Author J.L. Burrows has created FreeFalling, the first book of her Christian Futuristic Fiction novel of The Reconditioned trilogy. Readers will want to follow the adventures of Sere, here illegal AI tech, furry beast companion, and her ragtag group as they are pitted against a government with cutting-edge technology and genetically modified bio-weapons. The Truth must rise out of the deception despite the odds stacked against them. Will Sere find a hero within herself and face down a future on the brink of oblivion?
J.L. Burrows was kind enough to answer some questions about her work and herself.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on Awakening, book two in The Reconditioned Series, where we follow Sere on a wild path into the Outlands, a world outside the Dome, a place of certain danger, lawlessness, and devastation—or so she’s been told all her life. What she discovers isn’t a far cry from what she’s been told, but there is a lot more life than the devastation promised her.
What is your next writing project?
There are at least four projects vying for attention on the writing table. I try to keep a working list of what I’ll do next. I have edits for my novella Quantum Christmas that I’ll be working on in March/April due May 12th, and the polished draft of Awakening book two in The Reconditioned Series due to the publisher May 18th. So, those two are taking center stage until May. After May, I am between doing a second edition on Rulers of Darkness book two of The Balance Keepers, my Indie Christian Fantasy series as a follow up to the second edition of Hunted by Darkness book one in that same series I’ve been working on through January and February 2025. But I’m just as likely to pick up the romantic suspense I wrote this past summer 2024 that I’m so excited about. We’ll see what happens when I get to June. I’m also excited to be a new Content Editor at Scrivenings Press. This has placed two books on my writing desk for edits due in June and a third due in August, which may shift my personal writing goals around.
What is your superpower?
People always ask me how I get so much done. Teacher. Mother. Author. Co-leader of the Christian Writer’s Group Charis. Leader of the High School Creative Writing Club. Mentor to several authors.
No idea.
I can tell you, I’ve often asked God to make me able and efficient, with wisdom and discernment, to do the things that I love with supernatural, God-given ability. This applies to my writing, singing, playing the piano, and especially my mentoring and teaching. I pray about these skills and ask God to fill me with them like He did in the men who built the Tabernacle.
“3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.” Exodus 31:3-5
This scripture holds such a place in my heart and mind. God filled those men with their gifts, abilities, and knowledge. It’s easy to be distracted by this world and its sense of I-can-do-it. Its sense of “me.” I might think I’m learning, I’m excelling, but the truth is we can do nothing without God.
Other verses that hit me with piercing truth.
“You have not because you ask not.” John 4:1-3
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find…” Matthew 7:7
So I ask for these things, and maybe that’s why I get so much done. So maybe my super power is getting a ton of stuff done, but more likely, it’s turning to God for the things I need.
If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would you like?
One thing… My mind is at war between coffee and chocolate. Which leads me to a confident answer of I could never choose just one beautiful, wonderful thing that God has made for consumption. But really it’s chocolate. Unless it’s first thing in the morning, then it’s coffee.
What is the one thing we would never guess about you?
I’m a professional musician. That always seems to shock people. I’ve been a teacher for so long many people guess it’s all I’ve ever done, but it wasn’t my first dream, passion, or career. I started playing the piano when I was seven, and my first degree is in Piano Performance. I adore music. It speaks to my soul in a way nothing else can. And I find unfathomable joy in worshiping God through singing, playing the piano, and playing the guitar. Another fun fact, I toured and played professionally in the Bahamas for three years while also teaching music as a missionary in schools there.
What book or book series have you recently enjoyed reading?
As an avid reader, my favorite authors shift with time. Two who have a ton of wonderful books and that I’ve been reading for some time are Susan May Warren and Roni Kendig. I adore Warren’s romantic suspense books and often binge read a series that I then review in Clean Fiction Magazine where I’m a reviewer. Kendig is like me, a multi-genre author! I discovered her Breed Apart series and fell in love with the retired war dogs and how the romance played out in her stories, often with angst and witty banter. Over Christmas break this year, I read her science fiction novel Brand of Light, and in January I went on to read the rest of this amazing Space Opera series. It was so good.
Reading for me is a daily habit, so I’m always finding new books I love. If you want to know more about what I’m reading, follow me on Goodreads, my newsletter, and Clean Fiction Magazine for my quarterly published reviews.
It’s hard to put my finger on what causes me to most enjoy reading a specific author. It definitely has to do with how a story and character edify my journey with Christ, giving me a sense of camaraderie and kinship, both with the mind of the author and the character’s journeys. I’m inspired to walk my faith, see God’s work in the moments that seem darkest, know with increased certainty God’s plan is good and something I can trust, and when my heart hurts, God is working to heal and save me. For me, that’s why I read Christian fiction, and what I love about it. For a long time, I only read secular fiction, and God has slowly saved my reading and brought it into His love and truth. Maybe the thing I enjoy the most is witnessing how our God is amazingly detail oriented. He holds the whole world in His hands and yet cares about the ache of our heart, placing the perfect book in our hands at just the right moment to carry us through and encourage us.
