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Robert Burns lives a quiet life with his wife and beagle, Oliver in Sacramento, California where he was born and raised.
When not writing, he enjoys Sacramento Kings basketball, going to the movies, biking the American River trail, and watching just about anything on television.
First impressions are everything, and your cover and title make a fantastic one! What was the creative process behind pulling it all together?
Thank you! I have been pleasantly surprised by the cover feedback. When my cover designer, who I found on Fiverr, told me it was the best cover he had done in months, I dismissed it thinking “he probably tells all his clients that.” This guy uses adobe stock photos to create his covers and sent me a link to look for photos that resonated with me. As soon as I found the photo of the woman that’s now on the cover of my novel, I immediately recognized her as Rachel Drucker. There was no doubt in my mind I was staring at the woman who I had spent over a year writing her story. After finding her, the rest came together quite easily!
2. How did Walking on Thin Ice evolve? Did you start with a general concept, or did you have the story mapped out prior to writing the novel?
All I started with was the concept of lucid dreaming, how I wanted the mystery to be solved, and our crucial final confrontation scene with the villain. I had no idea who the villain would be, what exactly they did, and how it would go. Just those few ideas were too intriguing for me to pass up writing what I considered a unique take on a classic murder mystery novel.
Rachel is an interesting character! Over the course of the novel, I felt such a range of emotions toward her: sympathy, curiosity, disbelief, frustration, and admiration, just to name a few. I feel like you did an excellent job of manipulating my thoughts and emotions about her. What was your goal with Rachel?
My main goal with Rachel was to make her flawed just like the rest of us. She wants to do well and has a strong sense of right and wrong, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t without her faults. Faults that lead to her getting in her own way both professionally and personally. To me she is a mixture of the tenacity and brains of Carrie Mathison from Homeland, with the spunk and green-eyed optimism of Judy Hopps from Zootopia.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that included information about lucid dreaming. What led you to weave that into Walking on Thin Ice?
I have always loved stories that challenge our perception and make us think twice about things we accept as fact. As Westworld would ask, “Do you ever question the nature of your reality?” It’s part of the reason I’m a big sci-fi geek because those are exactly the type of novels that often challenge everything you know about the “normal” world we live in. Some of my favorite TV shows such as The OA, The Leftovers, and Black Mirror all do the same thing. They make you question what is real and then let you explore a new world that’s not bound to the same rules that we all take for granted. It’s something I wanted to just barely scratch the surface of via lucid dreaming in this novel.
In my review, I mentioned the ending of the book and how I felt that people could align with the ending that made the most sense to them. Did you intentionally set out to do this or was this just the way story developed?
Yes, that was intentional. And I whole heartedly approve of your answer of both! I love books/stories that leave things a little ambiguous. In my opinion, those are the ones you think about forever. Where Leo is at the end of Inception still haunts me to this day! In all seriousness, I didn’t set out to make a supernatural or paranormal story. It doesn’t matter who she’s talking to. I think by the end both her, and her father, have accepted that fact. The conversations are beneficial and nothing else matters. What is actually happening, now that is up to the reader. 😊
Do you anticipate this being a stand-alone book or a series?
That’s such a tough question! What do you think I should do?? I feel very easily swayable with this question right now. I could certainly see Rachel solving more crimes, but I want to make sure to do her and the original novel justice. I am currently writing a Ted Drucker prequel that I am very excited about. As far as Rachel stories, I have some rattling about in my head, but I think even I won’t know if they are of high enough caliber for a series until I write them.
I am inspired by John Grisham, Iain Banks, and Dan Brown. While there are plenty of justifiable critiques to be found with both Grisham and Brown, they both write such fun quick read stories which is really all I want to accomplish. I don’t want readers to spend months critically analyzing Walking on Thin Ice. Ideally, it’s captivating and quick enough of a read to only take a few sessions providing the reader a couple hours of fun escapism and nothing more.
I’m always curious about how someone “becomes” an author. Can you share your writing journey with us?
I have constantly been writing. I wrote my first “full-length” novel, a thirty-page short story about penguins, in second grade. In seventh grade, my English teacher liked a story I wrote enough to help me submit it for publication, which never happened (pesky agents), but my love of writing fiction was clearly strong. During college, laborious years of writing and reading to obtain a political science degree minoring in history, I lost my love of both reading and writing which wasn’t reignited until the pandemic. Suddenly I had a lot more time at home and enough time had passed from college that I felt confident writing again! In the past 2.5 years my writing and reading has picked up dramatically. I am so happy that I have once again found this hobby I enjoy so much.
What advice do you have for other indie authors?
Keep writing! Finished your book? Just go ahead and publish! Certainly not without faults, but the Amazon system and it’s whole kindle KDP machine makes it is easier than ever to self-publish. I certainly understand why some wait for an agent and the support traditional publishing brings, but for those of you waiting for perfection before publishing, just publish already! Here is the push you’ve been waiting for. It wasn’t an easy decision for me, but as I discuss in my guest post, I don’t regret it at all.
What is the one question I didn’t ask that you wish I had?
I wish you asked about Sacramento! Sacramento plays a big role in this novel. We never leave the city, unless you count the suburbs, and I do my best to stay true to the city I call home with most of the places being real and putting big scenes in classic Sacramento spots. My favorite being the big scene in beautiful Capitol Park that is a must visit! This book is at least partially an ode to the city I grew up in and may never leave (besides the occasional well-deserved vacation). Kidnapping aside, Sacramento is worth a visit! If anyone wants a Walking on Thin Ice walking tour of Sacramento, I would be honored to make one.
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