Hello friends. I am honored that William Burt has nominated me for the World Blog Tour. He is the distinguished author of seven books known as "The King of Trees Series." His website is:
http://www.greencloaks.com Here is a little bit more about author, William Burt:
AUTHOR BIO: WILLIAM D. BURT
"Having spent most of his teenage years vicariously adventuring in Middle Earth, the author is an avid fantasy fan. His first allegorical fantasy title, The King of the Trees, came out in 1998 (WinePress). Bowing to reader demand, he has expanded the series to include a total of seven titles to date, with more to follow. As an Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at Western Oregon University, he served as a successful grant-writer and program coordinator.
Burt holds a B.S. in English from Lewis and Clark College and an M.S. from Western Oregon University in Deaf Education. In addition to writing books, he works as an RID-certified American Sign Language interpreter with over thirty years' experience. His interests include reading, foreign languages and mycology. He is married with two grown children."
Bill Burt
As Bill Burt interviewed me, he asked me to answer 4 questions about my life as a writer. So here are my answers!
Katherin B. FitzPatrick, Author
1.
What am I currently working on?
I just completed the book version of
“Whatever Happened to the Zodiac Killer?” It was a conversion of the long movie
script. This book and screenplay are based on our true encounter with the
Zodiac Killer, late night in San Francisco in Mid-October 1978. We witnessed
him stalking couples in three locations in the space of 25 minutes. He was terrified to be discovered! My
husband, John FitzPatrick, and I, wound up in a high speed chase after him
trying to get his license plate number, but a car got in front of us attempting
to change lanes to the left. John averted a crash, but the clever Zodiac used
the delay to shoot ahead and once again escape into the night! It seemed to be
the night he disappeared forever . . .but not really!
Now that the book has just released through
Xulon Press the first part of May 2014, I have to go back and revisit the
screenplay and revise and shorten it. Once we added a very important true story
in the beginning, it became too long! Movie makers are very strict about what they call
“industry length.”
2.
How does my work differ from others of that
genre?
This is an eyewitness account of myself,
the author, witnessing the Zodiac Killer in full ready-to-strike-and-kill mode,
yet surviving the episode to tell the story! The couple, us-- chased after him,
the first ever attempt at an aggressive capture by civilians. Oh yes, I was
pregnant with my middle daughter, Jaina, during the chase! We had also just gotten out of late night
church in San Francisco, and were very aware that we had experienced angelic
protection over the episode at the time! We do tell what happened to the Zodiac
Killer, but it is also about the family who held the secret.
3.
Why do I write what I do?
I can’t say that I write for just
creativity and for the fun of it, or anything like that. I’m always on a mission.
My first book, “The Peacemaker,” in 1987,
was a Christian Sci-Fi type book that came out during the Star Wars era. The next book, quite some years down the road
in 2001, was “Extreme Teen Rescue,” the manual for the Young Lion’s Youth
Ministry Program. Many individuals who are interested in dynamic presentation in
youth detention ministry use my book. To date I’ve been involved in youth detention
ministry 17 years, now, and am a graduate of the Berean School of Ministry. Fire“Angel Promises . . . Remembering the Youngest Firefighter," was written after the unnecessary deaths of four young
firefighters including my daughter Karen Lee FitzPatrick, 18, in the infamous
Thirtymile Fire of 7-10-01 which occurred in the Chewuch River Canyon in the
North Cascades of Washington State. I
was part of a campaign to bring greater safety to the already existing policies
of the U.S. Forest Service. An
illustrated children’s book, “The Wish,” was a favorite from a cluster of works
written in the early 1980’s when the children were small, and I was a student
at the Institute for Children’s Literature.
It was about how we all wish and dream, and sometimes the things we
think are so impossible really can come true!
Now that one . . . may be that one was just for fun!
4.
How does my writing process work?
I have to become so impassioned over
something that I will sacrifice the time it takes to sit on a computer and get
it done! I do outlines, and work on
filling out from there. I have to see it
and experience it until it is like a real life vision, or brings a real life
episode to life for someone else who was not there!
