Client Profile: Authors, Gloria Burke and Katherine Burk

Children's authors Gloria Burke and Katherine Burk are a mother-daughter writing team who have recently begun winning over the Northwest with Finding Mr. Ness, the premier book of their Tilania Travelers Series.


The Authors.

Like the characters in their book, Finding Mr. Ness, Katherine Burk and Gloria Burke have embarked on an exciting journey together. What began as a way for mother and daughter to connect despite the miles between them has turned into a successful cooperative writing practice, and it’s only just begun.

Katherine spent several years in the political arena and the cellular telecommunications industry before taking on a new career direction: raising a growing family. Now she’s active in her Pacific Northwest community, contributing time and energy to her children’s schools, extracurricular activities and other charitable organizations. Writing and illustration are Katherine’s way of passing on some of the magic of her childhood to her own children.

Gloria has always been involved with child development. A mother and a grandmother, she’s also a recently retired Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, and was the Medical Director at a charitable therapeutic nursery school. She’s been actively engaged with writing in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 20 years. Co-writing books with her daughter Katherine is a natural extension of her love for family, children and creative expression.

Finding Mr. Ness is Katherine and Gloria’s first publication together. With over 800 miles between them the process is sometimes challenging, but always rewarding. They are currently writing the next book in The Tilania Travelers Series, The Scrolls of Tilania.

The First Book.

Finding Mr. Ness is the first book in the Tilania Traveler Series, a series of chapter books written for children ages 7-10. The book is a winning combination of excitement and adventure that will capture children’s attention and keep them planted in their chairs, fully entertained. It’s full of captivating places like the Reflective Reef, Nessen and the Isle of Hearts, scientific devices like puncture-proof wetsuits and weather machines, and not-quite-familiar creatures like Kalya who’s “a cross between a sea turtle and a crab.” (Page 44) Reminiscent of other memorable stories, Finding Mr. Ness transports the reader to another world that seems unreal yet almost possible.

The Storyline.

Clayton and Annie are best friends whose curiosity about an old microscope, a postage stamp, and an eccentric scientist named Mr. Ness soon leads them on a journey into the strange land of Tilania. Once there they are swept into a desperate attempt to save a doomed civilization. Their race against time depends on the completion of Mr. Ness' powerful invention and the destruction of his archenemy.