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Interview with Barbara Dumas Ballew

1/7/2012

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This is an email interview that I did with Barbara Dumas Ballew. 

Barbara, I want to thank you for consenting to answer my questions.  I have enjoyed reading some of your books and this insight into the workings of an author should be very interesting to your readers, past, present and future.

1.     You have published several books, most of them based on your hobby.  What is that hobby and how did you get interested in it?

Yes, I’m working on my tenth book now. I’ve written five novels and four young reader’s books. Most of my novels are based on family stories and my genealogical research. I became interested in my families roots when I was a teenager, but I did not get into serious research until our son went off to college. As a youngster, I asked my mother endless questions about family and would even call old great aunts to talk about ancestors. I kept notes even back then.

2.      How did your hobby influence your writing?

When I talked to the younger ones in our family most of them would give me blank looks. They were not interested. My husband suggested that I I’ve done serious genealogy research for over twenty five years. When I talked about ancestors to them I would have to write it and put it in story form to catch their attention and hold their interest. I really wanted them to know the story of my maternal great-grandmother’s life. I had done so much research and had talked to my relatives over the years, so I felt as if I had known the old ones personally and could piece their lives together. George’s Creek to Georgia was my first book. I had so much I wanted to tell. That It ended up covering four generations from the seventeen-nineties to eighteen-eighty.

3.     What made you decide to write novels?  

 When I wrote the first book I didn’t even think novel. I wrote it and then I printed about a half dozen copies on computer paper and mailed them to some of my nieces and nephews. I began to get emails from them saying how they enjoyed it and some of their children wanted copies, too. They thought I should try to have it published. I sent it to several publishers and one said they would like to publish it. I knew nothing about the book business but decided I’d do it for the family. Little did I know that I would get hooked on writing, and it would turn into a business?  

4.     Do you have a favorite story about your career as a writer so far?

 When I sat down late one afternoon to start on my first story, I wrote the chapter one. It was late and it was my bedtime.  I printed out the first chapter and laid it aside to read the next morning.  Early the next morning, I sat down and read what I had written the evening before. It sounded nothing like what I had hoped for. It was written more like genealogy notes than a story from my heart. I instantly tore it in half and put it in the trash. I sat quietly for a few minutes, closed my eyes, and mentally traveled back to the seventeen-nineties. I made a mental picture of what my great, great grandfather probably looked like back then and what he might have been doing. Getting this picture in my mind, I started writing again. The words started to flow. I never had a problem writing again after I devised my own system and what worked best for me.

5.     How did you feel when you sold your first book to someone who was not a friend or family member?

I think I was lucky. I got an email from one of my nieces that she hoped I was having several books printed up because she had about twenty copies already sold. Another niece emailed she had sold a half dozen copies to co-workers and friends. I felt a little timid the first copy I sold to a stranger. I was very pleased and you always hope they will enjoy the story. 

6.     How has your going to all sorts of venues for signings helped you personally or with book sales?

 I’ve never had a problem talking to people. I have the other problem of perhaps holding them too long. I do enjoy meeting people. Hopefully I’m learning to be a better listener as many people have their own stories to tell. I’ve met a lot of hopeful writers and have tried to give them tips from my own learning experiences.

        7.   Why did you decide to self publish your books?

My original publisher could only publish one book a year for me. I have a lot of stories, and at my age, I felt I needed to get them out there as quickly as I could and still do my best. My first novel is still under contract to that publisher, but after learning more about the book business, I really wanted more control of my own book. They are very nice people and we still have a good relationship but I’m more pleased with having full say over my books. Money wise it has been more profitable, too.  

7.     What makes your books different from anyone else’s?

 All my books have part of me in them. They all have some of my personal experiences or family experiences in them. Most of the little tales are true things that happened to the family or I found in court records in my research about my family or my husband’s old ancestors.

8.     You talk about several different foods that your ancestors ate in your novels.  Have you tried cooking or eating any of them?

I do cook southern, and so many things have no recipe. I learned to cook by watching my mother. She learned from her mother, so I’m sure so many things have been passed down through family. I have had squirrel and dumplings a time or two that my mother made years ago when I was a little girl. My brother and friends killed the squirrels, and mother cooked them for all the hunters. I got to join in the meal. My mother’s dumplings were the best.  I could never compete with her dumplings or biscuits. I can make good deer or beef jerky and dry it.   

