Interview with Elizabeth Burr

Author of the New Dimension Book Series

One of the more inspiring stories I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing is the writing debut of Elizabeth Burr. This young lady has managed to write and self-publish a trilogy of fantasy YA books, despite being labeled as autistic. I asked her about her writing process, and this is what she had to say.

What inspires your writing?

Actually the first book that I wrote was all made up on a notebook, my cousin and I started it. As he got older, I took New Dimension over and began writing it, I didn’t have a clue I was going to publish this book or even know it was going to be a trilogy, I began writing New Dimension because it was helping me express my emotions, when I was angry or upset, I hid my feelings and kept them inside so I put my feelings in my characters, every time I wrote the book I believe the reader can read my feelings. One day I got to the point I wanted people to read it, I went from a notebook to google docs, I let my friends and family read and they recommended me to publish my book, it took a while and I listened to there advice and that’s why I became a writer.

What is your process of developing characters?

I developed my characters by basing them off dreams or thoughts I had, Delilah who is the main character of my book series, She is based off my personality and who I am, Dakota who is Delilah’s lover, he is based on a man I would want in a man, except the vampire part, Doc and Evil Doc they are also the main characters and they help Delilah learn who she truly is that took some planning I have been writing this book since I was 10 and now I am 20, I also have added some evil villains to spice up the story line.

Did you Start with a story outline or did you make it up as you went along?

New Dimension came to me as a dream, it started out to be about a guy named Michael and he was the main character of the story instead of Delilah, I changed the dream around and made the story line off romance and adventure and created my own twist into it, that was how my cousin got involved, he loved the dream and we started writing it, but like I mentioned in the first question, he lost interest and I took it over and changed the whole plot of the story.

How much research did you need for your latest story?

Actually I put in quite a bit of research. I kept going back through the book and made sure I got the characters and the plot right, I had to keep going back to previous chapters and made sure I did not mess anything up, and for some
some different words I wanted to put in I looked them up and made sure I used them
Properly.

What researching methods did you use?

Like I mentioned in the fourth question, I kept looking back in my previous chapters and used dictionary. com for help.

What are some of your methods for handling worldbuilding and establishing a believable and immersive setting in you stories?

I began by my plot and I work my way around it, and build up the story.

Did you draw on personal experience?

In a way yes, like I have mentioned before Delilah is based off me and my emotions, and also the rest of the characters also have my feelings , I have been made fun of in school, I just never seemed to fit in, I didn’t have much friends and no one really understood me. So that is another reason why New Dimension was based off of my life, I felt like I was an alien of another dimension, I just didn’t fit in with anyone, and I also didn’t do what everyone did.

How did your publish?

I wanted to self publish but it was a lot of money and time , that  I didn’t have at the time, so I decided to hire JD Willams to typeset my book and post it on Amazon via Kindle Direct. He was referred to me by my dad’s friend, it is a lot easier and cheaper.

What advice would you have for writers looking to publish the way you published?

Always go back over your work, it may be a while and tiring at times but just know it is worth it, you may find a line did not make since or there was a word that was not spelled correctly.

Who did your cover and marketing?

JD also did my marketing, but I use this app called Spark post to make my book covers, I am also an artist, I have wanted to create my own book covers, so all thanks to Spark post for the free photos that I can make my own.

What are some of the methods you have used to generate interest in your book?

I know that a lot of people love science fiction , romance , adventure, killing  books. So my method was to add a lot of different genres in my books.

Did you use beta readers? How did you secure them?

Yes I have had my friends and family help with the punctuation and spelling errors that I miss. Or I asked them to help me and make sure my book makes sense.

How many revisions did it take to get a publishable book?

It took quite a bit of revisions to make my book right, like I mentioned before that is why you keep going back over your book.

What aspect of the book writing process did you find the most challenging?

My hardest part was the punctuations for me and making sure the book made sense.

How did you keep your characters consistent between the three books? 

I try to get them involved a lot with Delilah’s life so they can be consistent but also Delilah leans about her friends and there passed.

What are you writing now?

Actually I have written 2 books called the Clone and The Shapeshifter, they are both done but the current book that I am going to work on is called What God has done for me, it’s a book about my personal life and what God has done for me.

What is your advice to other writers?

My advice is, no matter what anyone says keep writing even when you think you suck at writing, you never know, you might be the next Stephen King.

Be sure to Check out Liz’s Debut Series “New Dimension,” and follow her Amazon profile here.