I’m thrilled to have author Erica Lee Berquist here to celebrate the release of her first novel, The Servant. I’ve followed Erica’s writing career for years, as she has published her short stories in numerous literary magazines. I recommend you follow her blog: https://ericaleeberquistauthor.wordpress.com/. 

It’s been fun watching Erica on her journey to publication. 

Here’s a blurb from Amazon:
“In a society where the soulless are condemned to lifelong servitude, 20-year-old Ellie has resigned herself to her fate as a servant on the Doolittle estate. Deemed incapable of love or emotion, Ellie suppresses her feelings and any hope for a future beyond the estate’s walls. But everything changes when she uncovers a startling secret about her past—her mother’s true identity—and learns of her own royal lineage as the last heir to the throne. Forced to flee after an armed invasion, Ellie embarks on a perilous journey to the palace, where she discovers the true extent of her family’s dark history. The power of the Grail, an ancient relic capable of stealing and restoring souls, becomes central to her fight against a corrupt system that exploits the soulless for control and power. Alongside Harrison, an unlikely ally who helps her discover emotions she was taught she couldn’t feel, Ellie navigates a country in turmoil, as the fate of countless lives rests on her shoulders. A girl who was raised feeling trapped in a system might just find that she has the power to bring the entire thing down.” 

Interview with Erica Lee Berquist:

GSA: Hi Erica! Thanks so much for joining us. You’ve written a novel! How long have you wanted to bring these characters and this story to life?

ELB: Thanks for having me! I’m excited to be interviewed as an author. I first had the idea for this book back in December of 2021. I was talking to a dear friend about how I sometimes process my emotions during stressful times. If something bad happened to me, I might confide in my friend that I didn’t know how I was feeling in that moment; I would know how I felt tomorrow or the day after, once I had sorted through those emotions. My friend told me that I must know how I felt in that moment—I was distancing myself from my emotions. That made me realize I was, but I also started to think about a girl. Ellie. What if there was a girl who lived in a world where there are people who have emotions, and a second class of citizens who do not. And what if this girl was raised believing she had no emotions, but on the very worst day of her life, she learns that she does. How would she navigate the world? How would she come to accept her emotions?

GSA: That sounds like an exciting story premise. Have you always wanted to be a writer, ever since you were a child? 

ELB: Not exactly. While I drew picture books about cats as a toddler, I was one of those kids who had a different dream every week: a veterinarian, an entomologist, a paleontologist. By the time I was 16 though, I had discovered a love of reading—Jim Butcher, Rob Thurman, Kevin Hearne, and Charlaine Harris—books that mixed mythology with the modern world. They brought me so much joy, and eventually I wanted to give back some of that happiness to the world with my own words. I had only written short stories before, but now I was determined to write a novel of my own which I worked on for the next two years. That first book I wrote as a teenager no longer exists, as it perished in a computer crash, but I learned so much while working on it. Like, the importance of backing up files, writing about what I know, and that I really, really loved writing. I had found my calling. I wanted to be a novelist.  

GSA: You’ve dedicated your debut novel to your family. Is there anyone in particular you were thinking about when you wrote that word? 

ELB: Not one person but more like everyone in my life. When I first started writing, my grandmother was my biggest supporter. She wanted to read whatever I wrote, so I decided when I was finally published that I would dedicate a book to her. Since then, so many other people have supported my work—my mother, who always helps me come up with character names, my aunts who’ve had kind words about my publications, my father who always asks what I’m working on, my sister who also writes and understands me, and my friends who let me bounce ideas off them. This dedication is for all of them. 

GSA: I know from reading your stories that you are very detail-oriented. What research went into writing this book? 

ELB: The research was the most fun aspect of this book. As my book takes place in an alternative timeline, I got to think about ways that the present would be different if the other side won the War of the Roses—what dukedoms would exist—and if the Revolutionary War was won by the British. I researched where George Washington’s statue stands in Baltimore, so that I could replace it with a statue of Benedict Arnold in my novel. The street layout is true to Baltimore, as I used Google Maps to research how long it would take to walk from place to place in the city. I also extensively researched the White House, so that I could describe it in detail; the bedroom that my main character stays in is based on the Lincoln bedroom (though of course Lincoln was never president in this timeline). A detail I am proudest of [in] my research is the chapter in which my main character bakes a pie. I looked up my great grandmother’s apple pie recipe, and I had my character follow the steps she described. It’s just a little detail that makes me happy. 

GSA: You strike me as someone who reads a lot. What are you currently reading?

ELB: I have been reading my way through as many Lisa See books as I can get my hands on. Currently, I am reading Island of Sea Women. I feel like I’m learning a lot about writing through her books, which are concisely written. Lisa See’s novels explore the bonds between women, and what is truly remarkable about her novels is that these relationships are explored over the course of decades, as her novels span the entire lifetime that these women share, through the ups and downs of their friendships, usually from their first meeting to their last. It is this trait that is truly immersive about See’s novels. We get not just a window into the lives of her characters, but we get to see their whole lives. Every single one of her books is an incredible experience.

