Please Give a Warm Reception to Amy Kaufman Burk

One of the most enjoyable parts of posting covers and new books for other authors is getting introduced to great new fiction and to meet wonderful new people.

Today is no exception.

Let me introduce to you, Amy Kaufman Burk and her debut novel Hollywood High: Achieve the Honorable.

I found Hollywood High searching the top 100 Kindle books in gay and lesbian literary fiction and saw this title at number three. I backtracked Amy to her blog and read a few entries.

I was impressed with both her personal story and inspiration for the novel (I was shocked and saddened when I read it).

Also, as I get older, I become more and more intrigued with the 70s, the decade in which I was born.

For those reasons, I just had to give this one a read.

Currently I’m about 20% through the novel, and I am enjoying the characters Amy has brought to life. I’m reminded of my own high school days, although I must admit they were a little—lot—less intense. I can't wait to pick it back up.

I reached out to Amy and asked to include her book on my blog and was thrilled to have her agree.

So allow me to turn the mic over to Amy Kaufman Burk and welcome you to Hollywood High.

Hollywood High: Achieve The Honorable is a fictionalized account of my first year of high school, inspired by the violence I witnessed targeting gay students. I was deeply affected by this bullying, and at 15 years old, I promised myself I'd write about it some day.

Hollywood High tracks Caroline Black, a straight LGBTQ ally, as she transfers from an all-girls prep academy, to the local public school, Hollywood High, with gangs, over 40 native languages, teen prostitution, and extreme violence toward the gay students. The story follows Caroline's group of friends as they grow aware of homophobia, both in their environment and in themselves, and find paths to becoming allies.

I posted on my blog about he original bullying incident that inspired my novel. "Everyone Can Be An Ally" 

Amy Kaufman Burk grew up in the Hollywood Hills.  Her father was a screenwriter and her mother, a social anthropologist.  Amy was raised in a home with thousands of books.  She was an avid reader as a child, and still is.

Blog Hop

Blog Hops

The Next Big Thing – Week 16 

First off a special thanks to Heidi Ruby Miller who’s not Just A Girl (@Heidirubymiller on Twitter) but one hell of a writer and personal friend for tagging me.  Check out her post then, hop over and visit these other talented writers.  They are an awesome mix of genre and literary writers  

Natalie Duvall (@Natt444) -- Www.natalieduvall.com

What is the working title of your book?

ONLY HUMAN

Where did the idea come from for the book?

It started as a writing prompt: what would it be like for a dragon to have to live its life as a human? From there all sorts of social implications starting creeping in.  I really liked the concept of how something with complete power would cope (or not) when said power was removed.

What genre does your book fall under?

I would call it Urban Fantasy although it is light on the fantasy.  The fantasy mainly comes from world building of dragon society.  If I took out the dragons there wouldn’t be any other fantasy tropes in it—I guess that would make it...hmm an action/adventure coming of age story?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

It’s taken me so long to get to a point where I am proud of this story I had to change that a few times!

  








David Boreanaz as Vincent/Shylock


  Zac Efron as Kevin

Meryl Streep as (voice of) Spectre

Laurence Fishburn as (voice of) Bison



What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Love is human and never dies.

When a dragon is wrongly convicted for the murder of his mother and sister after losing control over his emotions, he must, for his punishment, spend the rest of his days as the most vile and irrationally emotional creature--a human

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

That is yet to be determined

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Well I thought it was 6 months.  It turned out that what I thought was my final draft was my first draft—that took two years.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?   While not necessarily in my genre, the books I’ve read that remind me of this include: Glen Duncan’s THE LAST WEREWOLF, Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas, or Bart Yates’ The Brothers Bishop

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I really fell in love with my main characters.  I loved the relationships they had with one another.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I wanted this to be a fast, fun thrill ride with a little sentimentality and gentleness to it but I wanted hints of literary tools to enhance it. They’re in there for people who are willing to look.  Tea was originally made from dragon scales. Dragon skeletons are made of cartilage.  If ONLY HUMAN were a song it’d be a rock ballad.  If it were a symbol, it’d be the double helix.