L.D. Burke is an award-winning journalist and speculative fiction writer. She fell in love with fantasy stories as a child while sitting on her grandfather’s lap for story time, and again as a teen reading fantasy romance novels with her grandmother. She’s still a sucker for a good romance, especially as a strong subplot.
At age nine, she decided she wanted to be a novelist. Her elementary school participated in a young authors program where students created their own hardback books.
Those bright white pages beckoned, and while the assignments only required one book, she often wrote two or three.
As she got older, well-meaning adults questioned if she’d be able to make a living as a novelist. Determined to make a career from writing, she explored print journalism and enjoyed a decade-long career as a reporter in the newspaper industry. Through that, she experienced first-hand the power of stories to shape communities and empower people. She continues that work through her fiction.
She loved her journalism career and won a handful of awards, but her dream of writing fiction never stopped calling. In 2023, she made the jump from journalism to fiction. She published her debut fantasy short story in 2024 and has won local awards for her short fiction. Her fantasy novel series, The Heirs Saga, is in planning.
When she’s not disappearing into the fantastical worlds of good stories, you can find her hiking the trails and kayaking the waterways of Southern Indiana (or anywhere else she can travel). She believes we empower ourselves through new experiences and is always looking for her next adventure.
Community Is Key
L.D. Burke has been fortunate to find fantastic writing mentors and colleagues who have helped her on her journey. If you’re looking for a writing community, she invites you to join her and other talented writers in these groups:
David Farland’s Apex Writers Group
Midwest Writers Guild – Evansville, Indiana
Wulf Moon’s Wulf Pack Writers Group – Wulf Moon offers a free newsletter brimming with the best advice on writing craft and actionable encouragement at The Super Secrets of Writing, as well as a free level for his Patreon.