Ask the Author: J.S. Burke
Answered Questions (19)
J.S. Burke
Thank you for asking!
I try to set aside a few hours each day for writing. When I'm deep inside my world, if I can reasonably ignore the outside world, I just keep writing.
I try to set aside a few hours each day for writing. When I'm deep inside my world, if I can reasonably ignore the outside world, I just keep writing.
J.S. Burke
Thanks for the questions! Each book is a bit different, and equally a favorite. "The Dragon Dreamer" is my first novel, which makes it special. "Dragon Lightning" introduces new characters and dangers that came alive for me. I wrote "Dragon Thunder" because Drakor's story wasn't finished, and he kept talking to me.
I've written all my life, but novels are a new outlet. I love the creative freedom. My first novel began when I put a roundish crystal in my blue ceramic bowl. Suddenly I knew that this was a dragon's nest. Then I saw their legends as the world grew in my mind. I imagined a young, misfit dragon who flies out to sea and crashes.
But the hero can't die so soon. An octopus appeared. My marine science background flowed in, unexpectedly, and Scree the Healer was born. She's an intriguing undersea hero.
Local friends liked my beginning-book, so I finished writing. Readers expected a sequel, so I got back to work recording the further adventures. Then, of course, Drakor nagged me to write the third.
Now Arak and Scree are helping me write the fourth Dragon Dreamer book with new characters. I enjoy spending time with all of them.
I've written all my life, but novels are a new outlet. I love the creative freedom. My first novel began when I put a roundish crystal in my blue ceramic bowl. Suddenly I knew that this was a dragon's nest. Then I saw their legends as the world grew in my mind. I imagined a young, misfit dragon who flies out to sea and crashes.
But the hero can't die so soon. An octopus appeared. My marine science background flowed in, unexpectedly, and Scree the Healer was born. She's an intriguing undersea hero.
Local friends liked my beginning-book, so I finished writing. Readers expected a sequel, so I got back to work recording the further adventures. Then, of course, Drakor nagged me to write the third.
Now Arak and Scree are helping me write the fourth Dragon Dreamer book with new characters. I enjoy spending time with all of them.
J.S. Burke
Great question! I carry paper and pen with me wherever I go to jot down story ideas. I may write a few pages to type up when I'm back at my laptop. When I'm "in the zone", time and place fall away; I'm inside my fantasy world with my characters. This is quite comfortable.
J.S. Burke
Dragon Dreamer dragons have different dreams, seeking adventure while traveling the seas. There are no sheep of which to dream. Perhaps androids dream of electric sheep. :)
J.S. Burke
Thank you for asking. I'm working on Fantasy Snowflakes Coloring Book II, which will include mandalas made from ocean life, trees, dragons, mermaids, and more.
J.S. Burke
I often travel to the Dragon Dreamer worlds to visit dragons Arak and Drakor, and undersea Healer Scree. I love their adventures and camaraderie! I skim across coral reefs with Scree and fly through auroras with ice dragon Drakor. I play sky games with colored lightning.
J.S. Burke
Hi Marina, that's a great question! I've been fascinated by dragons since I started reading. I love the sci-fi opportunities to imagine different dragon senses and societies.
I have a science background, and energy is fascinating! I've read research by Dr. Ott and Dr. Darius Dinshaw, who experimented with light to find healing colors/wavelengths. Some fish, like electric eels, can give energy shocks. In THE DRAGON DREAMER, my dragon healers use their energy to speed healing.
Vibrations from different music notes make different patterns in sand. Snowflakes are like tiny batteries in clouds, with energy running across their faces. This crystal growth is complicated.
I imagined growing my own snowflakes, using energy and chemicals to control the pattern. This could be done, theoretically. Snowflakes are grown in cloud chambers. I saw them in my mind and drew them with pen and ink.
My dragons grow fantasy snowflakes for their Winter Festival, and many grace the top of each new chapter of The Dragon Dreamer. Much of my fantasy is grounded in science, with a sci-fi artsy angle. My first love was, and will always be, art. I painted my book covers. But art, math, and science are all based on patterns, and connected.
I love the heart/tree-of-life mandala on my website. It's inspired by a red oak with a split trunk. I wanted pinky-brown colors for this snowflake, and V Hemlin colored it.
I have a science background, and energy is fascinating! I've read research by Dr. Ott and Dr. Darius Dinshaw, who experimented with light to find healing colors/wavelengths. Some fish, like electric eels, can give energy shocks. In THE DRAGON DREAMER, my dragon healers use their energy to speed healing.
Vibrations from different music notes make different patterns in sand. Snowflakes are like tiny batteries in clouds, with energy running across their faces. This crystal growth is complicated.
I imagined growing my own snowflakes, using energy and chemicals to control the pattern. This could be done, theoretically. Snowflakes are grown in cloud chambers. I saw them in my mind and drew them with pen and ink.
