Interview with Author Ciera Burch

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Today I'm back with another author interview and this time it's with Ciera Burch who is debuting with her ghastly middle grade novel Finch House. You can check out my Finch House review here and keep reading to get to know more about Ciera. 

Where did the idea for Finch House come from?

I had a lot of inspirations for the book—from books and tv shows like White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi and The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix—but my main inspo was my poppop’s basement. It’s the darkest, scariest place I’ve seen in a house that’s otherwise pretty filled with light and from childhood until now, it’s been the fear of everyone in my family (except my poppop!) who goes into the kitchen, especially at night. It made me want to write about an equally creepy basement in a much more haunted house. 

Was it challenging writing a book where the setting is one main location that also serves as its own character?

No, actually! It felt a bit easier than other things I’ve written that have moved around a lot. I’m a very character-driven writer and so writing a location that was also a character allowed me to get much more depth and insight into Finch House, more so than I normally do for locations. I got to spend a lot of time with it, building a history for it, and was able to highlight many of its nooks and crannies, and some of its own emotional turmoil, as Micah explored. 

Finch House, to me, is a much of a main character as Micah but with so many different aspects to it, and I really enjoyed giving out more and more of those as the book moved along. 

What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?

Oh, I wish I could get inside their heads! It’s more that they get in mine and refuse to leave until I tell the story (mostly) how they want me to. 

If I’ve already started writing, I usually go back and reread a few paragraphs, sometimes an entire chapter, to try and pick up the voice again. If it’s something brand new, I spend a lot of time, well, talking to myself. Getting to know the characters and the types of things they like, what scares them, how they would react to different situations. 

What is a significant way Finch House has changed since the first draft?

Oh, that’s a good question! I’d say Finch House being off-limits to Micah. It wasn’t something that was in the first draft—originally, Poppop didn’t like being around/near the house and would avoid it during their networking runs, but that was it. The suggestion to make it actively off-limits was a brilliant one from my editor that made everything much more tense and fun to write. 

How do you balance your job working on the editorial side in Children’s Publishing books while pursuing your own author career?

It was difficult at times! Sometimes deadlines coincided with busy times at work for me, especially being on a very small team, meaning I might be working later and have less time to actually write in any given week. But I did my best to try to squeeze in writing whenever I could—on my lunch break, on the train if I was going somewhere, and, most often, at night. I’m a big night owl so it wasn’t unusual for me to stay up until two or three in the morning writing and then go to bed and get up for work. 

What has been the most surreal part of your publication journey so far?

The entire cover process. I’m a big art lover and so the journey from talking illustrators to actually getting one (especially Alessia, whose fanart I was actually already familiar with and loved from other fandoms I’ve been a part of!) to being able to give my input on things that I liked or wanted changed was amazing to me. And getting a physical cover wrap was amazing! It’s something they don’t really do often in publishing anymore, especially not for non-picture books, so I was really floored at getting to see this artistic rendition of something I’d thought up and hold it in my hands long before I could hold the book itself. 

You also have your YA debut Something Kindred releasing next year. That book started as your thesis, correct? Can you talk a little bit about how that story came to be and what the book is about?

It did, yes! My master’s thesis. The summer before my senior year of college, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer on the 4th of July and actually died in late August—the day I moved back to D.C for my final year of college. The suddenness of everything was still very much on my mind during my first semester of grad school and when I was told that 100 pages of work would be due at the end of our three years…I at least knew what emotions I wanted to try and capture in my work. It, of course, ended up being much longer than 100 -pages. 

Something Kindred is about a teenage girl who, with her mother, moves to rural Maryland to help care for her dying, estranged grandmother and ends up discovering how haunted the town and its people are—both literally and figuratively. It’s a lot about death and forgiveness and history and trauma but it’s mostly about love and connection. Love for one’s family and one’s self, love in the face of forgiveness, and even romantic love—figuring out parts of who you are, sexuality included, through falling in love with someone else. 

If you could plan your dream book tour event, what would it consist of?

The introvert in me and the daydreamer in me are competing so hard right now. It would probably have an ice cream bar at every stop, be at a ton of cool indies in states/countries I’ve never been but always wanted to go to, and have lots of kids with great questions in attendance! Oh, and all of my conversation partners would be my favorite authors growing up like Mildred D. Taylor, Sharon Draper, Rick Riordan, etc. That’s true dreaming! 

