| There’s a secret growing in the woods. In Ellie Caster’s town of Bishop’s Gap, the Casters and the powerful Levy family have been feuding for generations. The families share just one thing in common—they both dread the mark, a scorch that appears at random on their doors, bringing a curse from the Burning Tree. When the mark hits Ellie’s door, her sister Jean falls into a coma. Ellie knows the Burning Tree is to blame, and desperate to save her sister, she braves the forbidden woods to confront it. But this choice ignites a chain of unintended consequences, forcing her to work with her nemesis, Charlotte Levy. Together, they must complete an impossible task, uncover the ancient secret of Bishop’s Gap, and end the curse before time runs out for their entire town. Genre: YA Fantasy Release Date: September 10, 2024 Click here to get your copy! |  |
Interview with Helen
#1. Do you have favorite character(s) in this book?
The main character of The Burning Tree, Ellie, is my favorite. She’s loyal and determined and also curious, a combination that can (and does) get her into trouble. I also love her great-aunt, Ruby, who can cut to the heart of a problem with one sharp sentence, but who’s also fiercely kind. I wish her house were real so I could stop by for an actual visit . . . something wildly unexpected would be sure to happen.
The main character of The Burning Tree, Ellie, is my favorite. She’s loyal and determined and also curious, a combination that can (and does) get her into trouble. I also love her great-aunt, Ruby, who can cut to the heart of a problem with one sharp sentence, but who’s also fiercely kind. I wish her house were real so I could stop by for an actual visit . . . something wildly unexpected would be sure to happen.
#2. How did you name your characters?
That’s a great question — I’ve never really thought about that aspect of character development. When a character appears in my imagination, they usually arrive named, but of course that name has to come from somewhere!
Here’s my theory. I have a good friend who describes the imagination as a compost pile . . . all our experiences and hopes and fears and what we’ve read and watched go in and get all jumbled together, and that becomes the soil for our creativity. The books To Kill a Mockingbird and Tuck Everlasting are definitely in the creative background of The Burning Tree, and the names of the main families in my town — Levy, Caster, and Finch — remind me of character names in those books. (In fact, Scout Finch is the main character of To Kill a Mockingbird.) I didn’t plan that, but the story worlds are similar in some significant ways, and that’s probably why the names sounded right!
That’s a great question — I’ve never really thought about that aspect of character development. When a character appears in my imagination, they usually arrive named, but of course that name has to come from somewhere!
Here’s my theory. I have a good friend who describes the imagination as a compost pile . . . all our experiences and hopes and fears and what we’ve read and watched go in and get all jumbled together, and that becomes the soil for our creativity. The books To Kill a Mockingbird and Tuck Everlasting are definitely in the creative background of The Burning Tree, and the names of the main families in my town — Levy, Caster, and Finch — remind me of character names in those books. (In fact, Scout Finch is the main character of To Kill a Mockingbird.) I didn’t plan that, but the story worlds are similar in some significant ways, and that’s probably why the names sounded right!
#3. Tell us something funny, sad, embarrassing, whatever, that happened involving this book.
One Saturday morning, I read the first chapter of The Burning Tree to my son and asked what questions he had about it. He was just at the age to read the book and I thought his feedback would be helpful. Two dozen questions and the rest of the morning later, he’d helped me find and fix major gaps in my world-building, aspects of the town I’d never even thought to consider. Needless to say, I always have him read my chapters now, and that Saturday morning remains one of the funniest and most rewarding experiences I had while writing this book.
One Saturday morning, I read the first chapter of The Burning Tree to my son and asked what questions he had about it. He was just at the age to read the book and I thought his feedback would be helpful. Two dozen questions and the rest of the morning later, he’d helped me find and fix major gaps in my world-building, aspects of the town I’d never even thought to consider. Needless to say, I always have him read my chapters now, and that Saturday morning remains one of the funniest and most rewarding experiences I had while writing this book.
#4. What one piece of advice would you like to give readers?
I’d give other readers the advice I keep having to give myself: there are so many fantastic books on my To-Be-Read list that I sometimes find myself racing to get through one after another instead of focusing on enjoying each book. Now, I’m a big fan of checklists, and I like to record the books I’ve read, but I also have to remind myself that the checklist isn’t the goal; reading is! Along the same lines, re-reading favorites is valuable too. It doesn’t make “progress” in the checklist sense, but I gain so much from a second or third or twentieth reading — I just see different details and understand situations from a different life perspective.