My dragons grow fantasy snowflakes for their Winter Festival, and many grace the top of each new chapter of The Dragon Dreamer. Much of my fantasy is grounded in science, with a sci-fi artsy angle. My first love was, and will always be, art. I painted my book covers. But art, math, and science are all based on patterns, and connected.
I love the heart/tree-of-life mandala on my website. It's inspired by a red oak with a split trunk. I wanted pinky-brown colors for this snowflake, and V Hemlin colored it.
J.S. Burke
Dweer are like wolves with scales instead of fur: "a scaly, wingless, rust-colored beast with sharp jagged teeth." They are smart predators that can hunt in a pack. An adult dweer is much smaller than an adult dragon, just as wolves are smaller than the caribou they hunt. Like wolves, dweer mainly catch small prey.
J.S. Burke
Does Arak sleep on sea silk?
On the ice he sleeps on kelp, a tall seaweed that would feel leafy. "Sea silk" would be a beautiful name for this.
Do abalones really make pearls?
Yes, abalones can grow pearls. They are often silvery. Orm is really good at finding the blue-green places inside the abalone shell to grow blue-green pearls.
I draw scrimshaw (thin black line drawings) on abalone shell. The shell is beautiful, more exquisite than opals, with layers of shimmering colors. I once drew a unicorn on an abalone oval for a pendant, and filled it in with silver. Before I drew the unicorn, I carefully sanded a small spot where the tip of the horn would be. I sanded through a blue-green abalone layer to reach a magical pink layer. I drew the spiral unicorn horn so that the tip of the horn was in this pink glow. Abalone is such fun!
On the ice he sleeps on kelp, a tall seaweed that would feel leafy. "Sea silk" would be a beautiful name for this.
Do abalones really make pearls?
Yes, abalones can grow pearls. They are often silvery. Orm is really good at finding the blue-green places inside the abalone shell to grow blue-green pearls.
I draw scrimshaw (thin black line drawings) on abalone shell. The shell is beautiful, more exquisite than opals, with layers of shimmering colors. I once drew a unicorn on an abalone oval for a pendant, and filled it in with silver. Before I drew the unicorn, I carefully sanded a small spot where the tip of the horn would be. I sanded through a blue-green abalone layer to reach a magical pink layer. I drew the spiral unicorn horn so that the tip of the horn was in this pink glow. Abalone is such fun!
J.S. Burke
Certainly. I'm happy it will be helpful to you!
J.S. Burke
Great question! The Dragon Dreamer is in stores, Barnes and Noble nook, and on amazon as paperback and kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Dreamer-...
You can click to read part of this on amazon.
My other books are in some stores and at http://www.jennysburke.com . Thank you for asking!
You can click to read part of this on amazon.
My other books are in some stores and at http://www.jennysburke.com . Thank you for asking!
J.S. Burke
Water with lemon wedges. I love coffee but must ration this or I'm too wired.
J.S. Burke
An octopus is a wonderful, intelligent alien with eyes like ours, skin that can see, arms that taste and feel and act on their own with independent brains. The combined octopus brain has more neurons than a human brain!
Octopuses can live out of water if they stay wet. They can chase prey up into the shallows and onto land. Octopuses routinely escape tanks and wander about out of water. Some even run like cats! One octopus escaped from her tank, ate rare fish in another tank, and returned to her "home". She traveled secretly, at night, when people were gone. She was seen on video when a monitor was installed to learn what was happening to the fish.
After baby octopuses hatch, most types do not migrate and return; they stay where they hatched. I borrowed that part of Dragon Dreamers from sea turtle life cycles. (Scientists recently learned that, with some types of sea turtles, the mothers help and guide her hatchlings to the sea.)
Not as much is known about octopus interactions in their natural setting. Octopuses are very smart and curious. Some mimic other sea creatures so perfectly that you can't tell the difference! The starfish you see could be a shape-shifted, color-changed octopus! In tanks they form friendships with people, so it seems they could form friendships with other octopuses. The pod was my idea; it suited the fantasy and allowed more interactions.
Thanks for the questions!
Octopuses can live out of water if they stay wet. They can chase prey up into the shallows and onto land. Octopuses routinely escape tanks and wander about out of water. Some even run like cats! One octopus escaped from her tank, ate rare fish in another tank, and returned to her "home". She traveled secretly, at night, when people were gone. She was seen on video when a monitor was installed to learn what was happening to the fish.
After baby octopuses hatch, most types do not migrate and return; they stay where they hatched. I borrowed that part of Dragon Dreamers from sea turtle life cycles. (Scientists recently learned that, with some types of sea turtles, the mothers help and guide her hatchlings to the sea.)
Not as much is known about octopus interactions in their natural setting. Octopuses are very smart and curious. Some mimic other sea creatures so perfectly that you can't tell the difference! The starfish you see could be a shape-shifted, color-changed octopus! In tanks they form friendships with people, so it seems they could form friendships with other octopuses. The pod was my idea; it suited the fantasy and allowed more interactions.
