Today I am interviewing H. L. Burke to celebrate the release of her novel, Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors.
Here’s a little
bit about Heidi:
Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke
spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always
accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia
keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.
An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to
another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or
television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their
turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur
of geek culture.
Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine,
she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is
wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.
She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series
entitled "The Scholar and the Dragon," YA/Fantasy "Beggar
Magic," and MG/Fantasy "Thaddeus Whiskers and the Dragon," among
others . Her current projects are a young adult Steampunk fantasy and an epic
fantasy trilogy.
When did you
decide to become an author?
About the same time I
realized it was a serious career option, so maybe when I was eleven or twelve.
I had written things before that, but I didn't start thinking, “I want to write
books for real” until middle school-ish. Other than a few small contests, I
didn't really pursue it all that seriously, though. In my late teens I sent out
some queries. Looking back, I know that the stuff I wrote then wasn't that
good. Then marriage and kids happened, and while I still wrote, I focused more
on blogging for several years.
The turn around point for me
was NaNoWriMo 2012. I had a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old, but dangit, I was
going to write a novel that year … so I did. Finding that I still had the time
to create, when I'd been telling myself I didn't because of the kids, flipped a
switch and I just kept going.
Tell us about
your journey. How did you get your first book published?
While I've been writing for
a long time, that NaNoWriMo manuscript was the first thing I'd written in a
long while that made me think, “Other people might like to read this!”
Everything prior that had sort of just been for my own enjoyment. Sure, I'd
daydream about sharing it, but there wasn't the driving need. This novel, which
would eventually be Dragon's Curse, the first in my four book
Dragon and the Scholar Saga, really felt like a story that deserved to be
shared.
At the same time, I had an
older manuscript (which I'd eventually rewrite as An
Ordinary Knight) posted on my blog in full. Two different
friends read through it and said, “This is really good. Why isn't it published?”
I didn't think that one on
my blog was marketable, especially since I'd “burned” the first publishing
rights by making it available for free on my blog. So I just plopped it on
Kindle for 99 cents, with a truly awful cover, telling my friends if they
wanted to purchase it, it was there.
A light-bulb-moment came
when someone who WASN'T a friend, a complete stranger, gave the book a four
star review. I thought, I might be able to do this for real … so I took
more time with Dragon's Curse, purchased a real cover, and basically
treated it like the launch of a real book to the best of my ability.
I'm still kind of making it
up as I go, but it has been about three years now (I published Dragon's
Curse in 2013), and I've learned a lot. I get peer review through scribophile.com
and Goodreads beta reader groups. I've found resources for covers and
marketing, and I'm still having fun.
Was there ever a
point when you felt like giving up?
No.
Writing to me is very natural. It's not something I do for the approval of
others. I do it for me. I do it because I love it. You don't give up on things
that are important to you in that way. It would be like giving up on my kids.
Sure, some days they frustrate me. Some days I wonder if I'm messing the whole
parenting thing up, but I've never really been tempted to drive them to an
orphanage and say, “Hasta la vista, babies!”
Other people liking what I
do is a nice bonus, just like it is nice when someone tells me my kids are cute
and well-behaved. Financial reward is a nice bonus, but giving up on writing
would be kind of like giving up on thinking for me. Not really an option.
Now on individual projects,
I've had moments of doubt where I think that maybe this particular story is too
much of a mess to be redeemed or I doubt that it will be financially successful
or that my readers will like it. Generally I push through and looking back
realize it wasn't that bad. I was just tired/grouchy/hungry.
There are times where I've
doubted that I could put the financial backing behind my work for fear I might
not make it back. Every time I have to make a large expenditure, whether for
cover art or marketing, there is always an inner hesitancy because that's money
my husband worked for … that could go to more practical things, but writing
itself isn't a cost for me. It's a joy. If it ceases to become a joy, chances
are I'm focusing on the wrong thing.
The great thing about
writing, especially in the self-publishing realm, is you don't need permission.
You aren't promised anything … you aren't owed being popular or famous or
financially successful, but writing is your right. If you love it enough not to
care whether or not you're popular, famous, or financially successful, then
you're in the right business. Just keep going.
Is there
anything about being a published author that has surprised you?
When you openly admit you
have no idea what you're doing everything is a surprise … but weirdly, at the
same time, nothing is. It's like opening a box without any idea what's inside.
You might have certain things that surprise you less, but since you have no
expectations, whatever's in there won't be a shock. Just so long as it isn't a
dead cat. That Schrodinger guy was messed up.
So I'm totally making this
up as I go.
I wouldn't advise this
method for everyone, but I've always been a “learn by do'er.” Don't give me a
manual. Just let me jump in and start pushing buttons!
Any advice you would give to a writer just starting out?
As I said earlier
(or sort of said) you don't need permission. Never ask permission to create
art. Don't believe anyone when they tell you they have the one way that works
for everyone. Give all ideas hearing, but be prepared to say, “That's nice. I'm
glad that works for you” then go find the way that works for you, not
for anyone else.
Is there
anything else about you or your books you would like to tell us?
I write whimsical fantasy because that's what
makes me happy. My latest book, Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors, was
inspired by computer adventure games, the idea of giving my heroine a series of
tasks and challenges to complete while she solved a mystery within a really
atmospheric setting (in this case an abandoned mansion that might not be so
abandoned after all). I really hope it gives readers a fun but satisfying
experience.
Here’s a blurb about Nyssa
Glass and the House of Mirrors: Nyssa Glass is a reformed cat burglar turned electrician's
apprentice, settled into a life repairing videophones and radio-sets. However,
when her past comes calling, she finds herself framed for murder and forced
into one last job. No one has entered Professor Dalhart's secluded mansion in
almost a decade, at least not that returned to tell the tale.
If Nyssa wants to ensure her freedom, she'll brave the booby-trapped
halls and mechanized maids. Nyssa has skills, but this house has more than its
share of secrets. As she steps into the cobwebbed halls lined with dusty
mirrors, she has to wonder. Is the House of Mirrors really abandoned?
To win this book, you can
participate in Heidi’s Rafflecopter Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