9.     You do a lot of research on different aspects of the lives of your ancestors.  Is it mostly ‘library’ research or have you found the information in personal papers, letters, etc.

I have found wonderful things in all the places mentioned above. I love to go to the old courthouses in the states and counties where the people lived. I love digging though their old documents that were actually written while they were alive. Years ago, I went to the Pickens County Courthouse and found my Great, Great, Grandfather’s, Elijah Barnett, original will. It was written in 1845. I got to hold it in my hands and all the documents pertaining to it. That was a thrill. You can make unexpected finds in libraries, too.  In the library in Dawsonville, GA, I found some old handwritten church records that were in a cardboard box that a nice librarian dug out for me. The records were taken from 1850 when my Grandfather and Grandmother Harris first moved to Georgia and had first joined that church. Even distant cousins have shared copies of old letters written back in the 1800’s. I also, received copies of old photographs of ancestors that have been shared.

10. What kind of feedback do you get from your readers?

 One of the nicest things that has happened to me is a gentleman from Arizona bought nine of my George’s Creek to Georgia books via my website and had me autograph them to special members of his family. He gave them for stocking stuffers to his kin. After that Christmas, I got a lovely email from his sister who lives in Pickens County, SC. She told me that Elijah Barnett was her great, great, great grandfather, Elijah Barnett, from one of his daughters, my great grandmother’s sister. Since then we have visited several times and are not only distantly kin but are now good friends. Another email I received was from a lady about my book, Stranger. She had gotten the book for her eight year old grandson. She said he first had trouble with the name Dinwitty in the book. He had never seen that name and she helped him with it. He thought the name was so funny and had a hearty laugh. She watched as he continued reading and every time he came to the name he giggle or smiled. It was so nice that for me to hear that a simple thing as that could give a child pleasure especially while he was reading. I’m proud to say that the feedback has been very nice. I have loved hearing from the people.   

11. If you could be any of your characters, which one would it be?

This was a hard decision, but I think the character, Sarah Sharp Borden.  Sarah was really my husband’s great, great, great, great grandmother.  I changed the character’s names in my Borden Series of books and in all the books I’ve written after my first. I’ve been advised that in a novel it’s best because you do have to embellish on conversations and descriptions from that era. Sarah had a wonderful life and raised a delightful family.

12. Would you be interested in any of your books made into a movie or television show (or series)?

I would be more than interested. I’d be thrilled if anyone were that interested in my books. I also have a large family that would be very excited.

13. Is there anything else you would like to add to what you have already said?

 I thank you for your interest in my books and me. It has been a pleasure visiting with you.
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Thoughts on my new “calling”

12/1/2011

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When I had to retire from my much loved career as a library director in a small library, I did not know what I was going to do.  First, of course, I had to heal myself from the physical ailments.  That has turned into an ongoing project, but I am getting there with two steps forward and only one step back. 

          Then, one year I was making the rounds at the North Texas Book Festival in Denton.  I met Rita Dear.  She is the author of the Eutopian Destiny series as well as Roxann, Lady in a Chair and The Smart Ass Guide to Breast Cancer.  I bought the first book in her series, Preacher Man, took it home and read it.  I was hooked.  I got the rest of the series, over the next few months and devoured them.  The next thing I knew, I was writing a review for her.  I sent it to Midwest Book Review and my “calling” was launched! 

          I reviewed a couple of other books that I had picked up at the book festival that year and Rita began supplying me with books from some of her author friends (several of whom have become my friends, even though I have never met many of them).  Over the next year I started working on a plan and decided to let the authors at the next book festival know that I would review their book(s) and publish my reviews in Midwest Book Review and any place else they might have a POS.  I am now finding more places to publish the reviews and that is really great for the authors to be getting more exposure. 

          I began to get books in the mail on a regular basis.  I was on the way – I have been reading and reviewing a lot of great books.  I have been able to find the good in every book I have read and am really enjoying it.   The reviews are fun, too.  I write reviews and let a friend read them and give me input on syntax, spelling, etc. to make sure I am saying what I meant.  I just need validation. :-)

          I seem to be doing a pretty good job as I am getting great feedback from the authors and at least one small press publisher.  Also, I have received some more reaction from some of the places I am publishing the reviews.  More validation!

