Interview with Lindsay Buroker

Indie writer Lindsay Buroker has written over 20 fantasy and science fiction books. Her latest fantasy series, Chains of Honor, will be completed this fall and her popular science fiction Fallen Empire series is climbing Amazon’s charts. She joins us today to discuss her writing, self-publishing, and why there are so many explosions in her books.

Welcome to SFFWorld.com, Lindsay. I’m excited and honored to have you with us.

Thank you for inviting me!

I discovered your books through your blog. I was directed there by another writer who said you have some great advice to offer folks looking to self-publish. I tried the first of your Emperor’s Edge series and was hooked. Then I noticed you had several other series. They all seem equally as fun but there are so many to choose from. It can be a little daunting! For those not familiar with your work, can you give us a quick overview?

There are a lot of books out now, aren’t there? You have to be fairly prolific if you want to make a living as an author. The pulp writers of old definitely knew that!

My first Emperor’s Edge ebook is always free, so that’s a good starting spot if you like fast-paced fantasy, brooding assassins, and independent women. There’s a little romance that develops over the series, but it’s not the main emphasis of the story.

For more romance, more irreverent characters, and lots of air-based battles, my Dragon Blood series is a fun one (I think they’re all fun—I may be biased). The first ebook, Balanced on the Blade’s Edge, is also free and stands alone well. If you like that one, there are seven more novels in the series.

If you’re more of a science fiction fan, my Fallen Empire series is inspired by Firefly and Star Wars, but has a female pilot as the lead character. Those are available on Amazon this year and should be out everywhere in 2017.

I write science fiction romance under a pen name, and I have some other smaller series, a couple still in progress, but those are the biggies. Thanks for asking about them!

Now that you point it out, I do see the influence of the TV show Firefly on your Fallen Empire series. But initially, I saw Alisa Marchenko, the main character, as an excellent homage to Star Wars‘ Han Solo. Have other folks told you that and, if so, how does it make you feel? Would you rather we compare Marchenko to Mal Reynolds? Or neither of them?

You’re the first to suggest Han, but the series is new, so maybe there will be others. 🙂

I definitely feel she’s got that classic pilot mentality (at least as portrayed by Hollywood). I never got to hang out with any real pilots when I was in the military, but I loved Colonel O’Neill in Stargate SG-1, so that character might have been an influence, both for Alisa and for Ridge in my Dragon Blood series. I remember listening to the DVD extras for one of the Stargate episodes, and they’d had Air Force General and former Chief of Staff Michael E. Ryan on the show and asked him if he’d had any subordinates as irreverent as O’Neill’s characters, and he said, yes, and worse. Apparently there’s some truth behind the Hollywood stereotype!

I’d like to focus on your Chains of Honor series since I just read Warrior Mage (review here) and Snake Heart (review forthcoming). It is set in the same universe as your Emperor’s Edge series and shares a few of the supporting characters from that series. Did you have a tough time keeping the details of these related stories from conflicting?

I’ll fully admit that I sometimes forget about things and that it’s getting harder to keep track of it all, even with extensive notes, but for the most part, it hasn’t been too bad. Warrior Mage takes place after the events in Republic, so I don’t have things happening concurrently on two different continents, and since it’s set on the other side of the world, it’s also a chance to explore a people and a culture that we only know by reputation in the Emperor’s Edge series. Yanko, the hero, was an all-new character for the series, as are most of his companions, and Dak wasn’t fleshed out much in Republic, so I’ve had latitude to play with him.

So…what’s with all the explosions (Emperor’s Edge) and spouts of lava (Chains of Honor)? I get the feeling you’re a bit of a fire-bug!

Well, most of us don’t get to blow things up in real life, so writing gives us a chance to play. 🙂

I will admit to have a Hollywood mind. I tend to see my stories playing out in my head like movies, and when I’m setting a final battle, I’ll think, how can I make this cool? Maybe someday, someone will make some movies out of my books, and I’ll get to see my visions on the big screen.

One of your latest series, Fallen Empire, is a science fiction tale. I thought all you wrote was fantasy with a heavy splash of science and technology. Did you find writing a science fiction story more difficult than your fantasy stories?

Oh, the Fallen Empire series is right up my alley. I actually found science fiction (through Star Wars and Star Trek and all the spinoff novels) long before I knew there was such thing as a fantasy genre with dragons and elves and such. My space opera is very science light, so it’s quite similar to my fantasy in a lot of ways.

Someday, I would like to do some more science/idea stories that aren’t just about characters and blowing things up, and I do expect those to be a challenge. I might go the route of Andy Weir and post the book on my blog first and ask for tech experts to chime in and correct my science!

I noticed a streak in your Emperor’s Edge, Chains of Honor, and Fallen Empire series: in combat situations, just what is the right thing to do? You often give your characters moral dilemmas. As I understand it, you served in the U.S. Army (thank you for your service). Did you experience first hand these sorts of moral dilemmas or witnessed them? Why focus your works on that conundrum?

My military service was between major conflicts, and I was signal (communications), so I never had to deal with any dilemmas larger than figuring out how to make sure the officers had email in the field. Note: they get cranky if they don’t!

But I’ve always enjoyed stories that didn’t simplify things into right and wrong, black and white. Nothing is like that in the real world, so it’s kind of silly, if you think about it. Nobody ever believes themselves a villain, and we’re all the heroes of our own stories.

You get much more interesting characters, too, when they’re wrestling with morality, when what they want more than anything can only be achieved by walking in the gray area. If they’re able to redeem themselves somehow in the end, it just makes their journey all the more satisfying.

All your books are self-published – flawlessly, I should add. You run a professional shop. I’m tempted to ask how you got started, but you’ve probably answered that question a thousand times. So, how do you see your writing career culminating? Do you ever see yourself working with the traditional publishing houses, the Big 6 (or is it the Big 5 now?)?

Thank you for the kind words, and yes, I think we’re down to a Big 5 now.

I would love to do a traditionally published series someday, but right now, the money is so much better with self-publishing (assuming you’re able to sell some books!) that I feel I would be silly to give that up just to see my novels in a Barnes & Noble. It’s on the bucket list though. 🙂

You have an aggressive book release schedule, publishing several books a year. What’s a day in the life of Lindsay Buroker like?

It’s been crazy lately! When I’m working on a rough draft, I tend to prioritize that over everything else (i.e. email, social media, marketing). I’ll have a goal of X words per day and not let myself jump into other things until they’re done. I do take breaks to walk the dogs or go to yoga or play tennis, since it’s apparently not healthy to sit at a computer for 12 hours a day, but I’m pretty good about getting those words in.

I might be a little less draconian with myself when I’m editing or outlining the next project, but I love what I do, and think it’s the most amazing way to make a living, so it can be hard to make myself take vacations or extended breaks. It’s a flaw. I’m working on it!

Lastly, can you tell us a little about what you are working on right now? And what can we expect from you in the near future?

Sure! I just published the fifth novel in my Fallen Empire series, and I’m writing the sixth. I plan to wrap things up with eight books, and then jump back into fantasy. I have a couple of series that need new installments. Look for Chains of Honor 3 near Christmas, and then maybe a new Dragon Blood and a new Rust & Relics novel in the new year. I’m already thinking about new science fiction novels I would like to write too. I keep saying I should slow down and take vacations, but I have so many ideas. It’s hard!

Many thanks for your time, Lindsay. It’s been fun!

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