We spent time developing the story through our standard back-and-forth process, refining the characters, crafting each chapter, and ensuring a cohesive voice throughout.
Breakfield and Burkey – 23 August 2025
The Back Flap
In the tranquil setting of their Magnolia Bluff home, JJ and Jo sought refuge from their demanding lives—Jo craving the escape from her fans and JJ eager to deepen their emotional connection. However, their serene retreat becomes threatened by a storm of secrets and imminent danger.
JJ receives an urgent call from his longtime friend, Mike Hayes, a high-ranking military official, imploring him to tackle a critical part of a top-secret project developing next-generation stealth technology. Mike struggles with relationship turmoil and encroaching health issues, negatively impacting the delivery date for the solution. The project spirals out of control, culminating in the hospitalization of a key team member under mysterious circumstances. To make matters worse, the stealth technology vanished, attracting the attention of federal authorities and local police led by the relentless Chief Tommy Jager.
Amidst this turmoil, Jo embarks on her investigation into the secrets surrounding Mike’s wife, Ashley. The emotional gamut ranges from anger to heartbreak and hidden lies that threaten their friendship. With danger closing in, JJ and Jo must navigate this web of deception and intrigue, unraveling lies that could change their lives forever. Can they piece together the crucial clues in time to save their friends and avert a national disaster? ‘The Flight Enigma’ captivates with its blend of suspense and mystery, where the threads of loyalty and betrayal intertwine, and the urgency for truth grows ever more pressing.
About the book
What is the book about?
In The Flight Enigma, hackers target top-secret stealth technology, key friends are hospitalized, and no one knows who’s to blame. JJ and Jo must navigate a web of deception to clear their friend’s name and expose the truth, thereby averting a national crisis.
When did you start writing the book?
In August 2024, Breakfield and Burkey crafted the outline for the story.
How long did it take you to write it?
We dedicated six months of daily writing to evolve this mystery with a technology thriller edge. We spent time developing the story through our standard back-and-forth process, refining the characters, crafting each chapter, and ensuring a cohesive voice throughout.
Where did you get the idea from?
Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor, has a plant in Fort Worth, Texas, which is home to the F-35 jet fighter. Magnolia Bluff is within a reasonable distance of that location. Breakfield keeps tabs on next-generation fighter aircraft capabilities. He took a couple of ideas to Burkey to weave the two locations together, introducing new characters. The rest is history.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
We love to tell engaging stories. Our challenge is often to keep the technology in the background, in an active state, to keep readers engaged, not asleep. There is no shortage of bad guys in this world. We strive to integrate them into the story at the correct time, adding additional suspense, which is crucial for a good mystery.
What came easily?
Our three previous seasons participating in the Magnolia Bluff series provided three solid characters to use, making fans feel like they are seeing friends again. We are technologists by profession, so baking the stealth technology and the theft drama made it exciting to us.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Yes. We are good at borrowing traits and characteristics from people we know and have met. Embodying fundamental qualities from those who have crossed our path enables us to breathe life into fictional characters, making them more realistic.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
Burkey loves J.R.R. Tolkien. Breakfield is a fan of Kevin J. Anderson. We enjoy their storytelling abilities and are inspired by the quality of their writing.
Do you have a target reader?
The Flight Enigma is a cozy mystery with thriller and suspense themes running throughout. Young adults are our target market. We find even more mature adults enjoy a fast-paced mystery with gobs of international intrigue.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
We begin with our trusty spreadsheet and map out ten to twenty chapters of our stories. Then we use our patent-pending writing technique called Literary Ping-pong, where we bat chapters and character attributes back and forth to evolve the story.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
Yes, we begin with an outline framework. No story we have done EVER adhered to the draft of the outline. The outline is a companion to the manuscript, but each story evolves as the narrative unfolds and the characters reveal their intentions. The characters can be so insistent, often annoyingly so.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
We edit and evaluate along the way. Chapter 20 is our typical target for story direction before we receive input from our first-line editor for comments and recommendations. We continually edit and polish the manuscript.
Did you hire a professional editor?
We use multiple professional editors for form and genre reviews. By the time we complete our final read, we are ready to send the property to our interior and cover graphical designer. After working on a manuscript for six months or more, we find that multiple reviews are necessary because when we are too close, we miss some things. Beta readers are also key.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
We typically write best with no distractions. Music tends to be a distraction, unless it’s Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, or Cody Johnson.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
We handle writing, marketing, promotion, and attend podcasts as guests. We have periodically sought an agent, especially for our screenplay, Out of Poland, but have not yet found success there. Today, we are the agents.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Auerbach was our first publisher, but they only do non-fiction. We tired of writing non-fiction, what is equivalent to tech manuals, and wanted to create technothrillers. Auerbach declined a desire to publish fiction. Thus, we decided to have our own publishing company since 2012.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
All our covers are done by Rebecca Finkel our graphics design guru. Her company F + P Graphic Design (FPGD.com), does both the interior formats and exterior covers for our paperback, eBooks, and audiobooks.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
We partner with a publicist, Mickey Mikkelson – Publicist – Creative Edge, and social media maven, Aimee Ravichandran – Abundantly Social. Aimee helps do the heavy lifting for our global marketing.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Whether you are an indie author or using traditional publishing, there is one thing everyone tells us: because you are the author, you must do the marketing. The complaint we get from people who were kept authors using traditional houses is that you don’t get creative control of how it looks and you have to do your own marketing and on your own dollar. Be advised that the publishing industry has changed and the romantic notion of getting flown around to do autograph parties and Hollywood beating down your door to push gobs of money to you for movie rights doesn’t exist. If anything, the old adage of self-publishing, indie authors is true: It is the greatest money reducing endeavor known to mankind.
About You
Where did you grow up?
Who said Breakfield & Burkey grew up? Breakfield is a native Texan, and Burkey is a naturalized Texan.
Where do you live now?
Breakfield lives in Dallas, Texas. Burkey splits her time between Dallas and Austin, Texas.
What would you like readers to know about you?
We have lots of irons in the publishing fire. Whether it is a new story, a new audiobook, or a new AI video to help market the series of books, we stay busy. We invite everyone to Check out our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnigmaSeries/playlists
What are you working on now?
We are collaborating with the Underground Authors to participate in a new Sci-fi series called Tales from the Car 4488.
End of Interview:
For more from Breakfield and Burkey check out their website. You can also follo them on Twitter here and here, or Facebook as well as on Pinterest, and Instagram.
Get your copy of The Flight Enigma from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