          I am going to keep reading and reviewing in an effort to help self published and small press authors.  There are a lot of gems out there that the much of the  public does not hear about and I would like to think that some of my reviews will help further the cause of self published and small press authors, some of the best unsung authors in the ‘bidness’, as far as I am concerned.
      

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Interview with Laura Eckroat

11/14/2011

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Laura Eckroat just published her 3rd book, Went Out To Get a Donut-Came Home With a Muffin, so I decided it would be appropriate to ask her a few questions about her writing for children.  She very kindly consented to do it and I learned a lot about her  books and her writing.

1.      Your newest book just came out.  What can you tell about it without spoilers?

I went out to get a donut … and I came home with a muffin.  That’s what the book is about – it’s a “mystery” book for kids!  I try to have them figure out why I come home with a muffin instead of a donut.  It is a lot of fun.  I also SING the book … so kids start singing along and it is a BLAST!

2.      How did you get started writing?

I have always written – when I was little I kept a journal … I used to write about all kinds of things.   I have always told everyone that “someday I would have a book published” and now I have 3! 

3.      Do you have a favorite story about your career so far?

I have many stories – but I think my favorite is going to my hometown – Whiting, IN and speaking at my Grade School – St. John the Baptist … it was really cool to do that!  While I was there I saw my high school English teacher who now admits that she should have given me a better grade in my creative writing class in high school.  During this trip I also had a radio interview and was the Grand Marshall of the Easter Parade in my hometown.  It was a crazy couple of days!

4.      You use a small press.  Why and or how did you choose them?

They accepted unsolicited manuscripts!  I really like them.  But I think they are now considered Large Press!  Which is kind of neat … I’m part of a company that is growing!

 

5.      Knowing what you do now about small press, would you be open to a mainstream publisher?

I really like my publisher because I can talk to anyone there and they know who I am.  I have heard good and not so good things about mainstream publishers … but I love my publisher – I have a wonderful illustrator who works for them and he has done all of my illustrations – he is awesome – I never would have met him if I hadn’t gone with that publisher!  He has done what my hands could never do!

6.      How did you feel when you sold your first book to someone who was not a friend or family member?

My first book signing event for The Life of Bud was my daughter’s 16th birthday – we had a pre-release party.  I sold 120 books that day … and some were to people I didn’t know!  It was really cool that people came to the party to celebrate Ashley’s Birthday and to buy my book.  It was surreal!! 

7.      Did you think your first book was a ‘one time wonder’ or the beginning of a prolific career?

Well – I’m not a one time wonder because I’m on my 3rd book!   The first two have sold over 1200 copies each so far!  I think that is pretty good.  And – The Life of Bud won Best Children’s Book for 2010 at the North Texas Book Festival and was featured in Dallas Child Magazine in September of 2010.  A Simpler Time was chosen as the Summer Reading Kickoff Book for a school district in Massachusetts for Summer 2010.  It was also endorsed by Ted Kerasote who is an award winning author who wrote Merle’s Door and PUKKA.   Went Out To Get a Donut … has been endorsed by many Rescue facilities all over the country.  So I feel many people have validated my work which is very humbling!

8.      Do you have an author or other person that you feel has been a mentor or staunch supporter?

As I stated in the last question – Ted Kerasote.  He is one of my favorite authors.  I took a chance and emailed him and asked him if he would read and possibly endorse A Simpler Time.  He emailed me a couple days later and said that he normally doesn’t do something like that but that my book struck a chord with him.  So he gave me his home address and I sent the book off.  He gave me some editing advice which was SUPER nice of him.  He has kept in touch with me ever since.  When his book PUKKA came out and he was going to be in Austin for a book signing, he invited me to come … I got to meet him and it was very exciting!  He did not have to take a chance on me but I feel honored that he put his name on one of my books!

9.      How did you name your characters?

Easy … BUD is the bud of an oak tree

In A Simpler Time the main character is my daughter Ashley … I used her initials – A.J.  and she is the main character in that book

And Muffin … is the name of my rescue dog and that is the main character in book number 3!

                                

10.   What makes your book(s) different from anyone else’s?

Hmmmmmm.  My husband says I write from my heart and I don’t talk down to kids.  My books can be read to children, but adults seem to enjoy them as well …

11.   Do you have any hobbies?  Do they influence your writing?

I love to read.  I don’t think that has influenced my writing.  I also love hanging out with MUFFIN.