What do you consider the most important elements in a good book ?

Characters, for sure. I think people can suspend their belief for a great many things, plot holes included, but for me, well-written and well-conceptualized characters are the backbone of a good book. Those characters don’t have to be good or nice or even likable, they just have to feel realistic. 

Also: voice. Voice, narration, those are the things holding your hand throughout, leading you through the events of a book. If that’s not engaging in some way, it’s hard for me to get into a book, even if it has everything else I might be looking for. 

When you’re not reading and writing what other activities do you enjoy?

I love watching or playing Dungeons & Dragons. It’s such a collaborative storytelling game and I, luckily, have an amazing group that I get to play with once a week! I also really enjoy playing The Sims, traveling, baking, exploring D.C, and talking too much to my plants. 

Ciera Burch is a lifelong writer and ice cream aficionado. She has a BA from American University and an MFA from Emerson College. Her fiction has appeared in The American Literary Magazine, Underground, Five Points, Stork, and Blackbird. Her work was also chosen as the 2019 One City One Story read for the Boston Book Festival. While she is originally from New Jersey, she currently resides in Washington, DC, with her stuffed animals, plants, and far too many books. Visit Ciera at CieraBurch.com.

Sign of the Slayer by Sharina Harris

Welcome Back, Booklovers! This is a book that has gone through a few title and cover changes since I added it back to my TBR well over a year ago. Author Sharina Harris reached out to me upon seeing my excitement over the book in my 2023 Most Anticipated Reads video series offering me the chance to read it before release.

Eighteen year old Raven's biggest concern is band and going off to college next year until one night after a big football game the band gets ambushed by vampires leaving her as the only survivor. It's that night that she discovers she's a slayer when a handsome vampire comes to her rescue. Soon she's forced to leave her old life behind and join the Slayer Society. While Raven is training to be a field agent she's also trying to figure out what the vampires are plotting.

The pacing was a little confusing for me at first because readers are quickly thrown into action with a vampire attack and then Raven's need for vengeance has her immediately ready to join the Slayer Society. But it soon settled as the world building started coming together and the societies of the slayers and vampires were explained. 

I would say this is more urban fantasy than paranormal romance. While there is a romance with some instant attraction here a lot of time is dedicated to Raven training and trying to figure out what the vampires are up to. For urban fantasy fans all the hallmarks we know and love are here right down to the secret club run by supernatural beings.

There are references to Buffy which I think older millennials will related more to. But even though the characters are 18+ this still feels like a book written for teens. It doesn't toe the line like a lot of recent releases and instead Raven actually feels like a teen girl. She has an actual personality that shines on page and gets you to keep reading. The side characters also have their own identities. Even though Raven is going through grief there's still a lot of levity in this book with many funny moments. There's a lot to look forward to in book 2. 

Finch House by Ciera Burch

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Spooky Season is almost upon us and I'm here for all the fun offerings. Finch House caught my attention because who doesn't love a good tale about a creepy house? I received an advanced copy from Simon & Schuster so check out my review below!

Micah is dreading moving to New Jersey where she'll be away from her Poppop and all her friends. One day while biking around the neighborhood Micah notices Finch House, a house rumored to be haunted, now has people living in it. Though Poppop has forbade her going near it, curiosity gets the best of her when she meets Theo, one of the new residents. Poppop is not happy when he finds her there and rushes her home. However the next day when she goes to look for him, he's missing! Micah knows the key to finding Poppop is somewhere in Finch House and she's not ready for what she's about to encounter.

This is a shorter Middle Grade story which young readers will appreciate as it doesn't meander but still manages to stay engaging. The vagueness of the house's origin and intentions keeps readers guessing. Yet at the same time Finch House is alive with it's own feelings and moods. And Ciera Burch does a good job building the atmosphere of the house without going into heavy detailed description as she slowly reveals some of the mystery behind the house. 

This story is the right balance of creepy and fast-paced. It does leave readers with some unanswered questions but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment.