I’d give other readers the advice I keep having to give myself: there are so many fantastic books on my To-Be-Read list that I sometimes find myself racing to get through one after another instead of focusing on enjoying each book. Now, I’m a big fan of checklists, and I like to record the books I’ve read, but I also have to remind myself that the checklist isn’t the goal; reading is! Along the same lines, re-reading favorites is valuable too. It doesn’t make “progress” in the checklist sense, but I gain so much from a second or third or twentieth reading — I just see different details and understand situations from a different life perspective.
#5. Share with us a thought, Bible verse, whatever is on your mind/heart.
I’ve been struck lately by the realization that when Paul writes to Timothy that God has given us all things to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17), that includes good stories. Creativity is one of his gifts to us, and though it can be twisted, it can also be used in His service in powerful and transformative ways.
I’ve been struck lately by the realization that when Paul writes to Timothy that God has given us all things to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17), that includes good stories. Creativity is one of his gifts to us, and though it can be twisted, it can also be used in His service in powerful and transformative ways.
More from Helen
“‘Oh, Trees, Trees, Trees,’ said Lucy (though she had not been intending to speak at all). ‘Oh, Trees, wake, wake, wake.’
. . .
Though there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her. The rustling noise of the leaves was almost like words.” – C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian
. . .
Though there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her. The rustling noise of the leaves was almost like words.” – C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian
This scene of the enchanted trees in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia sparked my imagination the very first time I read it. As a child, like Lucy, I could picture how the trees in my own backyard might look as wood-people, what they might say if they spoke. Even now, when I walk through woods, they still hold an enchanted quality for me. I want to follow all the footpaths . . . to a meadow, maybe, rich in wildflowers . . . or a haunt of bats . . . or an ancient, lightning-struck tree.
There’s a particular wood near my house that I walked week by week during a difficult season in my life. Flowers bloomed, birds nested. The light changed. Leaves fell, then budded again. It was a comfort to wander under the sheltering trees – and that comfort wasn’t just the peace of being out in nature.
Each rustle of the trees carried an echo of a much greater story.
It’s always struck me as particularly beautiful that there are individual trees at the beginning and end of the Bible: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis, and then the tree of life again in Revelation, this time described as having “twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22: 2b ESV).
So every walk in the woods reminds me that brokenness isn’t the end of the story. Death isn’t the end of the story.
It’s probably no surprise, then, that I set my book, The Burning Tree, in an enchanted forest. where the trees have been twisted into something destructive, but where there’s always the possibility of a different outcome . . . just waiting to be unlocked.
There’s a particular wood near my house that I walked week by week during a difficult season in my life. Flowers bloomed, birds nested. The light changed. Leaves fell, then budded again. It was a comfort to wander under the sheltering trees – and that comfort wasn’t just the peace of being out in nature.
Each rustle of the trees carried an echo of a much greater story.
It’s always struck me as particularly beautiful that there are individual trees at the beginning and end of the Bible: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis, and then the tree of life again in Revelation, this time described as having “twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22: 2b ESV).
So every walk in the woods reminds me that brokenness isn’t the end of the story. Death isn’t the end of the story.
It’s probably no surprise, then, that I set my book, The Burning Tree, in an enchanted forest. where the trees have been twisted into something destructive, but where there’s always the possibility of a different outcome . . . just waiting to be unlocked.
 Helen Dent | Helen Dent’s career as a writer began at age nine, when her grandfather paid her a dollar a page for what turned into quite a lengthy story. She studied monster theory (among other things) in graduate school, taught English at a Chinese university, and toured the Scottish Hebrides in a car with a needy radiator. Now she lives in Texas with her husband, kids, a cat, and a hamster. She belongs to the DFW Writers Workshop, the Fort Worth Poetry Society, and Art House Dallas. |
It's Time For A Giveaway!
To celebrate her tour, Helen is giving away the grand prize package of
a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!
a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!
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Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, September 17 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books, September 18
Guild Master, September 19 (Author Interview)
A Reader’s Brain, September 20 (Author Interview)
Back Porch Reads, September 21 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 22
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 23 (Author Interview)
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Tell Tale Book Reviews, September 25 (Author Interview)
Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, September 25
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