GSA: Are there any other authors who inspire you? Who do you recommend aspiring authors read? 

ELB: Stephen King for sure. Anyone who wants to learn how to write horror should read King, as he writes about things that are truly terrifying. While most horror writers pen stories about zombies, vampires, and werewolves—which honestly, I love—these things don’t scare us in the same way that King’s work does, as he taps into childhood fears. All of us were scared of clowns as children. All of us feared that we’d get sucked into the drain by the gutter, or that something scary was lurking in the basement in the shadows. His novels remind us of these things that scared us as children, and in this way King truly horrifies us. 

GSA: For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paperback/hardback books?

ELB: I love books in all their forms. While ebooks make up the smallest portion of my collection, I appreciate their affordability and how readily available they are on a device. My paperbacks take a bit of a beating, as I’m one to dog ear pages and crease their spines, but this wear on them makes me smile as they look not worn but loved to me. My hardback books, as they are the most expensive, take up the smallest portion of my collection, but are usually reserved for my absolute favorites that I want nice copies of to display on my bookshelves. Yet, for my own reading, my favorite way to enjoy books currently is by listening to audiobooks. There is something special about listening to a book as a performance read by a narrator and being able to multitask while doing so. It is the best way to experience books in our modern, busy world, and if I really love a book, I will buy it as paperback or hardcover afterward to keep a physical copy. My love of audiobooks is why I worked so hard to produce my own book in audio format, so that my book exists in my favorite format for others to enjoy. 

GSA: What is your writing process like? Outline or no outline? 

ELB: I use outlines very loosely. I’ll plan out chapters in advance, jotting down points I want to include, but I don’t usually write a complete outline. In books I’ve attempted to write in the past, I’ve found that a thorough outline has diminished my enthusiasm for a book. The joy in writing a book is in solving a mystery in a way—how will all of the loose threads get wrapped up in the end?—yet if I outline the end of the book, this mystery has been solved before I start writing the story, so it feels pointless for me to continue. There is no joy in writing an outlined novel. I almost always avoid thinking about the ending of a novel for this reason, until I’m far into the manuscript. I say “almost” because The Servant is different. I was only about a third of the way into writing the book when I wrote the very last scene. While I was nervous I’d lose my motivation to finish it, I found that there was still plenty of mystery to keep my interest. I might’ve known where my character was going to end up, but I still had to write the story that would bring her to that place. 

GSA: Losing motivation to write an outlined story sounds like a form of writer’s block. Do you have any advice for people with writer’s block? 

ELB: That’s a hard question because there is no one answer that works for everyone suffering from writer’s block. All I can say is that I understand it, as I’ve been there, and I can share what got me through it. I had writer’s block for about 5 years, around when I was in college. I had a bad experience trying to publish my first book that demoralized me, and I had to take time to reevaluate my view of the publishing industry and why I wanted to get published in the first place. I didn’t like viewing my books as commercial products—I wanted to write to entertain people. When I returned to writing finally, it was on a website where I posted my work online and received comments from readers; this direct connection with the public reminded me why I wanted to be a writer, and it helped me to rediscover joy in the craft. To people who are struggling with writer’s block, if you are demoralized from constant rejection letters, I’d suggest taking a break from writing for the publishing industry. Post your work online where you can get comments from your readers. Maybe try to get a short story published first instead of a novel. Also check out fun websites like 4thewords that turn writing into a game; it got me into the mindset of writing every day, as to keep a streak on the website you must write 444 words daily. If you can manage to write 1k or even just a few hundred words a day, then that is progress. Keep moving forward, and eventually you will have a completed novel.  

GSA: What can we look forward to seeing from you next? Do you have another book planned? 

ELB: I do have another book planned. That’s not to say I have another book planned in the trope of a writer with several works in progress going on at the same time, but rather that I feel very fortunate that inspiration struck me several times in a row. I have two other books I’m working on right now. I’m not sure which I’ll finish first, and I don’t want to give too many details away, but I will say that they both have required a lot of research on historical characters, particularly the Tudor era. Please keep an eye out for my name. I don’t know when I’ll be published again and in what form, but I love writing too much to ever stop, and I’ll keep sending my words out into the world. 

GSA: Erica, it’s been an absolute pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for sharing your time, your thoughts, and a little glimpse behind the scenes at your writing process. 

ELB: Thanks, I appreciate that and your time as well. It’s always good to talk with someone who cares about the craft. Please keep an eye out on my website where I’ll be posting updates about my writing (https://ericaleeberquistauthor.wordpress.com). 

Erica Lee Berquist can be contacted at ericaleeberquist.author@gmail.com

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Grace S. Allan is a musician, composer, and writer from South Africa. She is a graduate of the University of Pretoria, and her compositions have been featured by Non-Zero Recordings. She wrote a book review that will be published by MetaStellar Magazine on 26 July. While she is new to interviewing authors, she is an avid and life-long reader.