Barbara was born in New York City and but now lives somewhere else.
Starting her career by writing tweens and YA books, she was actually aiming at the small screen. Television seemed like the perfect place for her even if she had no clue how to get there. Through a neighbor, Barbara wound up getting an introduction to a lower honcho at ABC and an audition to write for them. Her hopes were more than dashed, they were disintegrated, evaporated, demolished when ABC couldn't find a place for Barbara on General Hospital. (No Luke and Laura in her future!) To ease the crushing disappointment, Barbara wrote "In Real Life I'm Just Kate" (now titled "Just Kate") about a 17 year old girl who becomes a star on a soap opera. That became an open sesame moment and shortly thereafter Barbara became the last headwriter for NBC's daytime serial, The Doctors.
After television, some nonfiction and romantic comedies, Barbara has returned to her first love, YA, by and large for the most part, but will always give in to temptation if something flirts with her hard enough. She's that kind of girl.
If you would like to check out all of Barbara's books on Amazon, please CLICK HERE .
Hello Barbara. Thank you so much for agreeing to spend the
weekend here at Honey Bee Reviews. Writing is such an interesting profession; Can
you tell us when and why did you first become interested in writing?
I was always interested in writing, spending my time in high
school chemistry writing bad poems like most people do. I thought I was going to be a photojournalist
so majored in photography in college but life does push you in unexpected
directions. I didn’t do the journalism
and became an English major instead.
Writing was always something I knew I would do later, after all my life
adventures had been experienced. It
happened much earlier than I planned.
What would you say is the best thing about being an author?
Not having a real job.
Producing a book is much more than simply writing a story. I
know that sometimes editing can be a very lengthy job. Can you talk us through
your editing process, Barbara? Does a lot of your work get cut by your own
hand, or are you quite precise in what you write and use in your final drafts?
I’ve always been pretty close in my first draft to what the
final results are but I can get very finicky about the details.
Well, as they say; the devil is in the detail J
I enjoyed meeting all the female characters in your book,
Nothing Serious; how important do you think it is for female readers to
identify with the heroines in your books?
I never considered it.
Is that strange?
Not at all, Barbara J.
I have to admit to you; I did feel as though I connected with Paige, the
heroine in Nothing Serious. I certainly felt her distress at the beginning of
the story. I’m not sure I’d have the nerve to follow up on the actions she took
though. She’s certainly a brave character and very adventurous J
Speaking of Nothing Serious; the cover is very eye-catching.
How much input do you have in the art work for your stories?
Since I was a photographer I did the photos for my first two
novels published by Atheneum. That was
fun. Now I design my own covers and
sometimes purchase the artwork. I enjoy
that level of creativity, the ability to have complete control over the
project. Independent publishing is
wonderful and the freedom allows artists to create things they wouldn’t in
traditional publishing.
Sounds idealJ
Can you tell us what future projects you are currently working on?
Bittersweet Farm 2—Joyful Spirit is in progress now. Then I have promised all my fans that Bad
Apple 4—Parked will be next. Both are
Mature YAs, a genre I love.
Which of your books would you say was the easiest/hardest to
write?
A couple of my adult books took about five years. In Under My Head and Almost Breathing
underwent draft after draft, each pass getting more precise. My vision of the story and characters changed
as time went on. I’m glad I took my time. If I had a contract in traditional
publishing, I would have been forced to publish before the books were really
completed. That’s what’s so great about
independent publishing. You set your own
schedule and if you want to change things later, you upload a new version. It’s the best time in the history of the
world to be a writer.
And which of your books is your personal favourite?
I think the standard reply is “The one I’m working on”. Each book has its own particular golden
moments. Like children, they are
different and your love for them is different but just as passionate. I love Jem in Almost Breathing for her spirit
and determination. I love Ariel in In
Under My Head because she’s so much more sensible than I am. I love Paige in Nothing Serious because she
finds a way when one isn’t obvious. I
love Neal in Bad Apple because she’s able to put her past behind her.
Barbara, can you tell the readers which of your characters
would you most like to invite to dinner, and why?
I think Paige from Nothing Serious would be a great dinner
companion because she has a wonderfully unserious view of life. She’s funny and bold, vivacious and impulsive
but always kind. I think you would laugh
a lot with her at the table.
