About the Book

Book: The Burning Tree

Author: Helen Dent

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: September 10, 2024

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.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

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.

More from Helen

“‘Oh, Trees, Trees, Trees,’ said Lucy (though she had not been intending to speak at all). ‘Oh, Trees, wake, wake, wake.’

. . .

Though there was not a breath of wind they all stirred about her. The rustling noise of the leaves was almost like words.” – C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian

This scene of the enchanted trees in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia sparked my imagination the very first time I read it. As a child, like Lucy, I could picture how the trees in my own backyard might look as wood-people, what they might say if they spoke. Even now, when I walk through woods, they still hold an enchanted quality for me. I want to follow all the footpaths . . . to a meadow, maybe, rich in wildflowers . . . or a haunt of bats . . . or an ancient, lightning-struck tree.

There’s a particular wood near my house that I walked week by week during a difficult season in my life. Flowers bloomed, birds nested. The light changed. Leaves fell, then budded again. It was a comfort to wander under the sheltering trees – and that comfort wasn’t just the peace of being out in nature.

Each rustle of the trees carried an echo of a much greater story.

It’s always struck me as particularly beautiful that there are individual trees at the beginning and end of the Bible: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis, and then the tree of life again in Revelation, this time described as having “twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22: 2b ESV).

So every walk in the woods reminds me that brokenness isn’t the end of the story. Death isn’t the end of the story.

It’s probably no surprise, then, that I set my book, The Burning Tree, in an enchanted forest. where the trees have been twisted into something destructive, but where there’s always the possibility of a different outcome . . . just waiting to be unlocked.

Blog Stops

Inspired by Fiction, September 14

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, September 15 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, September 15

Stories By Gina, September 16 (Author Interview)

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, September 17 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 18

Guild Master, September 19 (Author Interview)

A Reader’s Brain, September 20 (Author Interview)

Back Porch Reads, September 21 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 22

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 23 (Author Interview)

Fiction Book Lover, September 24 (Author Interview)

Tell Tale Book Reviews, September 25 (Author Interview)

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, September 25

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 26

Through the Fire Blogs, September 27 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Helen is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5442

Interview with Helen

What things molded your desire to write a novel?

I’ve always loved the experience of falling into a story world, whether that be Narnia, or walking into Thornfield with Jane Eyre, or tracking down clues with Nancy Drew. As I began to recognize the influence these stories had in shaping the way I saw the world, I wanted to be part of that transformative work.

What is the easiest part of your writing process?

Definitely, drafting the individual chapters. My process is to pour myself a mug of coffee, light a candle, set a timer to give myself a small deadline, and type away. For me, scenes unfold like movies, and I really love crafting a sense of place and watching the characters interact. Now, making sure those chapters flow as a coherent story — that’s a different question! That’s the most painstaking part for me.

What do you wish you knew before you started writing?

I started out with the unrealistic idea that, because I’d read so many books, I could write a novel that would only need minor tweaking in the revision. Actually, I imagined that’s how it happened for all authors — they typed “The End,” cracked their knuckles, checked the draft for errors, and sent it off. That was a recipe for a LOT of disappointment. I wish I’d known from the beginning that most stories need major revision in multiple drafts, not just tweaks. That really takes the pressure off because the story doesn’t have to be perfect the first time.

Give us an insight into your faith in the Lord.

I’ve been learning recently to recognize the goodness of God more and more in everyday life. I see His goodness in the gift of the wildflowers that overcame the odds of my inadequate gardening skills, for example, and are blooming like crazy in the Texas heat. I see it in the gift of the computer sitting on my kitchen table with stories in progress. And I’m learning to see His goodness in my struggles, too, as He continually invites me to cast all my anxieties on Him.

When you aren’t writing, what do you enjoy doing?

I love wandering through the woods and also exploring cities, coffee shop to coffee shop! And I’m always happy when the board games come out (current favorites: Pandemic, which is much more cathartic than it sounds, and the classic Clue, with my kids.)