Awesome Romance Author Barbara Barrett

Looking for a great romance author to read? This week my guest is fellow Wild Rose Press author Barbara Barrett. 

For my interview, Barbara answers questions about her interest in anthropology, her travels, the filming of The Bridges of Madison County, and her new book, Keeping it Casual, which has a very interesting hero.

Please welcome Barbara Barrett…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a woman of a certain age who is in the process of reinventing herself, partly because I want to jazz up my bio when I appear on blogs like this but also because I’ve been one of the lucky ones who has accomplished much of what she set out to do and is now writing the next chapter in her life rather than resting on her laurels. Here’s an example. In college, I switched my major from Anthropology to American History, because I didn’t want to do the field work, but I recently got the opportunity to reverse that decision, a tad, by taking an online course in Archaeology offered by the Kiss of Death Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of RWA. I can’t wait to get back to the subject matter. Who knows where this will lead, but I’d be willing to bet Archaeology will figure somehow in one of my future books!

I also consider myself a culture junkie, another aspect of that long-ago interest in Anthropology. I’m fascinated by social trends and how they affect our everyday lives. That includes an intense interest in the entertainment world, especially television and film.

What interesting jobs have you had?

Most of my work career was in human resources management analysis for Iowa State government. In my early years, I performed position classification and selection. The former required me to spend time with incumbents studying their jobs, specifically their tasks and the competencies required to perform those tasks. Oops! Just talking about it sends me back to my technical writing persona. Sorry about that. Anyway, my job acquainted me with a wide range of jobs: bridge inspectors, highway design technicians, information specialists, conservation officers, environmental specialists and many more. When I was developing a hiring test for entry level bridge inspectors I got to go in the field with them and almost, had I pushed more, I might have actually gotten to go up in one of the cherry pickers (lifts) with them. I used a similar piece of heavy equipment in my romantic comedy, Driven to Matrimony, when the hero has to rescue the heroine when her car goes off the road into a body of water.

What was the most interesting place you every visited?

I loved visiting Stratford-on-Avon in England (the unique roofs on the cottages) and I never tire of trips to France (three so far). But the most interesting place? A farm in Madison County, IA, not far from where I now live. Until it burned a few years back, it was referred to as “Francesca’s House,” after they filmed “The Bridges of Madison County” there. My son was chosen to play Francesca’s (Meryl Streep’s) son in his teens in the movie. Because he was underage, he needed a guardian on set with him. Both his dad and I had that privilege. Remember that part in an earlier response about my fascination with the entertainment industry? This experience was the pinnacle for me, getting to be on an actual location shoot, observing an incredible director in Clint Eastwood, and being seated not far from Streep on breaks and watching her knit.

Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

The third and final book in my “Sullivan’s Creek” series, Not Your Mama’s Mambo, doesn’t have a release date yet but should be coming out late this year, just in time for Christmas, because it ends on that holiday. I’m very proud of this book, because I wrote the first draft while I recuperated from knee surgery last summer. During the early days, I could only spend an hour to ninety minutes at a sitting. With the exception of my current release, Keeping It Casual, I went deeper with this book than I have with prior books because a secondary plot involves the gambling problem of the heroine’s sister.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Keeping It Casual revolves around the hero’s inability to deal with his MS, not the physical challenges but the scary proposition of living his life to its fullest knowing his days might be limited. That’s not my life experience, but a former high school classmate who has been living with the condition for many years agreed to review the book for its credibility. Although she may not have faced the same situation as my hero, she certainly is familiar with the challenges presented by the condition. In appreciation, I named a nurse in the book for her.

On a lighter note, however, my hero and heroine take a road trip through Iowa from the southeastern part of the state to the far west. On their way, they stop in Pella, a community southeast of where I live. I’ve often stopped there myself on various trips to my hometown in Burlington. It prides itself in its Dutch heritage, building styles, tulips, windmills, and food. There are two bakeries on the town square. My stops are primarily to sample their goods, especially the Dutch letters, which I reference in the book. If you’ve never sampled this pastry, you’re missing something. Put it on your bucket list. I also check out the Delft pottery and have purchased a few pieces. My hero does the same in the book.

What project are you working on now?

