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| Photo by Leslie Sloan |
Hello, Barbara and
welcome to Adventures in Authorland. Please get comfortable and tell us about
your adventure.
What book are you
reading now?
Just finished reading Mrs.
Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. My book club is going to
discuss it this fall. Although what is commonly known as “Mrs. Lincoln’s Quilt”
appears near the end, this book really focuses on Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd
Lincoln’s dressmaker, called a modiste then. Keckley was a former slave
who bought her freedom and established a career fashioning the dresses of
several prominent women in Washington, D.C. in the 1860s. The book also
explores Keckley’s friendship with the First Lady, its high points up until the
assassination of the President and its low points, as the former First Lady
descended into melancholy and what may have been madness following her
husband’s death. Although my master’s degree is in American History, I don’t
write historical novels, but every so often I like to read a fictionalized tale
about real historic events.
I’ve just started to
read Bayou Born by Linda Joyce. I met Linda at the Romantic Times
Convention in May and immediately saw a kindred spirit in her since we both
write for the same publisher.
Do you see writing as a career?
I see writing as a
career when it comes to adhering to the terms of my contracts, acting
professionally, promoting my work, and earning royalties, but I see it as my
passion when I can’t keep myself away from the keyboard when a story continues
to unfold.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve completed seven manuscripts. Three
have been published or are in the process of being published. I have two
favorites: And He Cooks Too and Tough Enough to Tango. They are
my favorites for the same reason: both required me to dig deeper than I
normally would to write my characters’ stories and explore their strengths and
weaknesses. Although I love to write lighthearted romances, the more I write,
the more I realize I have to humanize even the most comedic situations.
In which genre do you prefer to write
and why?
I write contemporary romances. Like I said
above, I especially like romantic comedy, creating funny situations and witty (if
I could be so bold) dialogue, because I think making someone laugh, or at least
smile, is a priceless talent. However, I’m tempted at some point to try my hand
at paranormal and inspirational. I’d also like to try something someday outside
the romance genre, something that has an appropriate ending but not necessarily
a happy one. Is that blasphemy for a romance writer? I don’t think so. I think
it’s a storyteller spreading her wings, exploring new paths.
I also want to write cozy mysteries and
screenplays. Ambitious plans for a retiree who also enjoys Mah Jongg and
spending time with friends.
Can you give us some details about your
upcoming release/s?
DRIVEN TO MATRIMONY, The Wild Rose Press,
is coming out sometime later this year or early in 2014; I don’t have a release
date yet. It’s as close as I've come to writing a screwball comedy.
Dina Maitland spends almost as much time extricating her movie star mother from personal messes as she invests in her forensic accounting job. So much time, her job may no longer be there once Dina returns from cleaning up her mother’s latest fiasco, her engagement to a twenty-year-old film student. Vowing it’s the last time she puts herself on clean-up duty, Dina sets off for South Carolina to stop the pending nuptials and along the way, almost literally, runs into the father of the groom, Ben Cutler.
Single father Ben can ill afford time
away from his business, with his competitors threatening to appropriate his new
product, yet his son takes priority. Little do they know when they team up to
prevent the nuptials they will wind up in a more personal alliance of their
own.
Who are your favorite authors?
I have three authors’ pictures hanging in
my office: Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich, and Linda Howard. I admire their work
for different reasons. I go to Nora when I need inspiration to write poetic
narrative; she has a way of turning a phrase like no one else. Linda is the
great plotter. I have trouble putting down her books, because there’s always
another twist coming. I’m a fan of multiple twists, as long as they make sense
and don’t turn off the reader. And Janet, well, of course, she’s the one who
provides humor. I would also include two others, although I don’t have their
pictures framed: Susan Elizabeth Phillips for the way she tugs at the heart and
Kristan Higgins, because she’s the one who comes closest to my writing style.
Do you have any
advice for new writers beginning their adventure?
