May 2021 Group Read #2 with Guest Author, Kenneth W. Cain

[Kenneth]

This is the thread for the May 2021 Group Read #2 with Guest Author, Kenneth W. Cain. This month, Ken will join us as a we read his Barker-esque trip through hell, FROM DEATH REBORN. Click on the link below to get your copy, and please help me welcome back to HA... Kenneth W. Cain!

https://geni.us/LHXXvXs

[Latasha]

Welcome Kenneth and thank you for joining us.

[Kimberly]

Welcome back, Kenneth!

[Joey]

Welcome! I look forward to reading your book.

[Kenneth]

Thank you all. I’m excited to be back. I hope you enjoy the un-life.

[Deb]

Thank you for the opportunity to read together!

[Michael]

I just put my order in for the trade paperback. See you soon.

[Vicki]

Sounds good! Welcome 🙂

[Jason]

My copy came yesterday, will be on this as well

[Kenneth]

Hey Ken. I really like how you handled Down’s Syndrome in this one. I felt that it was extremely realistic, without being insensitive. How did you prepare for this character?

[Kenneth]

Kenneth wrote: "Hey Ken. I really like how you handled Down’s Syndrome in this one. I felt that it was extremely realistic, without being insensitive. How did you prepare for this character?"

Thanks. I appreciate that. I have special place in my heart for special needs kids.

When I was let go at my last job in 2007, I felt like I was missing something in my life. So I took some time off from writing to work at my wife Heather's school as an aid in the special education department. One of the kids I fed lunch to each day, Ryan, still talks about me after all this time, and that means so much to me. That time in my life was one of the most rewarding, so I guess you could say Kate was an homage to those kids.

[Kenneth]

In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I nearly went back to school to get my certification to become a teacher. Who knows. Maybe someday.

[M]

I started yesterday afternoon and finished 50 percent already. I’m really enjoying it! It’s mostly not what I expected, and I’m really liking the direction it’s going it’s so intriguing!

[Kenneth]

M wrote: "I started yesterday afternoon and finished 50 percent already. I’m really enjoying it! It’s mostly not what I expected, and I’m really liking the direction it’s going it’s so intriguing!"

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I wanted to do something very different with this one. Break all the rules, so to say.

[M]

I really like that you include the cop and perp alternating perspectives I haven’t read a book that does it to this degree

[Kenneth]

M wrote: "I really like that you include the cop and perp alternating perspectives I haven’t read a book that does it to this degree"

Thanks. Originally there were many more perspectives (Kate, Henry, each guardian, etc). I decided to cut it way back for easier readability.

[M]

I just finished and I really enjoyed this read! I couldn’t wait to see how it ended but am sad that it’s over

[Kenneth]

M wrote: "I just finished and I really enjoyed this read! I couldn’t wait to see how it ended but am sad that it’s over"

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Who knows, maybe someday Clay will end up in another story.

[Jason]

Stopping by to show my support for such a great author and just bought my copy! Congrats on the new release! From literature (Inferno) and art dating back to the 13th-15th Century to modern film and books like What Dreams May Come, I've always been interested in imaginative depictions of Hell. From where did you draw your inspirations for your hellish landscape or is it entirely a product of your horror author mind?

[Kenneth]

Jason wrote: "Stopping by to show my support for such a great author and just bought my copy! Congrats on the new release! From literature (Inferno) and art dating back to the 13th-15th Century to modern film an..."

Thanks so much, Jason.

I draw from many inspirations. Some spoilers below, so be careful if you haven't gotten too far.

(view spoiler)[For this book, the wreck was inspired by the loss of my niece, Aleia (a form of that name was used in the book), to a car wreck. The un-life came from a real life experience (what may have been an NDE) when I was four and stepped outside of our house in southern Illinois during the middle of the night. My Hell, was inspired in large by a dream first of all, of a man pushing himself to the surface after being buried alive. From there, my imagination took over, drawing from Dante's Inferno and the beginning of one of my favorite Clive Barker books, The Damnation Game. I suppose the concept of guardians came from various board and video games I've played over the years (Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft).

Fun note: I started this book in 2007, and back then it was only the campground scene and then the rebirth. I've picked this book up and stopped working on it many times over the years, so there's a lot of inspiration that went into it over all those years. It wasn't until just a couple of years ago that I finally saw the line I wanted and was able to finish it. And even then, some last minute beta reads changed the way I'd laid out the book, so I was working hard on this one all the way to the very end. (hide spoiler)]

[Michael]

I started reading today.
I love a good opening sentence, paragraph, or more with a great hook to pull me in and engage me from the very beginning. The first sentence, followed by the first paragraph, ensnared me. It wasn't until almost four paragraphs in that I realized what was being described so vividly. Such wonderful imagery! (view spoiler)[ I'll never look at or think of a carousel/merry-go-round the same way ever again! (hide spoiler)]

[Kenneth]

Michael wrote: "I started reading today.
I love a good opening sentence, paragraph, or more with a great hook to pull me in and engage me from the very beginning. The first sentence, followed by the first paragrap..."

Thank you. (view spoiler)[Most of that scene was inspired by an actual event. The guy who broke down at a carousel and then bought a ticket was quite harmless, though. Just someone having a bad day, I think, and thankfully most people there were helpful to him. Those who weren't ended up in the background of that scene." (hide spoiler)]

[Michael]

That opening scene and another one just a little later in the novel (when Nathan in a trance-like state visits the elongated bathroom) are forever embedded in my memory. I love the imagery of these. (view spoiler)[ The bleeding wallpaper shedding it's skin like a snake, dripping onto the floor is such a bloody good detail! (hide spoiler)]

[Michael]

Wow, I was really pulled into this book. If I had more leisure time right now, I'd be finished and going for a second read. The front end has that supernatural undertone (what's really wrong with Nathan?) but serves as a great thriller/crime story right up to the campfire scene. Then these four well-developed characters are plopped down into another scenario entirely. The un-life is so weird and fascinating. Well done, Kenneth!

[Kenneth]

Michael wrote: "Wow, I was really pulled into this book. If I had more leisure time right now, I'd be finished and going for a second read. The front end has that supernatural undertone (what's really wrong with N..."

Thank you. I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

[Michael]

There are so many descriptive passages in this book that I both enjoy and admire. In addition to the two previously mentioned, the description of the war zone on Page 201 is hard to forget. (view spoiler)[ "Nathan saw no actual corpses, but tattered strips of flesh lay across the rubble, reminding Nathan of Dali's melting clocks. They hung from broken windows, like an old-time butcher shop displaying its meats." (hide spoiler)]. And that one is followed up by the scene with the meat room.

[Kenneth]

Michael wrote: "There are so many descriptive passages in this book that I both enjoy and admire. In addition to the two previously mentioned, the description of the war zone on Page 201 is hard to forget.
"Nat..."

Thank you. I'm a huge Dali fan. Those scenes were inspired very much by Barker.

[Michael]

As much as I'm enjoying the exploration of the many levels of un-life, by Chapter 29 I was wondering exactly where this story was headed and what Kenneth Cain intends to convey. I couldn't come up with any rational answers. By Chapter 38, things began to become clearer. I think the ending is going to surprise many readers. I like where this is going, and stopped at Chapter 40. I'm saving the last ten pages for later when I can take more time to digest it.

[Michael]

Finished! A very satisfying ending. Well done!

[Kenneth]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Kenneth]

Thank you all for having me.

[Alan]

Thanks for joining us Kenneth.