Besides getting ready to review the galley pages of Mambo, I have just started a series about cable television interest shows. Once again, I’m writing about an aspect of the entertainment industry, learning as I go. Things are changing in television. Enterprising streaming technologies are challenging the cable and network business models more each month, so I have to keep up with these changes as I write these books. Another challenge is to figure out how to write stand-alone books linked by the production company formed in the first book without having it overshadow the characters and plots in the subsequent books. It’s slow-going, but when that’s the case, I’ve learned I just have to keep plodding away although analyzing what I’ve got as I go so I don’t go off on paths that won’t work.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

First, if you’ve gotten this far in this blog post, thank you for your interest in me. If you’ve read one or more of my books and have followed me here to learn more, I truly appreciate your support. If you’ve never read one of my books but I’ve enticed you here to consider checking me out, please do. Like I said before, I’m still inventing myself, and that includes my writing. I hope it continues to evolve and bring pleasure to my readers.

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Keeping It Casual by Barbara Barrett

Talent manager Alex Appleby needs Geoff McKenna’s help. Her vicious client is threatening the reputation of Alex’s television-star father if Alex can’t convince her stepsister to go along with the client’s demand.  Alex turns to Geoff to make the case to her sister.

Geoff has his own proposition for Alex. Thus far, his case of multiple sclerosis has been mild, but he’s unsure of his future. When his girlfriend pushes for a stronger commitment, he enlists Alex as his new pretend love interest so his girlfriend will break things off.

When they discover they actually are attracted to each other, they agree to keep things casual, since Alex is only in town briefly and Geoff isn’t interested in anything serious. But fate intervenes as their feelings deepen. Alex must decide whether to relocate to Iowa from LA, and Geoff must place faith in his future.

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Excerpt

Was this Graham McKenna? It had been almost a year since she’d last seen him. And then only briefly. She remembered the man being slightly taller and thinner.

His gait was slow, strained. He almost stumbled once, even stopped about ten feet from the door on which she’d pounded a few minutes prior. When he bent, gripped his thighs, she shot from her car.

“Are you okay?”

He didn’t seem to hear at first, until she realized he was trying to catch his breath.

“Who’re you?” Voice slurred, he attempted another few steps, only to pull up again.

“Let me help you to the door.”

He hesitated briefly, then almost fell into her. Something jabbed her. Keys. He couldn’t be an intruder if he had keys; he had to be one of the McKennas. No time to debate whether she could trust him enough to go inside with him. The man needed help. “Okay if I unlock the door?”

He nodded.

He leaned heavily on her as they made their way into the building. Her white slacks would take a beating, but she didn’t have a choice. He seemed out of it, as if he’d been drugged.

He indicated a light switch tucked away on the back wall. She flipped it, illuminating the cavern of a garage. A blue-and-black motor coach occupied the center of the room, although she barely noticed it as he veered off to the right. They came to an interior wall with three doors.

“Other key.” He headed to the door closest to the front of the building.

She unlocked this inner door and helped him into the room, then located another light switch inside.

“Thanks,” he got out before he collapsed on the couch.

“You need a blanket.” By the time she’d retrieved an afghan from the back of the sofa, he was out. She covered him, then stepped away to study the man.

A real pretty boy. That type abounded in Los Angeles, her home territory. A long time ago, she’d learned the hard way to avoid the category. Too much into themselves.

She should probably take off and return later, because she was pretty sure this wasn’t Graham McKenna. She was no shrinking violet where men were concerned, but she was also savvy enough to realize lone women should not put themselves at risk around men they didn’t know. But he was so out of it, should she leave him on his own?

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Buy Links

ALL ROMANCE | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO| WILD ROSE PRESS

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About Barbara Barrett

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.” Married to the man she met her senior year at the University of Iowa, they have two grown children and eight grandchildren. Keeping It Casual is her seventh romance novel published by The Wild Rose Press and her third and final one in the “Matchmaking Motor Coach Series.” Her previous works include: And He Cooks Too, Driven to Matrimony, Saved by the Salsa, The Sleepover Clause, Tough Enough to Tango and Seduction on Wheels.  Tweet her @bbarrettbooks

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If you have any questions or comments for Barbara, please post them below, and she will get back to you.