JM:  Barbara, I have lost track of how many years we've known each other.  My earliest memory of you is the first night at Fictionaires, this pretty woman with a soft voice and a novel about “passing.”  What do you remember of those times?  What happened to that novel?

BDB: I remember you, too--just about when I arrived, you were on your way out. As I recall, that novel was one of those dreaded learning experiences: it was never published. Rather, it taught me what it meant to keep your butt in the chair and finish something.  I felt so intimated back then by all of the wonderful writers in the group.  Jeff (T. Jefferson Parker), Susan (Elizabeth George), Cynthia Farley, you. But that novel...one agent looked at it, said she liked the writing but the characters were naval gazing. I had to agree. It's in the garage somewhere.

JM:  Pen on Fire is a wonderful book.  How long did it take you to write it? How did you manage, with a young son and musician husband?

BDB: I started Pen on Fire when Travis was two. He's ten now.  So there were eight years between starting it, and getting it published. For two years it sat in the garage--where I put all abandoned work--and then I dug it out and began to revise.  I wrote it, actually, by using the methods I describe in the book: I don't watch TV, rarely watch videos, keep socializing to a minimum and use spare moments.  We have so many minutes we can use chatting on the phone, reading magazines, going out with friends--or writing.

JM:  How do you compare your book with earlier writing books such as Writing Down the Bones, or Bird by Bird?  Were either of those books helpful to you as a writer?  Are there any others we might not have heard of that you found inspiring?

BDB: I love those two books you mentioned.  Pen on Fire is definitely in the same genre of inspirational writing book.  They were both immensely helpful as a writer. Especially Writing Down the Bones, which got me into the frame of mind of freewriting--Goldberg calls it writing practice.  Bird by Bird--I don't know that it was helpful in the same way as Bones, but it inspired me.  I wanted to write a book that would be as helpful and inspiring to writers as those two are.

JM:  How has the acutal publishing experience differed from your idea of what it would be like?  Do you enjoy speaking, touring, signing?  What's good about it?

BDB: Actually, things have gone a bit better than I expected.  On my radio show, I hear such horror stories about publishers.  Harcourt has been good to me.  And I've found that I enjoy speaking and and have been told I do it well. I figured it was necessary so I agreed to do it. But to actually enjoy it—I didn't expect that.  Mostly I've done events at bookstores.  I was at one book
store where it was a signing--during the World Series--and only a few people showed up.  Yet, those few people were wonderful to see.  One worked at the bed and breakfast (the Korakia in Palm Springs) where Brian and I honeymooned years before.

JM:  How has having Pen on Fire published changed your life?  Do you feel pressured to get book #2 out quickly?

BDB:  That's a good question. I don't know how it's changed my life.  I'm not sure that it has.  Well, maybe it's alleviated financial pressure a bit.  I'm working on a proposal for another book, an anthology, which is a fun idea and will leave me time to work on my fiction, which I've been itching to do.

JM:  What's your take on agent-client relationships?

BDB: I very much appreciate my agent and think she's worth every penny. Agents work so hard for no money until they sell your work—“if” they sell your work. Two things I appreciate about Betsy [Amster]: One is that before she became an agent she worked as an editor at Random House, so she brings that editing background to her job as agent and helps refine my work before it goes out. The other is that she said if she weren't an agent she'd be a lawyer; I like that she has a no-nonsense, business-like way about her. I had two agents for this book, when it was in different incarnations, before Betsy.  I think I jumped too quickly to sign with them.  But we writers can be so insecure and think no agent will ever like us. Kind of like high school, you know?

JM:  Are there days when you can¹t write for one reason or another?  If so, how is re-entry?  Are you able to keep focused, or does it take you longer to get back to the computer? (It usually takes me as many days as I've stayed away to get fully "back.")

BDB: Often it's when I'm immersed in other work--either an article deadline or an editing job (I edit The ASJA Monthly for the American Society of Journalists and Authors --www.asja.org).  Freewriting often helps.  As does "visiting"  with my work.  Walter Mosley advised this: if you can't write, at least visit with your work to keep it alive.  It can take so very long to get back to it if you've let too much time lapse.

JM:  If you could encourage a would-be writer who is about to give up, what would you say to her?

BDB: First I would say, if there is something you love to do more, then go for it.  Writing is such a solitary, unpredictable life.  But if you think of characters, stories, ideas you want to put to words, then why would you give up?  Analyse your reasons for doing so.  If you simply feel discouraged, then what would help? Perhaps a critique group or a writing buddy would re energize you. Sometimes you just need to refresh.  Robert Stone said writing is an honorable profession and that the world needs writers to tell the stories.  I would say, only give up if you really truly can't stand writing.  Otherwise, don't let the world get to you. Freewrite daily, visit with your work daily and keep it alive.  For me, there is no art form more gratifying and I feel grateful that there's an audience for my work.

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