Author: barbara
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The story behind the novel
I was inspired to write this novel after the death of my mother in 2002. A friend of mine, a woman I had known for over 30 years, asked me how it was exactly that my mother had ended up living in England, so I started to tell her –and she said: that is an…
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The Real McCoy
They arrived today: four big boxes delivered by our friendly neighborhood UPS guy. He had to brave the fury of MacDuff, our 20lb West Highland terrier, who wags his tail and jumps with delight to greet everyone who comes to our door—unless you’re delivering mail or packages. Then he is transformed into his miniature version…
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Totally Awesome!
Okay… I know it’s been a week now, and so much has happened since, but I have to write about the eclipse. I’ve been up in the mountains without any network access so I couldn’t post until now. I got pulled into the eclipse hype relatively late, about a month prior, and by that time…
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Climbing the Mountain
I climbed a mountain the other day. Well, not all the way to the top. But I went on a wonderful mountain hike, ascending more than 1500 feet, through lush meadows, past tumbling streams full of spring run-off, and tons of wildflowers in hues of purple, yellow, red, pink, white and blue. My neighbor, who…
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3 Months to Pub Date!!
September 26 is exactly 3 months away. That’s the day for When It’s Over to make its debut on the world stage. After more than 12 years gestation and 3 title changes, the due date is in sight. I’ve been busy as a bee, reviewing typos discovered by my kind advance readers; consulting with my…
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So…Many…Books…
I have just returned from New York City and my first ever Book Expo (BEA 2017). I attended with a group of She Writes Press authors—and I have to say that was the best part: getting to meet in person the awesome project managers and support staff from SWP and all my fellow authors. And…
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GETTING SOCIAL
Less than 5 months to go until Publication Day! I’m done with the editing, the further editing, the cover design, the cover copy, and have even received my first blurbs, wonderful words of support from some generous writer colleagues. But still so much to do… Top of the list is bulking up my social media…
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Editing, editing, editing…
I thought writing my novel was hard enough. It took me six years to complete the first draft, working mostly late in the evening when the rest of the household was in bed, or on weekends, or on camping trips or in airplanes, scribbling in notebooks or on small scraps of paper. In addition to…
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Signing the Deal
When I met with Brooke Warner of She Writes Press (SWP) at the Mendocino Writers Conference last August, I thought this would be just a brain-storming kind of consult. I had been asked to submit a synopsis and the first chapter of my novel ahead of time, but I didn’t realize that when I walked…
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The Path to Publishing
I spent years trying to get an agent to represent my novel. I did my research on which agents might be appropriate, who had represented authors I love, who was looking for new clients. I tried to pull any connections I could think of, and fine-tuned my query letter again and again. All in search…
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Re-Inventing the Wheel
Just published in Kaleidoscope Issue 74: Re-Inventing the Wheel
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First Prize in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition
Barbara won First Prize in the Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition in the Short Story category, for her story “The Ring.” Here she read excerpts from the story at the Awards Ceremony at the San Francisco Public Library on April 3rd 2016. You Tube video of her reading at that event This story was not published…