Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Monday, November 13, 2017

Inside Look #43 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Jake Burt

(Author of Greetings from Witness Protection)

*This was a new feature I added to the blog during the summer of 2016.  It was a shot in the dark that it would work, but much to my surprise; it took off and over first season I conducted 22 interviews with a variety of authors.  



*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*I ran a series of interviews for Season #TWO over the summer of 2017.  It was great to get back to these conversations, that I decided to run Season #THREE during the 2017/2018 school year.  

*Thank you to Jake Burt for being the TENTH author of the third season.  I truly appreciate it.  


*Here are links to the first FORTY-TWO interviews…


SEASON #ONE






*I recently received this novel from my #bookexpedition Twitter group.  With the start up of the school year, my reading time was greatly reduced.  Once I started this book, I made sure to find time to read because I enjoyed the story so much.  

*Jake was kind, gracious, and giving with his answers to the questions.  It is an honor to post his responses with my "Inside Look" feature.   

*Here is a link to my review of Greetings from Witness Protection



*Thank you Jake for writing this story for readers and taking the time to share your thoughts with us here on the blog...
Greetings from Witness Protection
by Jake Burt (Released October 3, 2107)


How did you come to know Nicki?  

It might seem strange, but through conversations. Yes, I made her up, but I think a great many authors would agree that the process of creating a character is not unlike the way we learn about any new people in our lives - we ask them questions, we observe them, and we listen to their stories. Perhaps that’s just the most comfortable way I can describe the process without getting too metacognitive, but I find it apt. I’m just lucky Nicki chose me to tell her story for her.



What do you think is Nicki's most admirable quality?

Self-confidence. She has a hard time trusting those around her, particularly the adults in her life. She gets defensive quickly, and she shields herself in myriad ways. However, because she’s had to find some rock, some consistent thing in her life, she’s settled upon herself. Yes, that confidence gets her into trouble, but it’s also the one thing that’s bailed her out, over and over again. I’d like to think it’s a major reason WITSEC chose her for the job.



 Is there anything you wish Nicki would have changed or done differently in her story?

Not a thing. If she had done something differently, then it wouldn’t be her story. It wouldn’t be THIS story, and it’s the one I desperately wanted to tell. That’s not to say the book didn’t undergo revisions along the way - it surely did, and I’m immensely grateful for the insight that my agent, editor, and second readers provided. But I view the passages that were adjusted and the chapters that were added as clarifications to Nicki’s story, rather than changes to her fundamental journey.



What do you think Nicki can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?

I’d like to hope that she offers kids a sense of their own efficacy - yes, circumstances may swirl around you, life may be agonizingly unfair, but ultimately, you get to decide what is normal. You get to decide what is safe. And you get to decide who you define as family, whether they’re blood or not.



How did you research Nicki and the circumstances she found himself in?

The bulk of my research went into the experiences of children in foster care; of all the elements of her story, that was the one I felt most passionately about getting right. I interviewed people, observed students of mine that I knew had been adopted or had gone through the foster care system, and I read every primary source I could find on what that experience was like. I did similar research on what it was like to have kleptomania. It was important to me that it not be a joke, as I’ve frequently heard. For Nicki, it is a serious development of the difficulties of her childhood, a difficult but natural extension of her unique circumstances.

Researching other aspects of her story proved to be equally frustrating and fun. As one might expect, there’s terribly little to go on as far as the inner workings of WITSEC (if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way). I was only able to get at what’s broadly available there - the rest I had to fashion to fit where I saw Nicki going. As for her pickpocketing, I watched hours upon hours of YouTube videos of pickpockets at work. My favorites star the aptly-monikered Apollo Robbins; it was from his neurological explanation of pickpocketing techniques that I drew inspiration for Nicki’s approach to her science of subterfuge.



Do you and Nicki share any similarities?  

Probably more than I realize, but for starters, we share a passion for literature, and her favorites list is basically my not-so-subtle way of paying homage to the books that have inspired me. I most certainly also share her desire to belong, to be known, and to feel like I fit.

Oh, and her favorite color is mine as well.



What was the hardest scene to write about Nicki?

I can’t go into too much detail without dropping major spoilers, but I’ll simply say, “What Gives,” and leave it at that.



Who do you think was Nicki's biggest supporter and why?

The obvious answers are either Harriet or Brit, but if we’re being honest and reading between the lines, it’s Janice. There’s a reason Nicki latches on to her despite her outward surliness, like after all her other experiences, Nicki’s able to zone in on the adults who actually care, whether they show it or not. As for why, I’d like to think it’s because Janice saw in Nicki something of a kindred spirit (whether she’d ever admit it or not), and Nicki can be obnoxiously endearing when she wants to.



Where do you think foster children’s resiliency comes from; much like Nicki’s?  

I’d hesitate to ever lump children’s foster care experiences together to try and categorize them; if there’s one thing I learned, it’s that the range of experiences and kids’ reactions to them are as diverse as the children themselves. If there is a source of resiliency in some of their foster experiences, I think it’d come from within the kids themselves - many have fortitude that puts the average adult to shame.



What do you think Nicki is doing as this present time?  

To answer would reveal whether or not she survived her experiences in North Carolina, and I’m fairly certain Janice would have my neck if I gave that information up. Or she’d taser me. Maybe both.
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