Chilling with Ghosts by Insha Fitzpatrick

Welcome Back, Booklovers! The cool thing about field guides is they give you so much information. I had seen the previous published Hanging with Vampires in this same series and liked the idea of a nonfiction guide with facts, urban legends, and activities for the curious young reader. Quirk Books gave me the chance to review Chilling with Ghosts which only the second book in what I hope becomes a long series.

This book is a great intro to horror and ghost tales. I like how Insha Fitzpatrick has this broken down into chapters. Ghosts 101 give you all the quick facts you need. It has how to identify ghosts, different types of ghosts, and even provides you with the Top 10 signs you're being haunted. 

Ghost stories referenced in this guide include everything from the Baily School Kids Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. From classics to modern day middle grade stories readers interested in expanding their reading list can turn to this book. 

Crafts, snacks, and other activities and featured in each chapter. There's everything from how to build a Ghastly Ghostly Tool Kit to How to Make Your Own Haunted House. I liked the Ultimate Ghost Story Game. It could be a fun and interactive activity for a class around Halloween time because it gives just enough pieces to give everyone a starting point to craft a  spooky short story of their own.

Even for a reader like me who enjoys a good horror from time to time but wouldn't consider myself a horror aficionado this was an enjoyable guide. The different facts about ghosts along with celebrations and superstitions from different parts of the world was very interesting. The illustrations were great and it was nice to see some diversity in imagery. I would've liked to see some more examples from countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. This did stick to the more popular and well known places in media. There's lots of humor and numerous pop culture references ranging from present to modern day. But this guide is a good starting point to jump into further exploration. Looking forward to the next Totally Factual Field Guide to the Supernatural and hoping it's witches. 

The Secret to a Southern Wedding by Synithia Williams

Welcome Back, Booklovers! If Synithia Williams has a new book out I'm gonna read it. As a lover of her Jackson Fall series and Heart & Soul series when I heard about the Peachtree Cove series I was ready. And I was able to read The Secret to a Southern Wedding early thanks to Harlequin. 

Imani is an OBGYN currently living in Tampa, Florida. She's recently been named doctor of the year at the hospital she works for. But as she's discovered the doctor of the year position despite getting her a seat on the hospital board is really just a way for the hospital to appear to be more diverse after some backlash. As much as Imani wants to make a difference she's having trouble making her voice be heard and that's leaving her feeling frustrated. 

She receives a text from her mother announcing a wedding to a man she's only officially been dating for a month and immediately rushes back to her hometown to stop that wedding. Back in Peachtree Cove, Georgia she meets the sexiest man at a diner but later discovers he's Cyril Dash, the son of the man her mother plans to marry. While Cyril at first thought his father was moving too fast, he decided to support him because after all they've been through over the past few years he really wants his father to have some peace and happiness. He and his father moved to Peachtree to rebuild their lives and he's enjoyed having a fresh start.

Between Imani's frustration over waking up to a strange man cooking in his tiny robe every morning and her mother's total personality transplant; she also has a lot ill will towards her hometown and believes it's still the small-minded place she grew up in. But the town has been changing the last few years. Her best friend Tracy, has taken over an inn downtown, Cyril's bar is one of the go-to spots to hang and sip craft beer, and new restaurants and cafes have recently opened.

Readers who like small town romance will enjoy this. It's funny and engaging.  And one thing Synithia Williams does well is write grown people (30+) with depth. The characters feel real and have just the right balance of drama while still keeping the romance sweet and engaging. There's also a side cast of characters whose lives we get a glimpse into and you can already see the threads of future stories. 

Interview with Author Gabi Burton

Welcome Back, Booklovers! It feels like it's been forever since my last author interview even though I only skipped a month. Her book Sing Me to Sleep came out in June came out at the end of June and it's been making waves topping bestseller lists. You can check out my review for it here. Keep reading to get to know a little bit about author Gabi Burton!

When did you start your journey towards being a published author?

I’ve wanted to be a published author since I was six and I’ve been telling myself stories and keeping notebooks of character names and concepts ever since. That said, I think the actual journey to publication started in around 2015 when I queried a YA mystery/thriller. The project wasn’t even close to ready and after a few months, I went back to the drawing board. I rewrote and edited that book on and off for the next few years and in 2020, I rewrote it a final time and queried it again. I eventually got an offer of representation for that book, but by that point, I’d written Sing Me to Sleep and had a lot more confidence in it, so I decided to pursue that instead. Which ended up being the right call!