12.   How does your life influence your writing?

All of my books are about things that I love in my life.

13.   What advice would you have for authors wanting to write a children's book?

Write books with a purpose and teach children something.  A story can be fun and interesting and still teach them something.

14.   What makes a good children’s story? 

Kids have to be engaged!  When you read it to children, if their faces light up, you know it’s a WINNER!
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BANNED BOOK WEEK

10/5/2011

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 We just finished another Banned Book Week on October 2.   This is an annual event established by the American Library Association in 1982 when Judith Krug, the director, at that time, of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, wanted to celebrate writer’s works and the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of expression.  Since then, ALA has been joined in sponsorship by the American Booksellers Association, the Library of Congress Center for the Book, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the National Association of College Stores, the Association of American Publishers and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
               Since its inception, Banned Book Week has highlighted many really good books that we would not be able to read had it not been for the courage of the people who fight for our freedom to read.  You can check out the many books that have been challenged over the years by searching the internet. There are too many different lists to put them in this blog.  
               I now notice that people are upset that librarians and schools are removing books from the shelves of libraries all over the US.  This is not the case.  Librarians fight to uphold the Constitution by fighting books challenged by people who use the libraries and go to bookstores.  I am sure that someone can find something wrong with every book on a library’s shelves or in any bookstore.  So if we removed all of these challenged books from the shelves, we would no longer have libraries and bookstores; then it follows that we would have no more writers, so no more exchange of ideas and pleasure of reading. 
               Aren’t you glad that librarians and bookstores fight for your right to write?  I sure am!

 

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Great comments

9/19/2011

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http://booksbybob.com/free-download_339.html 
Here is a link to a great statement from  Robert Thornhill, author of the very humorous Lady Justice series, about becoming an author.   I really enjoyed reading it and know you will too.
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Interview with Rita Dear

9/3/2011

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 I want to interview some authors to find out something about them and their writing, inspiration, etc.  I asked Rita Dear, author of the Eutopian Destiny series, to help me with this blog.  Go to www.eutopiandestiny.com for information about this exciting series.  She was kind enough to be my “guinea pig” and let me interview her first.  This is the result.  Great input for my first interview for my blog.  I will be asking some of the other authors I know to do the same thing (probably different questions) from time to time, so be careful opening your email  - you may be next. J

Here is the interview with Rita.  Enjoy!
 
1.               How did you get started writing? 

I’ve been involved in the world of technical writing for 28 years.  I’m an avid reader and always had a novel to enjoy at the end of my day.  My venture into fiction writing was accidental.  When my mother’s health declined, I retired to take care of her – she lived with us.  So once again, I turned to novels while I waited for her to settle down at night.  I’d just finished a novel by one of my favorite authors.  I was disgusted at the shallow plot and the excessive sex and foul words.  I tossed the book in the trash and literally muttered, “I could do better in my sleep.”  Mother was still awake and I had a brand new laptop on the table.  So I thought, “All right, smarty, do it.”  I never intended to write a book.  I just wanted to see if I could write a story on a serious subject without digressing to the graphic details I found offensive.  The result of that challenge was the first ten books in my Eutopian Destiny series.

2.               Do you have a favorite story about your writing career so far? 

Actually, I have several stories from my readers.  One of my favorites about the Eutopian Destiny series, is from a lady who wrote that during their fifty-year marriage she’d never seen her husband read a book.  He only read newspapers and magazines.  They were on vacation.  She fell asleep on the plane with a copy of Eutopian Destiny - Preacher Man on her lap.  Her husband picked it up – and didn’t give it back.  He surpassed the rest of the family reading all eleven books in the series – and he’s on my mailing list for the twelfth book when I finish it.

A reader of my book about a high school girl in a wheelchair, Roxann, A Lady in a Chair, shared the book with a friend who has a daughter confined to a wheelchair.  As a result of my story, that girl’s mother has contacted her daughter’s school for special physical training for those with disabilities.  I’m thrilled beyond words to think I may have made a difference in a young girl’s life.

