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.

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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.

Author Interview

Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

I usually have multiple projects going at a time, but they have to be in different stages of the writing process. I’ve tried writing two stories at once, and one always wins out! So I typically have a project I’m revising, a project I’m beginning, and one that’s just for fun.

What is the funniest thing to happen in the process of writing one of your books?

That’s a great question. For one of my stories, I wanted to find out what it feels like to be in a man-made tunnel. There’s not a lot of tourable tunnels near where I live, but I found a very small one that was used during Prohibition and had quite the notorious history. I signed up for a tour, which included a presentation and then a little trip into the tunnel. When I arrived, I discovered a large tour group had also come that day. I was the only non-member of the group.

The presentation was calm enough (and fascinating), but when it came time to actually step down in into the tunnel, I’d never seen a group of people in comfortable sneakers move so fast. There was a dash — I’m talking elbowing and shoving — to get down the tunnel stairs. I barely had time to snatch a few pictures in the crush of what turned out to be more action and adventure than I’d bargained for! Now I know exactly what an escape tunnel feels like. It was the perfect research outing.

How do you relax after a long day of writing?

I like to take a walk after writing — ideally in the woods, but neighborhood streets work too. Often halfway through a ramble, the answer to a creative problem will dawn on me . . . or I’ll realize there’s something wrong with the scene I’ve just written. Then it’s back to the drawing board!

Do you have extensive outlines when writing or do you write a book as you go?

I outline a basic story arc before I begin a new project, including the major events, the crisis, and what I believe the resolution will be. I’ve learned, though, to keep this outline vague and subject to change, because my characters don’t always cooperate with my plans. You’d think they would, seeing as how they’re fictional. But that’s actually one of my favorite parts of the writing process — when they surprise me.

What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

This sounds odd, but I need a timer. Otherwise, all the blank pages I could potentially fill that day become overwhelming and I find myself folding laundry or organizing the spice rack instead. So I set a timer (writing for thirty minutes is always doable), and once I get started, I really can write all day. A cup of coffee is a bonus, and so is a candle — I burn a different one while writing each story — but only the timer is really necessary.