Excerpt
Right or wrong, Layla held their verdict on the edge of the executioner’s sword, and everyone who’d invaded the island would suffer the same fate. She didn’t have time to weigh their crimes – the murderers, voyeurs and brainwashed. Whatever part they’d played in the tragedies unfolding, they stood guilty on the brink of humanity’s destruction, and so they’d face her retribution. But before swinging the blade, Layla scanned the civilians for children, relieved to find none.
Not a shimmer of evidence exposed her as she planted her feet on the ancient cobblestone walkway. Then she raised her invisible palms and summoned her wall. She knew the magic worked as soon as she heard the outer guards’ shouts, which turned to screams the moment her deadly cloud caught up with its prey. They didn’t scream for long. The jet stream grew stronger as it contracted around the mountaintop like a savage rubber band, scorching people and plants alike.
The Book Junkie Reads . . .Reckless Dreams Interview with . . . B.C. Burgess . . .
How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
The Mystic Series is written in the third person, past tense point of view, and I put the reader in the mind of the hero and heroine. I strive to ensure my writing is imaginative, emotional, detailed, rhythmic and poetic. I write adult content but produce young adult versions so that I can share my stories far and wide. While my characters are traveling the world and shooting fire from their palms, they’re exploring themes of love and loss, good and evil, and all the gray areas in between.
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
I am a pantser. I barely plot at all, but this massive series somehow came together beautifully. Sometimes it feels like magic, like the story was in my head all along and magically exposed itself to me a piece at a time, like I am just a bag of bones tasked with cradling this magical brain and recording all the strange words it spits out. So many times throughout this series, as I wrote one scene or another or introduced new characters, I had to keep faith that we were working toward something important, even if I couldn’t see it clearly in that moment. And we were! I didn’t write myself into any corners, and now that the series is over, there aren’t any loose ends driving me crazy. It was a long and difficult process freeing it all from my head, but in the end, it all came together like magic.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
My must-haves are coffee, tissues, and either extreme silence or soft instrumental music. In the past, I’ve been guilty of not taking time for self-care before I go into my masochistic writing cave, but I have made it a goal to try to nurture a more creative and relaxed atmosphere when I work.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
The final three books in the Mystic Series will be releasing over the next few months, and the young adult version – the Earth Angel Series – will follow. Having worked on these since 2006, that is a huge deal for me. I plan to spend the summer and fall promoting their releases, and I want to make sure I take the opportunity to celebrate my accomplishments and enjoy this ride. There were times I feared I wouldn’t get here, times I feared I wouldn’t have the ability to finish such an immense and emotional project, let alone release it to an enthusiastic audience. Now that I’ve made it here, I don’t want to miss it.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
If I could spend a year going anywhere, I would go everywhere, as many places as possible. I want to see all the pink sand beaches and drive all the coastal highways. I want to island hop and mountain climb and parasail and scuba dive. I want to explore caves and relax in spas and hike through forests and balance on the brink of canyons. I want to witness all the wonders of the world, discover a few weirdos, and I want to eat everything. Maybe I need more than a year…
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