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Oh, boy. I have two finished unpublished books and more unfinished books than I can count—or even remember. It took me a while to realize that I’m a plotter and I need an outline if I actually want to finish anything. Before I started outlining, I would get really excited about an idea and start writing, only to realize halfway through that I had no idea where the story was going. I scrapped a ton of projects doing that. 

What was the inspiration for Sing Me to Sleep? And how did you come up with the caste system?

I’ve always loved mermaids and sirens. So, when I was on a zoom call with author friends talking about monsters and someone mentioned sirens, my ears kind of perked up. I’d never written fantasy before (and if I’m being completely honest, I hadn’t really wanted to) but the idea of sirens as monsters fascinated me. The first element of Sing Me to Sleep was Saoirse. I wanted a main character who was Black, beautiful and confident in her own skin—which I struggled to feel growing up. The world and caste system developed around her. I knew I wanted Saoirse to be beautiful, powerful, deadly, and struggle for a place to belong. I shaped the world and caste system around how I wanted her to feel. Why did she feel out of place in her world? Why was she lonely? As I answered these questions, I learned more about the world around her that shaped her into who she is.

How did you find that balance with writing siren lore and murder but still keeping it YA friendly? 

I think the darkness of Sing Me to Sleep is still YA-friendly because of Saoirse. She’s got dark impulses that drive her to kill people, but at her core, she’s a conflicted kid with a lot of power she doesn’t fully understand and no connection to anyone who could help her figure out how to control it. I also tried to make sure that there are consequences for all of Saoirse’s darker actions. Whether or not readers think her choices are justified, every person Saoirse mentions killing causes issues for her later. My goal was to make it clear that even though she’s a killer, and even though I hope readers root for her, this isn’t a story that says her actions or impulses are free from repercussions. 

Both Saorise and her sister Rain were adopted by their parents. What did you decide to show an adopted family in Sing Me to Sleep?

A lot of the choices I made in structuring Sing Me to Sleep were based around how I wanted Saoirse to feel in the story. I wanted her to be loved, but lonely. Cared for, but not understood. Educated, but clueless about herself and her own nature. To achieve those conflicting emotions, I wanted her to have a family that loves her, but at the same time doesn’t understand her. Saoirse doesn’t know anything about her history or ancestry aside from what’s been told to her. And a lot of what she’s been told is a lie. What does it look like to be loved by someone who can never fully understand you? Does being raised by a loving and kind family make up for a violent and murderous nature? I was asking myself these questions while plotting this story and so it made sense to me that her family would be adopted and her sister who she loves more than anything, wouldn’t be related to her by blood. 

What’s your best tip for writing side characters?

Remember that no character exists in a vacuum! They don’t exist just for the main character, which means they do things when the main character’s not around. Everything they do or say on the page is informed by the choices they make when they’re not on the page. Which means you should know a lot about them off-page. Not all the information you know about them will actually fit in the story itself, but if you know a lot of backstory and motivation for your side characters, then each interaction they have can be loaded with subtext so that they feel like a fully formed human (or some other creature).

Why did you choose fantasy writing in particular? 

It’s funny because I actually never wanted to write fantasy. All the books I wrote before Sing Me to Sleep weren’t fantasy and I kind of felt like I wasn’t qualified to write fantasy because I’m not a big fan of writing descriptions or worldbuilding. I figured if those were my least favorite things about writing, fantasy probably wasn’t for me. I’ve always loved reading fantasy but I’m one of those awful people who skips over descriptions in books (until recently when I found myself desperately needing to know how to do it well). When I got the idea to write about sirens, I knew the story had to be fantasy. Now that I’ve written Sing Me to Sleep, all of my ideas for future projects are fantasy, and I want to add magic to every non-fantasy idea I’ve ever had. So I guess I chose fantasy writing after I tried writing it.

Mermaids or sirens? 

Sirens all the way! I love mermaids but the added darkness that comes with sirens is so intriguing to me. Plus, who doesn’t love a deadly hot girl?

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

A friend told me about Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron and I inhaled it. But I don’t see enough people talking about it. I love the depiction of generational magic and Black family dynamics. It’s gorgeously written and perfectly paced and I think if more people knew about it, they’d be obsessed. 

