I recently had a chance to talk to author N.R. Burnette and ask him a question that’s been bugging me for awhile. N.R. Burnette is the author of Cargo Lock 5, Paphos, and his newest book, Kenji. He also writes a series of flash fiction stories called Bioflash. These are stories taken from the online bio’s of friends, followers and volunteers. They can be found on Wattpad here… Bioflash Short Stories.
E.C.: So, Cargo Lock 5…. what is up with Detective Taylor? Seriously man, this guy is, well…. a jerk. The story is absolutely fantastic, but I’m very curious to know why you wrote him the way you did.
N.R.: A question every reader will ask haha! At times I ask myself. It’s a good question.
At first I just wanted to have fun. Some of my favorite characters are anti-heroes. Dexter, Scarface, every character in Pulp Fiction. When you aren’t the good guy, you can do things a lot differently. You can get revenge. You can vent your frustrations. You can be petty. Batman won’t walk by a person in need, he can’t get high and roam downtown city streets. Taylor can.
Psychologically, he’s very self-destructive. He punishes himself out of the guilt he refuses to feel. Once I had Taylor, once I knew who he was, I didn’t hold back. I had to write him truthfully. Sadly, he’s a little too well-conceived. I feel that as people, as a species let’s say, we absolutely need love and compassion. We are helpless from birth, clinging to mother to take care of us, especially when we are scared. Now imagine someone who was never shown compassion, never shown love, until eventually he decides the world hates him. That’s Taylor. The world hates him, and he hates it back. That’s when you meet him, and you get to be with him as he finds redemption.
N.R. Burnette‘s newest book, Kenji, is available now. Kenji is a fantasy novel of distant worlds and the gods that rule them. When Gojun, the god of war, is betrayed he vows to make the Fates return his murdered wife. To save themselves the gods find Gojun’s presumed dead son, Kenji. Armed with his budding powers and a natural drive for war, Kenji is caught in a struggle against destiny and his love for a goddess.
From the Wastes... 