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.
In this interview, Helen shares some of her thoughts regarding her latest book, The Burning Tree.
FF: What inspired the story in your book?
A few summers ago, my family and I were driving home from visiting grandparents, and already missing them. About the time the tears stopped, we came across an unincorporated township. It had a main street lined with weathered, elegant homes and then tractors a block away. Something about that place sparked my imagination, planting the seeds of this story which is all about family and roots.
FF: What can you tell us about the main character in your book?
My main character, Ellie, has stumbled on a mystery that most people in her town don’t want to see because it causes too much fear. But the mystery is hurting everyone she cares about, so out of love, she’s determined to follow the clues wherever they lead.
FF: Which character surprised you the most?
Ellie has a nemesis who turned out to be much funnier and deeper than I’d anticipated. Readers can decide for themselves which character I mean!
FF: Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
This is one of my favorite questions! Stories have such impact—have, in fact, the power to change our lives—because they let us walk around in someone else’s shoes, live their journey for a while, see and smell and hear their world. Who could forget second breakfasts or Mirkwood or the walking trees in The Lord of the Rings…or Turkish delight in the White Witch’s frozen world in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?
So stories stay with us. And in the characters’ choices, we get to experience wisdom (or the lack of it) lived out…like the self-sacrificial journey to destroy the ring, for example, or Edmund’s traitorous choice. Reading their stories really does transform how we think and feel, what we imagine, and how we understand our own stories.
FF: What kind of research did you do for this book?
To write The Burning Tree, I delved into quite a few volumes of mythology, although the specific type is a bit of a spoiler…readers will have to solve that mystery for themselves!
FF: What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
Sometimes the realities of our faith, even the most important ones, can become so familiar that we almost forget them. My hope is that readers will come away from this book with a renewed sense of the power of mercy—how durable and costly and transformative it really is.
FF: What are the biggest challenges for you as an author writing in your specific genre?
One of my challenges is building a world without over- or under-explaining it. The world of Bishops Gap, for example, lived so clearly in my mind, and I wanted make sure just the right amount of description got on the page. I’m so grateful to my critique group and to early readers for helping me find where I needed to add information—or, at times, cut some out!
FF: What authors or books have inspired you as an author?
So many…too many to list! For the The Burning Tree specifically, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis was a major inspiration in the immersive world he creates. Also Meet the Austins by Madeleine L’Engle has really influenced me through her incredible descriptions of family life.
FF: How has your faith or world view impacted the way you tell stories?
I think one of the most significant ways my faith impacts my writing is the presence of mercy in my stories. Sometimes, though, my characters don’t recognize that mercy for what it is, at least not at first. To them, it may look a difficulty or an obstacle or a harder-than-expected journey, but it brings them to the truth that can set them free.
The Burning Tree
Helen Dent
Enclave Escape
Genres: Y/A Teen Fantasy
Release Date: September 10, 2024
ASIN: B0CW5KB1XT
ISBN-13: 979-8886051506
Book Summary:
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.
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