Anne: Hello, Ciera! I’m so glad you could take a moment to chat with us about your middle grade debut, Finch House, which comes out tomorrow from Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster. Congratulations on its release! Would you please give readers a super-short summary of what it’s all about?
Ciera: Thanks so much! Okay, super short. Finch House is about a girl, Micah, who goes searching for her missing grandfather in a recently renovated haunted house that has been off-limits to her for as long as she can remember.
Anne: Great. I love the way this house slowly comes to life. Early-on, you give us this line: “Finch House watched them go.” Ooooohhh. Creepy. So, tell me, what’s with you and haunted houses? Did you have a “Finch House” in your neighborhood when you were growing up?
Ciera: I didn’t! I lived in apartments for most of my life, so houses in general have always held a fascination for me in terms of how big they tend to be, especially when there are basements and attics. It’s always felt like they’re capable of holding so many secrets. There was a neighborhood nearby that, while not filled with haunted houses, was full of Victorian houses. I thought they were the most beautiful buildings I’d ever seen and every time we’d drive past them, I’d try and come up with a new story either about the house itself or the family I imagined lived inside it. It was usually witches, but I blame that on my childhood (and adult!) obsession with the TV show Charmed.
Anne: Love it! I’m with you on how beautiful Victorians are, but do they have feelings? About Finch House, you wrote, “Nobody liked being forgotten. Maybe not even old houses…” You made me wonder if houses could feel lonely when empty, or angry when the residents change. When you set out to write Finch House, did you know the story would touch on loneliness and anger, and on how hard change can be? Or did these emotions emerge along the way? Tell us a bit about your writing process.
Ciera: There are usually a few themes or emotions that I know I want to convey when I start writing, and for Finch House, it was the idea of loneliness. Micah’s an only child living with two adults and preparing to move away from one of them, so I knew she’d be drawn to this (previously) abandoned house that she saw as ‘lonely’ too.
I also tend to draw on real life things, whether my own experiences or something I’ve seen or read. When I started writing Finch House, we were still mid-pandemic and I’d just gotten my own apartment after having four roommates. As much as I enjoy my alone time, I had never lived alone before and it was a strange, new change that I was adapting to—a change that ended up seeping into the book and taking on a life of its own.
Usually, though, emotions tend to emerge as I write, based on what the character wants or what might be happening to or around them. I surprise myself most of the time!
Anne: Surprises like that make the writing process rewarding!
Now here’s a line I paused on: “…think of all the different people one person could be.” Right. Take me, for instance: I’m a daughter, granddaughter, niece, mom, sister, aunt, wife, writer, interviewer, and more. My role changes all the time. This story is super thoughtful! When you sit down to write fiction, where do you get your ideas?
Ciera: Thank you! Yes, the many identities that people have has always fascinated me, and that’s usually where I get my ideas from—the things that fascinate me. Or confuse me or scare me or just plain make me happy. There’s so much out there in the world that, when you look into it even a little, has so much storytelling potential.
I also have a lot of great, funny, wonderfully strange friends and family members who will say something that sparks an idea and the next thing I know, I’m jotting down ideas on my phone as quickly as I can.
Anne: I wish it were already October because your book gives off a fun Halloween vibe. What about you and Halloween? Do you like spooky costumes? What’s the best Halloween costume you ever wore?
Ciera: I love the fall! And I do like Halloween but I’m actually not a huge spooky costume person. I’m, perhaps surprisingly, easily frightened. I love good special-effects makeup and attention to detail, though. Realistic fake fangs or scary contact lenses are the epitome of cool to me. I think the best Halloween costume I’ve ever worn was when I was Glinda the Good Witch, mostly because I remember really enjoying how fluffy the skirt was.
Anne: On your website, CieraBurch.com, I see that you have a YA novel coming out next year. Do you plan to write more MG novels? What are you working on now?
Ciera: I do. I love writing and I plan to write for just about any age and genre that I can! Right now I’m working on a middle grade that features my home state’s most famous cryptid and a summer camp deep in the Pine Barrens.
Anne: Your bio says you’re an ice cream aficionado, so we can’t end this interview until you tell us what flavor you like best!
Ciera: Oh, gosh! Besides some new and exciting flavors that I haven’t had the pleasure to taste yet, mint chocolate chip is my true blue favorite. The mint! The chocolate! Perfect combination.
Anne: Oh, yes! Perfect. Yum.
Okay, let’s wrap up with your social media links. Where can readers go to learn more about you and your work?
Ciera: In addition to my website, they can find me on Instagram at @cierasburch. A picture’s worth a thousand words, after all.
Anne: Thank you so much for stopping by MG Book Village and writing this spooky-fun and thought-provoking story!
Ciera: Thanks so much for having me!
Ciera Burch is is a lifelong writer and ice cream aficionado. She has a BA from American University and an MFA from Emerson College. Her fiction has appeared in The American Literary Magazine, Underground, Five Points, Stork, and Blackbird. Her work was also chosen as the 2019 One City One Story read for the Boston Book Festival. While she is originally from New Jersey, she currently resides in Washington, DC, with her stuffed animals, plants, and far too many books. Visit Ciera at CieraBurch.com.
Anne (A.B.) Westrick is the author of the older-MG novel Brotherhood. You can learn more about Anne at the MG Book Village “About” page.
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