What genre would you like to consider in the future that differs from that/those you do now?
I’ve written a rough draft of a romantic suspense mentioned above—its working title is Zyaire. I’m very excited to get back to it. The characters immediately became dear to my heart, as they are both recovering from terrible life experiences.
Zyaire recently returned from active duty and is suffering from a severe case of PTSD. He refuses to acknowledge how bad it is, and leaves his mom and dad taking his duffle and his deceased bud’s service dog, and finds himself trapped in the mountains of Vermont when a terrible storm washes the road out. He looks for a place to pass the night and happens upon a small cabin.
Lyra’s mom just passed from her battle with cancer, and her father, in reaction, guilt and grief, to never taking his wife to their summer cabin in the foothills of Vermont’s mountains, picks up and moves to the cabin for good. Lyra, not wanting to lose her only remaining family, has to go with him, but she’s a city girl and Vermont is a far cry from what she is familiar with.
I thoroughly enjoyed writing this romantic suspense, and it shouldn’t surprise me, because I absolutely devour other author’s romantic suspense books. Susan May Warren, Lynette Eason, Elizabeth Goddard, Christina Rost…
What’s your best advice for other writers?
I have a couple of pieces of advice for new authors. After writing and publishing seven books, six indie and one traditional, I’ve learned a ton about this writing journey. Network is so important! And a year ago I met a wonderful friend and sister in Christ who asked if there was a local Christian Writers Group. There were writers groups near us, but no local Smyrna Christian group, so together we started Charis, a local Christian author’s group in Smyrna, TN, and I’ve been blessed to walk alongside several new authors as they brought their short stories and books to publication.
Below are some paradigm shifts that helped me on my journey:
- It’s a lifestyle, not a destination vacation. If you think you are writing to finish the book, you’ll find that there’s just another book, another revision, another edit, another something that you have to do for your book. Writing the book is simply the first step in a journey of steps. When I was younger and dieting, I used to hear all over the place. I’m changing my lifestyle–not dieting. Writing a book is much the same way. It’s a lifestyle, so create systems that support your writing consistently, while also leaving adequate time for life and family, giving you balance.
- One step has more power than huge chunks. When my husband was going through brain cancer—an entire story in itself—I learned I had to just make the next step through life. I couldn’t think about the big picture or end results. I put on blinders and disciplined myself to take the next step, no matter how much it scared me. In that, I found the journey went more quickly, each step grew a touch easier, and I could accomplish incredible things in brief periods of time.
- Work with yourself, not against yourself. If you are a morning person, write in the morning. But if you are a night person, write in the night. Don’t try to be something God didn’t create you to be. God made you on purpose the way you are. He loves you the way you are. There’s enough in this world to fight against. Don’t let your war be against yourself.
- Learn! Learn! Learn! The minute you think you’ve arrived, you will grow stale. In my writer’s group, we try to study a book a year. This year’s book is Susan May Warren’s The Story Equation. Other books I’ve learned from and loved are Hawker’s 17 step method, unfortunately named Take off your Pants referring to pantsers learning to plan; Story Genius by Larry Brooks; John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story; Break into Fiction by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love; The Emotional Wound Thesaurus and that entire series by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. And I have at least fifty more on my TBR (to be read pile) that I can’t wait to dig into.
- Work to the end. So many newer authors get lost in the spiral of starting a book, writing to chapter four or five, then having a new idea or learning something or any other distraction, and then they go back to the beginning and revise, cut, edit, get to chapter four or five, then have a … You get the idea. It’s essential to learn to persevere to the end of each phase of writing. So when you start a rough draft, work until you’ve finished that first rough draft. Allow yourself to make a note of things you want to revise, keep a notebook or an app with notes, but finish to the end.
If I had to pick the two most impactful of the above five, I would say “One Step” and “Work to the End.” I teach High School English at a local public school, and in that course we cover the writing process. Consider the following steps in the writing process: planning, rough draft, revision, critique & revision, developmental edit, line edit, proofread, publish. I encourage you to work to the end one step at a time through each of these steps. Blessings on your writing journey!
J. L. Burrows
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BOOK LINKS:
Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222350373-freefalling
Amazon:
FreeFalling: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPTFGM8S
Author’s Page: Amazon.com: J. L. Burrows: books, biography, latest update
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https://BookHip.com/TTZQCBA – Includes a freebie Prequel Anthology – Invading Darkness the origin stories to my Balance Keepers main characters. I write once a week cameoing amazing Christian/Clean Fiction authors and reviews of books I write as well as moments and peeks into my writing and life.
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