An Interview with David Kyrie

An RN for nearly twenty years, mostly in the ICU, David Kyrie was also a captain in the US Army Nurse Corp with seven years of experience, and is also fully credentialed Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP).

David lives with his wife and children in a Victorian house in the suburbs of Indianapolis, thinks a lot about his place in the world, and tries to make the world just a little bit better than it would be if he were not in it.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title was very easy to find. I was part of the US Army/FEMA response to NYC for the COVID response of 2020. Although I am a nurse in the Army and am unlikely to utilize what most people think of as military skills, we did fight a kind of war that was unlike any other.

There were a lot of people affected by the virus, especially in NYC, and this book mentions the heroes, the victims, and the villains. I toyed with a few other titles, but none of them were serious contenders.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I have wanted to be an author since the summer of 1995 when I was fourteen years old. I had always assumed that I would be writing fiction, but although I find great meaning in stories that are not factually accurate, this particular book hits very close to my heart.

When I first held a copy, there was a mixture of fear (It’s a pretty personal account of one of the worst times of my life and now people will know how I felt about it at the time) as well as pride and hope that it will help other people to process the trauma that they faced that year.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

Perhaps the first person who influenced me to write was my ninth grade English teacher, Mrs. Austen, who encouraged me, telling me that I had real talent.

I was also inspired to tell this story by the dozens of patients I had in the ICU in the Midwest who believed that the virus was entirely a hoax. I hope that my experience will bring some light and understanding to the horrific events that occurred in 2020.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

My first real job was at McDonald’s in Lawrence, KS. I have also worked at Kinko’s/FedEx Office and a Christian bookstore.

There are so many things that I don’t think all of my readers know, but I hope that they will learn that confronting/admitting to their experiences is a good thing and they will be able to overcome the psychological/spiritual problems they have faced over the past several years.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

A close friend’s father called me to tell me how much he enjoyed reading it and that he had recommended it to several of his friends. He said that it helped him to understand what his daughter went through (she was with me in NYC), and he thanked me for putting it into words. He made me cry just a little bit.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

“Get Down With the Sickness” by Disturbed, “Bend and Not Break” by Dashboard Confessional, “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

Regardless of your opinions about the way the government/world handled the COVID pandemic, there truly was a tremendous amount of suffering. Regardless of your feelings and how you suffered, others likely suffered differently. None of us intend to be villains, and all of us are victims.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I am currently in the process of creating a fantasy fiction world including several cities, populations, and fantastical creatures.

I also have a science fiction project that I have been working on intermittently with a good friend for the past decade, but life has not allowed us time to complete it.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

Atmosphere did a good job of simplifying what needed to be done. They broke down the ridiculously difficult processes into steps and made it seem possible.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.