3.               How did you feel when you sold your first book to someone who was not a friend or family member? 

Happy and anxious to know how they liked it.  But I have to admit, my readers have been great supporters.  I welcome comments and I always appreciate knowing about grammatical errors/typos they find.  It lets me improve my books before I print more.   


4.               If you would be offered a movie deal, who would play Joe?

I honestly don’t know.  I’ve deliberately left a lot of the physical descriptions of my characters to the readers’ imagination.  I’d probably poll them for suggestions.

5.     Where do you get your inspiration for your plotlines?

The TV was running a human trafficking/sex slavery report the night I challenged myself to write on a serious subject without getting graphic.  I hate that crime, but it’s an important issue that needs more attention – and it would certainly challenge the standards I set for myself.  So it became the crime I decided to use.   I built the other plotlines off this original decision.

6.      Where do you get your inspiration for your characters? 

The crime I chose set the stage for the characters.  It would take undercover federal agents to infiltrate the area and investigate the allegations.   Populating the town and other scenarios determined the personalities and characters involved.

7.       Why did you decide to self publish your books? 

I’m very proud of my writing standards.  I researched the conventional publishers on the internet and read their contracts.  Their contracts gave them editing rights – which could easily translate into the graphic sex and foul language I had avoided.  So I decided to publish the books myself.  It was a trial and error adventure, but I eventually set myself up as a publisher and found a wonderful printer (Minuteman Press in Lewisville, Tx) who works with a binding company to produce my books.  An added benefit of this arrangement is that my books are published and printed in the USA.  

8.      How did you name your characters?    

I tried to use simple names – Joe, Jack, etc. – that wouldn’t distract the readers.   As the story expanded and I added more characters, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of the names I had used.

9.     Why did you use the setting you did?  What are your ties to New Mexico?   

I’ve traveled a lot during my lifetime.  I’ve lived in a lot of towns in the southwest, including several in New Mexico.   When I decided on the crime for my story, I needed a location for it.  Since I was writing fiction, I couldn’t put it in a real town – even though we all know it’s probably there.  So I created my own little two-block town.  I pulled out a map and found an empty space on the Texas/New Mexico state line.  I marked it for the location of Eutopian Springs – a totally fictitious town.   

10.
Knowing what you do now about self publishing (or small press), would you be open to a mainstream publisher?


I’m very happy self-publishing my work.  I’d listen to their offer, but I doubt that a mainstream publisher would agree to the writing standards I’ve established.  I don’t want my name associated with any book that compromises those standards.

11. What kind of feedback do you get from your readers? 

My readers are very complimentary and supportive.   They love the characters and the story.  Several of them are on a waiting list for the twelfth book when I finish it.   I’ve made some amazing friends through the books.   

12.What about ‘writer’s block’?  Do you get it or even believe in it?

I’m certain it’s real, but I keep a separate ‘idea’ file on my computer to try to avoid it.  Every time I think of another twist or turn I could take with the story, I drop a note in the idea file so I can go back to it later.  Even if the idea seems crazy at the time, most of my notes work back into the story at some point.
 

Tear-a-page, Rita!
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My First Blog Entry

8/30/2011

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This is the first blog I have ever been involved with, so please be patient with me.

     First, a little about me. I am a retired library director. I was retired for medical reasons and I miss the library world and books. I met a fantastically wonderful self published author, Rita Dear, who has become a link to books and the ‘outside world’ to me. I told her I wanted to review her book, Preacher Man, the first in her Eutopian Destiny series. That was the beginning of a new and fun direction in my life and a great friendship. I am now reading and reviewing books for independent authors. As I review their books, they have all become friends that I cherish. Of course, this has given me the opportunity to read genres that I would never have read in my past life and I have found that, with VERY few exceptions, I am really enjoying them.

     Then I got the idea for this website,  since there was no one place for new authors, as well as the ones who have published to go for information or a place for them to blow their own horn and report their personal book sales and events. I am hoping this will become a great resource for them.  I will also provide links of interest.  If you have any links that you would like to add that will be of general interest, just send them to me in an email at kbooks1@verizon.net.

     I also hope that you will give me suggestions about how I can improve this website to better serve you.  Any and all ideas and suggestions will be given serious consideration.

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First Post!

8/25/2011

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Start blogging by creating a new post. You can edit or delete me by clicking under the comments. You can also customize your sidebar by dragging in elements from the top bar.
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