Yes. I have to agree with you there, Barbara J Paige is a very
interesting character. I’m sure she would bring a great deal of fun to any
dinner party.
Tell us; what would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be
an author?
I think I should have been a photographer or a horse trainer.
Thanks for chatting today, Barbara. I look forward to part two of your interview tomorrow.
Blurb for Nothing Serious;
Declaring freedom from the Internet and the
city, Paige heads for the Catskills. Opening a shop, Nothing Serious, Paige
nearly nails her hand to the wall trying to hang her sign, avoids zoning board
jail and falls for Jonathan Macklin, the antiques dealer next door. She spots a
rare portrait at an auction, and borrows money from Jonathan to buy it. The
windfall for the lost masterpiece is used to bail a local character out of
jail. When Paige can’t pay Jonathan back, he thinks the worst. She has been treating
life, her art and love as nothing serious for so long; can she change in time
to be with Jonathan?
Enjoy a slice of Nothing Serious;
By the end of the day, Paige had sanded the peeling paint
from the letters, primed them and painted them. Using a long piece of wood they
had given her for free and she’d had to transport sticking out the passenger
side window, she painted that and nailed the letters on.
Ladder. She needed a ladder.
Paige walked down the street and opened Jonathan’s door.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi. I need a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Do you have a ladder?”
“Yes, a short one.”
“May I borrow it for ten minutes?”
Jonathan went into the back room and returned with the
ladder.
“Thank you. I’ll bring it right back.” She walked out of the
store with it and set it up in front of the shop. Holding the sign, she climbed
up the ladder. She needed a drill. Back down the ladder.
Back down the street to open Jonathan’s door. “Sorry to
bother you, do you have a power drill?”
“Yes.”
“Well, may I borrow it?”
“Yes. Do you need anything else?”
“Screws.”
He looked at her. “How long?”
She looked at him right back. “As long as you have.” Paige
considered herself an extremely good judge of character and if she hadn’t
already decided Jonathan Macklin was a rather conservative and unimaginative
type, she would have thought there was some innuendo going on. But no, he was
not the type. At all.
Too bad, too, really, she thought as he walked into the back
of the store. He fit those jeans in a particularly appealing fashion. Most men
wear their jeans too loose. They shouldn’t be skin tight to the point of
splitting seams, but they should show the curves, if curves were there to be
seen. And Jonathan did have praiseworthy architecture with very long legs that
didn’t end in something ridiculous like loafers. Loafers and jeans. Nyet.
Loafers went with khakis. Shorts were always to be worn with white socks or no
socks, not brown dress socks. Weren’t these fashion rules written down
somewhere?
Jonathan returned with the drill and she held out her hand
for it but he didn’t turn it over. “What are you doing?”
“I’m putting out my shingle. My sign. My announcement to the
world that I’m in business. I have become self-employable.”
“Paige, you can’t hold the sign and the drill at the same
time.”
“Sure I can. Just watch me.”
Ten minutes later after nearly falling off the ladder, after
nearly screwing her hand to the front of the building, she was holding the sign
while Jonathan affixed it to the building.
“I owe you,” she said.
“Yes, I think you do.”
“You’re not supposed to say that. You’re supposed to say
something like ‘Oh no, think nothing of it, glad to help.’”
“You’re going to write my dialog for me?”
“No, but what do you want? All you did was climb up a
ladder.”
“I had the ladder. You didn’t. I had the drill. You didn’t.
I had the screws.”
“And now you’re going to put them to me?”
“So nicely put, Ms. Elliot.” He carried the ladder back into
the store.
Paige followed him. “Did I offend you? I didn’t mean to. I’m
just not...I’m out of practice talking to people.”
“Were you a hermit in the city? Didn’t you have a job?”
“Yes. But it’s different holding an interpersonal
conversation. I’m not good at it.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I say the wrong things.”
“Were you in a competition and when the international panel
of judges scored you, their opinion was that you say the wrong things?”
“That could be how it happened.”
“Have dinner with me and after dessert, I’ll judge you.”
Snap up your copy of Nothing Serious HERE
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