Interview with William Burt

Our family discovered "The King of the Trees" in our Library and loved it! Imagine our excitement at discovering that not only were there seven books in the series, but that there was another series set in our world...set 45 minutes away, to be exact! (The Lake Lights is set in Lake Oswego, Oregon.)

What are your published works? (books, articles, etc.)

My published works: Series I, the King of the Trees (Family-friendly, allegorical fantasy) - *The King of the Trees, Torsils in Time, The Golden Wod, The Greenstones, The Downs, Kyleah's Mirrors, The Birthing Tree; Series II, the Creation Seekers (Family-friendly action and adventure) - *The Lake Lights, *The Vikings of Loch Morar.

*Titles available as audiobooks on Audible.com.

All 9 titles are avaiable for purchase on my website as paperbacks. Amazon carries them both in print and Kindle versions. (Only the first three titles in Series I are avalable on Amazon as paperbacks.)

Have you won any awards? Which ones?

Yes, I have. Two of my titles (out of three submitted) were finalists in the 2014 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest: The King of the Trees and The Golden Wood.

The King of the Trees subsequently won the 2014 Silver Medal in the category of "Christian Fantasy." All nine of my series titles have been awarded five stards by Readers' Favorite reviewers. I was also a 2013 finalit in The Authors Show.com "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" competition.

When did you start seriously writing?

That would be around 1985, when I was an ASL research associate at the University of Illinois, Champaigh. During my lunch breaks, I filled a cardboard box with 20-30 spiral notebooks in which I wrote out the plot concepts for The King of the Trees. I laid the box aside for nearly a decade while my wife and I raised our children. Then I purchased and Apple computer. The rest is history. (I should add that while I was in hight school, I helped my father edit his plant identification field guides, Edible and Poisiounous Plants of the Western/Eastern States, which he first published in 1970. Those guides are still in prins and are extensively used in the military.)

How long have you been an author?

I have been a published author since 1998, 28 years ago. How the time has flown!

What is your favorite genre to write?

I suppose Fantasy was my favorite genre to write, but now that I'm filling out my Creation Seekers series, Action and Adventure is my preferred genre to write (and read).

What is your favorite part of writing?

What I love best about writing is the creative process - originating new concepts, characters, and even creatures that are unique to me. I believe God created us to create, and that He takes great pleasure in watching us write plays, symphonies, and novels; construct new buildings; devise spaceships, and so forth.

What the hardest part of writing?

For me, the hardest part if ferreting out inconsistencies and conflicts in plots and characters descriptions. What is even harder is marketing and publicizing the books that I've published.

What advice to you have for other writers?

Learn your craft. That is, learn the basic rules of English grammar and puncuation (not to mention spelling). For example, the comma splice is probably the most common error I see in published works - including my NAS Bible. (Ex: "He mowed the lawn, he dumped the clippings." One fis: "He mowed the lawn, and he dumped the clippings.") Uncheked, commas splices proliferate like dandelions in a neglected law, but there is no Roundup for comma splices.

What do you like to do besides writing?

I like to grow, plant and care for various kinds of trees. I also enjoy picking, identifying and cooking wild mushrooms. (That hobby shows up in my fantasy series.) my five grandchildren afford me many pleasurable hours, too.

What is your favorite book? (besides the Bible)

In fiction: The Hobbit. In nonfiction: The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide.

What is your favorite Bible verse?

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to Hid purpose."

Do you have a website or blog that we could check out?

Sure - https://www.greencloaks.com

Thank you for coming! Readers, come back soon for another interview!