Richard T. Burke Author Blog

OneStopFiction are running another book giveaway competition. Win 60 paperbacks and eBooks (including a paperback copy of Decimation). The competition is free to enter and is open until the end of June.

Click here to enter.

Good luck!

A paperback of The Rage is included among the prizes in the Thriller Giveaway at OneStopFiction. It costs nothing to enter and you automatically receive six eBooks. The 14 paperbacks for the lucky winner include The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza.

The full list of paperbacks is as follows:

• Butterfly Garden – Dot Hutchison
• Deadly Still Water – Roger Stelljes
• The Girl in the Ice – Robert Bryndza
• One Night In Tehran – Luana Ehrlich
• The Best Friend – Shalini Boland
• Time to Play – K.A Richardson
• Ward Zero – Linda Huber
• The Rage – Richard T. Burke
• Talisman  – David Evans
• No Safe Home – Tara Lyons
• Tears of Sand – Sandra Bass Joines
• Loose Cannon – Jack Steele
• Stone Dead – Kelvin Jones
• Nemises Roger A. Price

The free eBooks include:

• Death in a Dirty Afternoon – Colin Garrow
• Stealing Elgar – Andrew Barrett
• Altered Genes: Genesis – Mark Kelley
• Storey – Keith Dixon
• Shadow House – A.J. Sendall
• Re-Wired – Greg Dragon

I am honoured that one of my short stories has been included in Dark Minds, an anthology of short stories to be published by Bloodhound Books. A Christmas Killing is a dark tale set over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with several twists that will keep you changing your assumptions. All proceeds will go to the charities Hospice UK and Sophie’s Appeal.

The book will be on sale from 13th December as both eBook and paperback. I believe an audio-book version will also be available.

It seems I am in some esteemed company. For example, the list of authors includes Louise Jensen.  Her debut novel, The Sister, reached #1 this year in the Amazon UK charts.

The full list of stories and authors is as follows:

Ten Green Bottles –  B A Morton
London’s Crawling – Emma Pullar
The Shoes maketh the Man – Louise Jensen
Never tell a Lie – Tara Lyons
A Christmas Killing – Richard T Burke
By the Water – Betsy Reavley
A Cup of Cold Coffee and a Slice of Life – Tony R. Cox
Slow Roast Pork – S.E.Lynes
A Lawful Killing – Ross Greenwood
Sticky Fingers – JT Lawrence
You will meet a tall dark stranger – Ron Nicholson
The Wages of Sin – Lisa Hall
Hidden – KA Richardson
The Sydney Dahlia – A.J.Sendall
Pop Dead – The Pension Papers – Pete Adams
The Sins of Muriel McGarry – A.S.King
The Shepherd’s Bothy – L J Ross
Life after Life – Paul D Brazil
The Smallest Acorn – April Taylor
An Onion – Joel Hames-Clark
I’ve Gone – Anita Waller
The Bridge – Simon Maltman
The Moth Jar – Jim Ody
Jimmy Jimmy – Steven Dunne
Be Careful what you Wish for – Peter Best
My Own Eggsecutioner – Tess Makovesky
One Last Job – Alex Walters
A Stranger’s Eyes – Paul Gitsham
Dangerous Actions – M.A.Comley
Captive – Stephen Edger
Left Behind – Nick Jackson
Horror – Roz White
Mary and Joseph – David Evans
Love you to Death – Lucy V Hay
Fastball – Alex Shaw
The Retreat – Jane E James
Out of Retirement – Mark.L.Fowler
Don’t go to Marsh town, Johnny Ray! – Charlie Flowers & Hannah Haq
Everything Comes – B.A.Steadman

This book would make the ideal Christmas gift!

How far would you go to save the human race?

This is the first post relating to Decimation. Hopefully the book will be out later this year depending upon how long it takes to edit. The premise of the story is as follows:

In 2032, pregnancy is a death sentence. A virus has infected every living person, lying dormant until a woman gives birth – whereupon she dies.

Sixteen-year-old wheelchair athlete Antimone Lessing thought she would be competing at the Delhi 2032 Paralympics. Instead, she is nine months pregnant and going into labour. When she unexpectedly survives childbirth, she becomes a vital clue in the race to develop a cure before the world’s population declines beyond the point of no return.

But survival comes at a price. As her doctors try to understand why she is still alive, she must choose between saving herself and the future of the human race.

How far would you go to save the human race?

Decimation now has its own Facebook page

Thinking About the Future
One of the more fun aspects of writing this book was thinking about how life might have changed fifteen years from now. I work for an electric motor company so self-driving cars (or autonomous vehicles as they are known in the trade) were a must. One problem with this technology is the likelihood that it will be abused by other drivers and pedestrians. If you knew a vehicle was going to stop for you, wouldn’t you be tempted to pull out / walk out in front of it? I introduce a solution to this problem early in the book.

User interfaces are going to change over the coming years. In the book, phones and computers use haptic technology where devices project ultrasound to provide tactile feedback in mid-air. See www.ultrahaptics.com for details of a company that is working in this area right now.

Smart watches seem to be gaining new features by the month. For example, heart rate monitors are already commonplace. By 2033 I expect that such gadgets will be able to tell whether you are pregnant (I’m sure you can guess why from the blurb!).

Finally I had some ideas relating to new fashion trends but you’re going to have to read the book to find out more.