Learn the requirements of the industry, but
find your own voice and tell your own story. Join at least one writers’ group,
and when you’re ready, seek feedback. Read as much as you can in your chosen
genre as well as other areas that interest you, but more than anything else,
just write. Write every day.
Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?
I don’t like to cry in public, so when a
movie brings a tear to my eyes, I fight it, which usually results in a horrible
headache afterwards. And sniffles. If I do resort to a tissue, I make quick
dabs at my eyes and otherwise act as if I’m still cool. However, I couldn't
help myself when I saw “Les Miserables” last winter. I’d seen the stage play, I
knew how it ended. In this case, despite Victor Hugo’s powerful story, it was
the production itself that made me cry. Some critics have panned the film, but
for me, it was a celebration of the incredible score, cast and direction
blended with the story of a remarkable time in history and what it had to say
about courage and loyalty and love. I cried again when almost the entire cast
reassembled for a medley at the Academy Awards ceremony in February.
DRIVEN TO MATRIMONY
Ben Cutler spotted the out-of-control sports car staggering for the open
road as soon as he entered the parking lot. It moved in fits and starts, then
seemed to gain speed as it headed directly toward him. Only quick reflexes and
a last-minute dive out of the vehicle’s path saved him from an otherwise
painful impact. The woman was a demon! Had she deliberately tried to mow him
down?
He dismissed the notion as the car continued to swerve back and forth
across the roadway only to veer off and skid down an embankment. There it came
to rest, sinking into what, from where he stood, looked like marshland.
Had she injured herself? He broke into a fast trot and headed down the
road to check. Foolish woman. Taking off like a runaway train when she
obviously didn't know the first thing about operating a stick. Just like so many
so-called modern women. Independent. Know-it-all. Until they needed
help, and then, no matter what a guy did, it wasn't what they wanted.
Ben slowed his pace when she emerged from the vehicle only to step into
the muddy bog. Whoa! That misstep wasn't going to improve her mood.
He couldn't have called it better.
She struggled to unplug one foot from the gunk. When she finally
succeeded, it was unclear whether a shoe still remained or had been left
behind, buried, because dark mud covered the entire appendage. In order to
remove the other foot, she was forced to stick the first foot back in the muck,
and this time, it seemed to sink even deeper. As she realized the depth
of her predicament, her reaction transformed from surprise to dismay to anger.
He could have sworn he heard epithets not becoming a lady, but he wasn't
close enough to discern her exact words.
She appeared unharmed, though she’d probably never wear those shoes
again.
He should be furious with her for leaving him behind and almost mowing
him down. But despite her actions, her gyrations fascinated him as she tried to
figure out the extent of the car’s troubles and how to extricate both herself
and the little sports car from the quagmire. She was kind of cute trampling
through the mire, tentatively lifting one foot, then the other to inspect the
damage. She bent over and his breath caught. Cute became curvaceous.
She tromped back to the car, got in, and discarded her shoes, pitching
them over the door to the outside with a vengeance. Nothing happened when she
attempted to restart the vehicle. It wasn't even grinding or kicking up mud.
Just emitting a half-hearted gurgle. She leaned over the door and frowned at
her slimy surroundings. Despite the sleek cut of the auburn hair that hit just
above her shoulder, she looked pathetic and vulnerable.
Ah, hell, he needed to get moving. Time to put her, and the car, out of
their misery. “Interesting parking technique, sinking it in the mud. Myself, I
prefer the brake.”
Barbara
Barrett spent her professional career as a human resources analyst for Iowa
state government, and that training has stayed with her in her writing of
contemporary romance fiction. Now retired, Barbara spends her winters basking
in the Florida sunshine and returns to her home state of Iowa in the summer to
“stay cool.” Her first two books, The Sleepover Clause, Crimson Romance,
and And He Cooks Too, The Wild Rose Press, were published in the past
year. A third, Driven to Matrimony, TWRP, should be released by late
2013 or early 2014.
