Breakfield and Burkey Bring Technothrillers to Life With Innovation and Passion

Breakfield and Burkey: The visionary authors behind The Enigma Series, inspiring readers with their brilliant fusion of technology and storytelling. Photo by Ashlee Bratton

The Minds Behind Technological Suspense

Breakfield and Burkey skilfully blend technology, suspense, humour, and romance, creating technothrillers that are authentic, imaginative, and immersive. Their collaborative process and vibrant characters captivate readers and redefine the genre.

Breakfield and Burkey, celebrated for their masterful technothrillers, have carved a unique niche in contemporary fiction with their dynamic storytelling and a kaleidoscope of themes that blend technology, romance, suspense, and humour. Their collaborative genius shines through in their ability to take cutting-edge concepts such as blockchain, digital security, and artificial intelligence and embed them seamlessly into breathtaking narratives. These are not simply authors of fiction; they are modern-day chroniclers of our technological evolution, crafting gripping tales that resonate with authenticity and creativity.

Their flagship series, centred around the enigmatic R-Group and its offshoot, the Cyber Assassins Technology Services (CATS) team, is a testament to their depth of imagination and versatility. Breaking traditional genre barriers, Breakfield and Burkey weave their own multicultural experiences and global travels into richly detailed settings, creating a literary universe that feels startlingly real. It’s no surprise that their works are often hailed as ripe for adaptation, with fans eagerly envisioning their stories on television screens or as major motion pictures.

As a duo, their synergy is nothing short of remarkable. Employing a unique “Literary ping-pong” collaboration style, they craft intricately plotted stories through a blend of structured planning and spontaneous ingenuity. Their shared passion is evident in their unwavering dedication to character continuity, nuanced emotional arcs, and their ability to deliver moments of levity amid high-octane action. It’s this balance that draws readers into their meticulously crafted world while ensuring every narrative remains relatable and compelling.

It is an honour for Reader’s House to feature an intimate interview with Breakfield and Burkey in this issue. Their journey from non-fiction authors to pioneers of technothrillers is both inspiring and fascinating. With a kaleidoscope of captivating stories to their name and a steadfast commitment to their craft, they continue to redefine what it means to be storytellers in the digital age. Whether you’re a long-time admirer of their work or a newcomer to their series, this conversation promises to provide insight into the minds and methods behind some of the most intriguing literature of our time.

What inspired you to delve into technothrillers and incorporate themes like digital security and blockchain in your stories? 

“We can kill annoying characters and not go to jail.” – Breakfield and Burkey

The adage of writing what you know is certainly in full flight with Breakfield & Burkey. We are long-time techno-geeks who have worked for technology manufacturers in technical consulting and security roles. After doing several technical articles and two non-fiction books, Burkey showed up one day using the four most terrifying words in her vocabulary: I have an idea. She postulated we might have a winning combination if we wrote fictional thrillers with real technology baked inside. Breakfield ultimately agreed when she added, “Just think, we can kill annoying characters and not go to jail.”

How do your diverse personal experiences, such as military upbringing and multicultural exposure, influence your character development and storytelling? 

Our business travel has taken us to most parts of the globe. We worked with people across industries to solve technology situations. It allows us to draw on real-time experiences. We admit that our characters have bits of Breakfield & Burkey attributes, yet we use people who have crossed our paths to create heroes and villains in our books, aka cyber heroes and cyber criminals. Two examples would include Breakfield having tangled with a drug dealer and a bank robber who wanted investment advice. These guys make an appearance in book two, The Enigma Rising.

“We track over 150 characters electronically to ensure continuity and authenticity across our series.” – Breakfield and Burkey

Can you share the process of how you both collaborate to build such intricate plots? 

We often begin story framing while sipping our favorite adult beverages. After roughing out roughly ten chapters, we decide which ones to tackle. As each chapter is completed, we employ our patent pending writing technique, Literary ping-pong. The process involves sending finishing chapters back and forth for the other for review, editing, and/or polishing. This may go on for several iterations, or it might be once and done when we’re hot. Sometimes, one of us wakes up in the morning and writes furiously a chapter or event that we dreamt about. Daily chats occur on evolving stories in real time on Zoom conference calls or at Burkey’s house.

With the Enigma Series spanning multiple books and formats, how do you maintain continuity and adapt to evolving reader preferences? 

We electronically track our stories, characters, research, and plots in a spreadsheet. With a character universe that exceeds 150 characters, we need to readily pull information when a character returns in a subsequent story. Consistency in individual personas, names, and characteristics is essential, as we found out once with a reader who alerted us to a discrepancy.  Our voice of the series, Derek Shoales, also keeps audio snippets of the cast to ensure he provides the same voice and style when a character returns.

How do your travels and real-world knowledge of locations enhance the authenticity of your settings? 

Breakfield and Burkey feel strongly about crafting fictional stories that feel authentic, realistic, and relatable. The locations we use in the stories are based upon at least one of our experiences. A restaurant, hotel, roadway, and more are pulled from our travel memories, which we tend to journal in photos. A famous author once stated that the difference between fiction and nonfiction was that fiction has to make sense. We take this sentiment seriously, believing it helps our story’s credibility and increases readers’ enjoyment.

What techniques do you use to balance elements like humour, romance, and suspense in your novels? 

This is a great question. For us, storytelling is always about multiple emotions sloshing back and forth while the drama is unfolding. We often use humor to reduce a character’s angst while ramping up the suspense. Romance or relationships are part of life. Our three-dimensional players have emotions that illustrate their strengths and weaknesses. Balancing these elements makes them more realistic and relatable. Our fans agree.

How do you engage with new authors during interviews, and what advice do you offer them? 

We enjoy meeting and speaking with new authors anytime. We ask how they perceive the universe and what they’re passionate about. Burkey enjoys doing author interviews and asks open-ended questions that spark responses. Advice depends on the direction of the conversation. We suggest networking with other authors for marketing ideas. New authors can get frustrated, so we encourage them to write every day or jot down notes of what they want to write next.

What guidance would you offer to other authors looking to create compelling technothrillers or co-author a series?

When we started writing technothrillers, the category did not exist. We badgered folks, particularly book competitions, to create that category. We even registered the hashtag. If you don’t ask, the answer won’t change. An author who wants to write in this category has homework regarding technology to focus on for the story. There are enough technology threats to keep the genre terrifyingly real. We have read some titles classified as technothrillers that are more Sci-Fi.

If you plan to write with a co-author, ensure your personalities are compatible for the long haul. Have a mechanism for resolving disagreements amicably. Breakfield and Burkey use a tried-and-true method to fix our writing disagreements with a quick best three out of five rounds of rock, paper, scissors. Regrettably, Breakfield admits he has never won at a single challenge.