider to be ‘good writing’?
Keith: Good writing makes me forget I'm reading. I may care about the characters and feel a need to know what will happen next, but that's not enough to make it "good writing." Concise writing with well chosen words and interesting phrasing helps me sink into a story, but wordy, redundant, or lazy writing with stilted dialogue makes me look at the writing itself and think, "this could be better." Great flow and surprising twists lock me into a story. Unmotivated actions and illogical conclusions make me stop to consider what I missed, or what the author missed. Active writing lets me live in the story; long blocks of narration or summary or description toss me out of it. It's very difficult for a writer to get out of the way of a good story, but that’s what it takes for me to classify something as good writing.
Julia: What inspired you to write Dark Knowledge?
Keith: Dark Knowledge was the third novel I wrote, and I wanted to unleash my imagination. I decided creating a dark fantasy world, something that keeps changing throughout the novel, would exercise my imagination to the fullest. Turns out, I created two ever-changing fantasy worlds. Also, I quickly latched on to a "good and bad together" theme, my own twist on the old good vs. evil theme, and that kept me excited and inspired.
Julia: Are there any scenes you found difficult to write?
Keith: Definitely. Physical tension creates the fast pace of this novel, but there's also a great deal of psychological tension. There are scenes in the last quarter of the novel where psychological threads came together or were resolved, expanded, or redirected. Every edit, I'd sail along until I hit those scenes. Then I'd spend days on them, writing and rewriting and rearranging to make the scenes flow while creating more tension and suspense. Then the scenes would look just as rough to me the next edit, so I'd do it again until I got it right. I find physical action to be easier to write than psychological tension, but I love a strong psychological angle and the dimension it adds, so it's worth the extra trouble.
Julia: What do you hope your readers will take away from your story?
Keith: Interesting question. We concentrate so much on keeping readers engrossed while they read, but yes, there are things I hope readers take away. The biggest by far is what Wesley learns and helps others realize. It doesn't matter how gifted or limited you are, life's blessings belong to us all.
Julia: What are you working on next?
Keith: I'll be going into edits soon for my afterlife thriller/horror novel, Above Haldis Notch, which is scheduled to be released by Musa Publishing in late November. I'm also working on another dark novel that has a prominent fantasy world. The fantasy world itself isn't as dark as the one inside Wesley's mind, but what goes on there is very dark indeed. And, of course, there's plenty of heart, because that's me, the Horror with Heart guy.
Julia: If you were to write a book about your own life, what would the title be?
Keith: Unfinished. I think I'm gaining all this life experience, but I never get over how much more there is to learn and feel, understand and accept.
Dark Knowledge is available from Etopia Press, Amazon US and Amazon UK
With knowledge comes a dark destiny...
A whole new world beckons inside the mind of mentally challenged Welsey Henson, a world that offers him a gift he can’t resist: knowledge. He carries these bits of knowledge back to the physical world, unaware of the dark instincts that come with them. The knowledge builds Wesley’s intellect, giving him abilities he’s never had before—to know the world around him, to heal...but these new instincts thrust him into an evil contest he can’t understand, much less win, against opponents who are trained to kill. The more Wesley understands, the harder it becomes to tell good from evil, and the more difficult his choices become. What must he sacrifice to save the world from his dark knowledge...his life, or his soul?
Find out more about Keith here:
Webpage: http://keithpyeatt.com
BLOG: http://keithpyeatt.blogspot.com
Horror with Heart Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/hwh-news8
Twitter: http://twitter.com/keithpyeatt
A whole new world beckons inside the mind of mentally challenged Welsey Henson, a world that offers him a gift he can’t resist: knowledge. He carries these bits of knowledge back to the physical world, unaware of the dark instincts that come with them. The knowledge builds Wesley’s intellect, giving him abilities he’s never had before—to know the world around him, to heal...but these new instincts thrust him into an evil contest he can’t understand, much less win, against opponents who are trained to kill. The more Wesley understands, the harder it becomes to tell good from evil, and the more difficult his choices become. What must he sacrifice to save the world from his dark knowledge...his life, or his soul?
Find out more about Keith here:
Webpage: http://keithpyeatt.com
BLOG: http://keithpyeatt.blogspot.com
Horror with Heart Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/hwh-news8
Twitter: http://twitter.com/keithpyeatt
