KERSEY, (Patrick) Colin 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born October 8, 1947, in Yukon, FL; son of Stanley P. (former mayor of Auburn, WA) and Lorrayne G. (president of a realty company) Kersey; married Joyce A. Tonucci (a trainer), July 19, 1984; children: Jesse (daughter). Education: Western Washington University, B.A. (English), 1969; Western Washington University, B.A. (Education), 1970; University of Washington, B.A. (Advertising), 1976. Politics: Independent. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, motorcycling.

ADDRESSES:

Home—1205 Pine Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Agent—Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Associates LLC, 241 Avenue of the Americas Suite 11H, New York, NY, 10014. E-mail—kersey@earthlink.net.

CAREER:

Self-employed for over twenty years in advertising and marketing with agencies in Washington and California; and author. Board member, Huntington Youth Shelter, 1989-90.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Bruce L. Williams Award for Volunteerism, 1991, for writing, producing, and directing a video about homeless children.

WRITINGS:

Soul Catcher, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1995.

SIDELIGHTS:

After working for many years in advertising, in 1995 Colin Kersey published his first novel, Soul Catcher, which a contributor to Kirkus Reviews described as "a rousing supernatural thriller." Kersey told CA: "Two forces propel my writing: a love of language and a growing fascination with advertising.

"Currently a resident of Huntington Beach, California, Colin Kersey grew up in Auburn, Washington. He studied fiction and poetry writing at Western Washington University and the University of Washington, earning degrees in English, Education, and Advertising. For the past twenty years, he has created advertising for some of the better known American and Japanese companies.

"Following his move to southern California in 1983, he studied novel writing for three years with bestselling mystery writer Elizabeth George. In 1991, he started Camp Pines Writers, a weekly critique group. Kersey's first novel, Soul Catcher, was sold at auction to St. Martin's Press in 1994 and published in November, 1995."

Soul Catcher begins with a shaman's final quest, the search for a "boy with no ears," whom he saw in a vision. When a gang of street punks murders him in a Seattle alley, the shaman calls on a wind spirit to finish his quest and avenge his death. As the wind spreads destruction and panic through the city, a few characters band together to resist it: twelve-year-old Evan Baker, who is deaf; his mother, a public relations hack; public defender Paul Judge, who is Native American; a retired school teacher; and a down-and-out journalist. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly compared Kersey's multiple-perspective style to that of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. A contributor to Library Journal likened him to Koontz and Clive Barker and called the Seattle setting "lovingly and accurately portrayed."

Kersey told CA, "I write in snatches: before work, in client's offices, in restaurants, whenever and wherever I can, given the fact that advertising still pays the bills. A first time author may sound pretentious when talking about his or her 'work.' Nevertheless, perhaps because I've come at writing by the long road, I've thought about it a good deal. The search for love, grace, and beauty in a world wrestling with intolerance, injustice, and violence is my beat. I consider myself a Western writer: I have a particular need to explore and write about the landscape and the people who inhabit it, especially the people of the Northwest where I was raised. I am inspired by and enjoy writing about the handicapped, whom I find heroic. My mission is to touch people. Being a writer is the most difficult and rewarding pursuit I know of."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 1995, review of Soul Catcher.

Library Journal, October 15, 1995, review of Soul Catcher.

Publishers Weekly, September 18, 1995, review of Soul Catcher.*