I had the wonderful opportunity to interview author Naomi Burke and learn more about her new release, Owned. This novella is a prelude to her upcoming novel, Walls of Jericho, which will be released later this year.
Tell
us a little bit about yourself.
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| Author Naomi Burke |
My first attempt at a story was at about the same time I knew how to
string compound sentences together. I wrote my first novel when I was twelve
and got stuck halfway because I didn’t plan. Now that I’m all grown up I’ve
spent the past four years honing my craft by doing ghostwriting, and it’s
finally time to branch out and be the published author I’ve always wanted to
be.
I believe that writing is who you are, so I put everything I am into it. Even if it’s not always perfect. Even it’s quirky at times. Even if I know that I can still do better. There’s some meme I keep seeing that says you know you’re a writer when you get anxious when you don’t write. That’s me.
I believe that writing is who you are, so I put everything I am into it. Even if it’s not always perfect. Even it’s quirky at times. Even if I know that I can still do better. There’s some meme I keep seeing that says you know you’re a writer when you get anxious when you don’t write. That’s me.
What
is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called Owned.
It’s the story of a vampire’s human slave and how he fell into the life of
serving the undead, how he wanted to get out of it, and what persuaded him to
eventually stay. I was inspired to write it because the waiting that long for a
book release was torture. I was too excited. It’s a teaser for my upcoming
novel Walls of Jericho (to be
released later this year) and the idea was to introduce some secondary
characters and the world that I’d created for the real deal.
Young Adult, Paranormal Fiction
Introduce
us to your series characters.
As I’ve mentioned before, Owned is a teaser or an introduction to
the world and the characters in Walls of
Jericho. Even though the main character is really just a servant, we get to
know Julian the vampire who plays a huge role in the preternatural community.
The human servant offers us a lot of insight into the world and the rules of
the paranormal world, as well as the structures and the species that we’ll run
into more and more.
What
is it about these characters that appeal to you as a writer?
What I like about all my characters is that they step over that barrier
of limitations. The characters can do more, feel more, show more, than humans
can, and that makes the writing and the reading fantastic.
How
did the book come to be titled and how does the title relate to the story?
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| Naomi Burke's New Release |
Initially I meant to title the book Earned, but when I asked some of my friends to tell me what they thought they couldn’t see how it fit in. It didn’t make sense with the cover. It was supposed to be a play on owned, showing the end result. I ended up titling it Owned because it made more sense, and the cover is after all about first impressions.
Owned works because it’s not just about the human servant being owned, but also about the fact that he came to a point where he managed to win back his own freedom, and make his own decision, so in a way he owns his own life in the end. It’s multi-dimensional.
Tell us more about the cover design.
I design all my own covers. I have a handful of free image websites that
require no attributes, and I use the images that fit. I use Canva.com to get
the right dimensions and the layouts.
Tell
us something about your book that isn't mentioned in the synopsis.
In the book we already meet Jericho, one of the main characters of Walls of Jericho, and the First Mate,
the alpha werewolf’s female, who stars in the book that will be released after Walls of Jericho (Flightless Bird, keep an eye out). There are small clues that
you’ll realize as soon as you read the full novel. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle.
Give
us a summary of your book in a tweet.
When Robert is made a vampire’s human servant he needs to decide if
his new life is worth living, or worth dying for #paranormal #YA
How
much of your experience is in your series?
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| Naomi Burke's Upcoming Novel |
Everything I learned as a ghostwriter, and everything I’ve learned from
my extensive reading. I made my mistakes while I sold off copyright to other
people who were going to edit anyway, and now I’m ready to take on
self-publishing with confidence.
Describe
your writing process.
I plan everything before I start - plot outline, characters, crises,
climaxes, and setting. Then I put it all aside and start writing, sticking to
it just enough so that I don’t get stuck, but letting the story do what it
needs to. If I need to revise my planning I do, but mostly I just write and the
characters work it out for me. Writing is, after all, what I’m here for.
How
much research did you put into your series?
Because it’s a world I created from scratch I rely mostly on what I know
the paranormal and YA audiences want, and what I’ve learned from the books that
I’ve read. Reading has always been my greatest research. To be great I study
the greats.
What
is the best advice received as an author?
The best advice I’ve received as an author was to reach out and not be
afraid to ask for help or for likes or for reviews or advice. People aren’t not
talking to me because I’m not good enough, they’re just not talking to me
because they don’t know about me. The moment I started reaching out, others
reached out to me, too.
What
is the harshest criticism you have received?
My harshest criticism was that my writing sounded nothing like my
portfolio and that it was a disappointment. What can I say, I have different
voices. Self-publishing is a much kinder playing field.
What kinds of books did you read as a
child? Did the genre you read most
influence your decision to become an author of the kind of books you write
today?
As a child I was obsessed with horses. My writing now has nothing to do
with my reading then. I only started reading paranormal about six years ago,
and that’s where all my writing inspiration comes from. Not just the actual
genre, but the writing itself. The paranormal authors I read have taught me
everything about writing as a talent and a craft.
What
specific authors or books influenced how and/or what you write today?
Laurel K. Hamilton has taught me the beautiful braid of evil creatures
and dry humor in her Anita Blake
series. Richelle Mead taught me character development and the ability to create
subspecies in Vampire Academy. JR
Ward taught me all about action and passion and beautiful descriptions where
love and lust were involved in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Patricia Briggs taught me how to create
characters that don’t fit in with the norm and make them stand out anyway in
her Mercy Thompson series. My writing
is the product of all those great writers. They shaped me.
What
types of genres do you read now for pleasure?
I always read a lot of paranormal because that’s my favorite, but I also
read authors like Jodi Picoult for her take on the law and her fresh writing,
Jojo Moyes for Romance, and Meg Cabot for tongue in cheek humor. I can never
just read for pleasure, though. As a writer I’m always analyzing the technicalities
behind the craft, and a great book is not just a good story, but a well written
one.
What
is next for you?
I would like to become independent as an author, so that I can put all
my time into my own work and not the work of others. That’s my goal this year.
As soon as that happens, the rest of my life can happen. More kids, a bigger
house, a life with my family because we have room to breathe.
You can reach Naomi Burke at the following places:
You can reach Naomi Burke at the following places:
Freed Reads: http://freedreads.com/naomi-
Facebook page: facebook.com/nbnaomiburke
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