What does success as an author look like to you?

I think my answer to this might change daily, depending on my mood but for right now, my answer is: writing something that people get. I like it when readers tell me they like Sing Me to Sleep. It makes me so happy. But I love it when readers tell me something they connected with in the story or something that resonated with them. Nothing makes me feel more successful.

Are there any upcoming projects you’re able to discuss here?

I can talk a bit about the sequel to Sing Me to Sleep. The title hasn’t been announced yet so I can’t share that here, but I can say that the sequel really tackles a lot of the conversation that came up with the ending of Book 1. There’s more Saoirse and Hayes, more Carrik, more betrayal, and more of the question: what does it take to truly change a society?

You can follow Gabi on Tik Tok @query_queen339, Twitter query_queen339, Instagram queryqueen339

Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun

Welcome Back, Booklovers! There's been a few fantasies out in the past couple of years with Black women and Blood Magic and those are buzz words for me so when I heard about Forged by Blood I was intrigued. I received a copy from Harper Voyager to review because I was a fan of The Blood Trials.

Forged by Blood is set in a fantasy version of Nigeria where familiar cities like Ife and Benin City make an appearance. People who practice Yoruba have special powers an are hunted down by the colonizer ruling class. Nine years after witnessing her mother's death, Demi has the power to seek her revenge when she is blackmailed into kidnapping the prince who played a role in her mother's death. Things don't quite go as planned and Demi alongside her friend/future intended Colin find themselves on a cross-country race against time. 

Forged by Blood's biggest strength is it's world building with characters that are straight out of West African mythology. Okosun vividly describes the people, their traditions, and their mouth watering food. The magic system showcases a range of different powers without making characters feel too overpowered.

At times the pacing was a problem with lulls in between action that would break up the momentum. There is a lot that goes on during this journey but sometimes readers are able to soak it all in and other times it's quickly moved past. Multiple shocking revelations were made at once towards the end that had my attention but I would've liked some of them to happen earlier. 

Though this book is published as an adult fantasy it leaned very young adult and not just because main character Demi is a teenager. The messaging about colonialism and colorism is very heavy handed throughout and it took a very straightforward approach when it came to the idea of who the heroes were and who the villains were. Demi stays strong in her convictions that violence is not the answer but hopefully the sequel will also explore the side that is for fighting to take back what was stolen from them. One of the nice things about adult fantasy is that there's more opportunity to play around with morally grey characters.

There is a love triangle here that made for an interesting dynamic with some funny moments, but instead ended up going the more predictable route. If you've ever read a YA fantasy you'll immediately know who Demi chooses and it would've been nice to see Okosun go in a different direction there. 

Forged by Blood  has potential to really be a standout series if it takes a little bit more risk. 

The Five-day Reunion by Mona Shroff

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I had seen this book around and then after watching an interview with the author on Aaron's Reading Room I decide to add it to my TBR and purchased a copy for my cousin too. So now I've finally getting around to reading it and it definitely won't be my last Mona Shroff book.

Nikhil returns home for his sister's wedding is surprised to see his ex wife, Anita at the pre-wedding festivities. His mother reveals she never told his grandfather the two divorced and due to his health condition and the stigma surrounding divorce in their community she convinces them to go along with her ruse. The ex-couple must spend the next five days keeping up the farce while old feelings resurface.

This was well-paced and balanced the right amount of romance while also touching on familial relationships and career goals. Nikhil and Anita are both very driven people and their lack of communication and support for one another within their careers helped break down their marriage. So it was nice to see it addressed. Nikhil felt pressure from his family being an author and he's trying to prove to them that he can be successful. Anita's career in law threatened him because it's the career path his family would've liked to see him on. 

Family has such a big role in this story but they don't overshadow our main characters but instead add more depth. Anita and Nikhil's sister also have to address their own relationship status as the two were close friends prior to the divorce. Nikhil and his mother both feel pressure to measure up to their siblings. While with Anita she lost both her parents and while she still has her brother she also wants to fill that void. And then there's side drama with a jealous ex of Nikhil's and his brother preparing for fatherhood.

Overall this is a great second chance romance with some genuinely funny moments and the backdrop of the wedding is perfection.