Thanks for the questions!
J.S. Burke
THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTIONS! Octopuses are amazing in fact, and ever so suited for the imagination.
OCTOPUS FACTS: Most octopuses can change their color, texture, and shape. They change colors to camouflage, perfectly matching the background, and to show emotion. Octopuses have no bones and can squeeze through small spaces. They are natural shape shifters. Some types mimic other species so realistically that people don’t realize it's really an octopus! The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is famous for this ability. From the Living Wonders book (Time, 2008): the mimic octopus "is one of nature's greatest shape-shifters: it is able to assume the form and coloration of at least 15 other species, including crabs, stingrays, and jellyfish." Scientists thought the octopus was truly the animal it copied.
(If an octopus can choose to mimic so realistically, why not choose to make skin pictures using the natural color cells? Especially to talk to a dragon...)
Octopuses have simple brain-like bunches of neurons in each arm to help control the many possible movements. Each arm can move and react without any command from the big brain in the octopus head. There are also hundreds of suckers along each octopus arm that act independently to feel, grab, and release. Imagine having 8 arms that can move in spirals! Human arms are so very limited!
Octopuses are clever at catching crabs; they eat the claws and body. Fish are not a normal octopus food. This became part of the book's legend.
Octopuses are very intelligent and have distinct personalities; in captivity they have formed strong friendships with people. One octopus became concerned after feeling the illness in her human friend, using the sensitive sensors in her arm suckers.
My QUITHRA are not real, but sea slugs are similar sea creatures that are real. Sea slugs do not have toxic eggs used in medicine, but they do have colorful bodies that wriggle through the sea. From the glossary at the end of The Dragon Dreamer:
"Quithra – This imaginary sea creature resembles a nudibranch, or sea slug. Slow, colorful creatures are often toxic and taste bitter; this is their defense. Medicines sometimes use the natural chemicals from bitter-tasting animals and plants. (kwi-thra)"
I'm glad you are enjoying The Dragon Dreamer!
OCTOPUS FACTS: Most octopuses can change their color, texture, and shape. They change colors to camouflage, perfectly matching the background, and to show emotion. Octopuses have no bones and can squeeze through small spaces. They are natural shape shifters. Some types mimic other species so realistically that people don’t realize it's really an octopus! The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is famous for this ability. From the Living Wonders book (Time, 2008): the mimic octopus "is one of nature's greatest shape-shifters: it is able to assume the form and coloration of at least 15 other species, including crabs, stingrays, and jellyfish." Scientists thought the octopus was truly the animal it copied.
(If an octopus can choose to mimic so realistically, why not choose to make skin pictures using the natural color cells? Especially to talk to a dragon...)
Octopuses have simple brain-like bunches of neurons in each arm to help control the many possible movements. Each arm can move and react without any command from the big brain in the octopus head. There are also hundreds of suckers along each octopus arm that act independently to feel, grab, and release. Imagine having 8 arms that can move in spirals! Human arms are so very limited!
Octopuses are clever at catching crabs; they eat the claws and body. Fish are not a normal octopus food. This became part of the book's legend.
Octopuses are very intelligent and have distinct personalities; in captivity they have formed strong friendships with people. One octopus became concerned after feeling the illness in her human friend, using the sensitive sensors in her arm suckers.
My QUITHRA are not real, but sea slugs are similar sea creatures that are real. Sea slugs do not have toxic eggs used in medicine, but they do have colorful bodies that wriggle through the sea. From the glossary at the end of The Dragon Dreamer:
"Quithra – This imaginary sea creature resembles a nudibranch, or sea slug. Slow, colorful creatures are often toxic and taste bitter; this is their defense. Medicines sometimes use the natural chemicals from bitter-tasting animals and plants. (kwi-thra)"
I'm glad you are enjoying The Dragon Dreamer!
J.S. Burke
I want a variety of books to read; one would not be enough. I love to create my own fantasy worlds and add to the reading options.
J.S. Burke
I switch to writing on a different book, or connect with people on social media, or do mundane but necessary chores. Eventually the spark will return!
J.S. Burke
Once upon a time I put an odd, roundish rock into my earthy blue bowl. This rare rock with lumpy crystals seemed like a dragon's egg. Suddenly I knew that a dragon made this ceramic nest so she could warm it with her fire, to incubate the precious egg. I also knew how dragons courted with colored lightning. And I knew their legends . . .So I wrote The Dragon Dreamer.
J.S. Burke
Just start writing. The first 20 drafts may be horrible, but keep writing and learning. Don't give up. Join a writer's group and listen to the advice of others. Learn to "show, not tell" by describing what is happening in your book. Study books you like until you understand why you like them. Do you care about the characters? Enjoy the dialogue? Love the story? Keep writing, sharing, editing, and improving. And, again, don't give up!
J.S. Burke
I'm writing Black Lightning, the sequel to The Dragon Dreamer. The long-lost ice dragons are not what Arak expected.
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