Novel Reaction

Novel Reaction is excited to welcome author Barbara Freethy, Barbara is the author of more than twenty novels, the latest being her Angel Bay Series. Let’s learn a little more about Barbara:

I’ve been making up stories most of my life. Growing up in a neighborhood with only boys and a big brother who was usually trying to ditch me, I spent a lot of time reading. When I wasn’t reading, I was imagining my own books. After college and several years in the P.R. field, I decided to try my hand at a novel. I was pregnant at the time, and I think there must have been something in those pregnancy hormones. Two years after that decision, I had a finished book and a contract with Silhouette Romance. (Okay, I’ve glossed over the hair-pulling struggle of actually writing that first book, but all the pain vanished when I got the “call”.)

I wrote several books for Silhouette under a pen name, Kristina Logan, and then moved on to single title romance, writing books for Avon and NAL and most recently for Pocket Books where I’ve launched my Angel’s Bay Series. It’s the first time I’ve written a series of connected books, and while it’s quite a challenge, I love being able to develop continuing characters and storylines and create an entire town complete with a rich and fascinating history. Book one, SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER came out last summer and this spring, ON SHADOW BEACH (April) and IN SHELTER COVE (May) will be released. A fourth book will be out in early 2011. IN SHELTER COVE will bring my total of published books to 27.

As you can imagine, it’s taken me a few years to write that many books. I no longer have babies or little kids running around, but I continue to have the support of my family as I live the crazy life of a writer, one foot in the real world, the other in the world of my imagination.

I first got my love of reading from my mother, who was an avid reader and filled our home with overflowing shelves of books. She was also the one who first came up with the idea of writing a romance and completed her first novel a few years before me. When I first started writing, we traveled to writers’ conferences together and learned the craft, but mostly we just had a lot of fun. It was wonderful to have her support and encouragement. She was in the audience when I won the RITA for Daniel’s Gift, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the expression on her face. While, she never fulfilled her own publishing dreams, she kept on writing, as much for the joy of it as anything. And some days when the writing seems “hard” or when the ever changing publishing business takes another spin, I think of her and remember that it’s always about the story. And the next best thing to reading is writing.

I hope to continue on for many more books, because the ideas just keep coming. When I’m not writing, I’m enjoying my family and the usually good California weather. A native Californian, I’ve lived at both ends of the state, and while I sometimes miss the hot summer nights of Southern California, I love the beautiful bays and hillsides of Northern California and the intriguing city of San Francisco, one of my favorite settings.

 

NR: How old were you when you wrote your first book?

Barbara: I started writing when I was in my mid twenties.  My mother was an avid romance reader and I grew up in a house overflowing with books.  After college and several years working in communications, I decided to take a break from writing about high tech companies and write a book.  I also had two little babies in the house and thought it was also be great if I could launch a writing career and work from home. It took me about a year to write the first book, which I sold to Silhouette Romance under the pen name Kristina Logan.  I wrote 7 more books for Silhouette and then decided to try a longer book.  That was DANIEL’S GIFT, which I wrote under my own name, and it went on to win the RITA for Best Contemporary Romance and was also optioned for a TV movie.  I’ve now published a total of 28 books with the next one, GARDEN OF SECRETS, being released by Pocket Books, September 20, 2011.

NR: Who are the authors that you read or which authors helped you decide to become a writer?

Barbara: I’m a huge reader but I was definitely influenced by Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Kay Hooper, Elizabeth Lowell, Karen Robards and many, many more.

NR: Where did you come up with the idea of the Gabriella sinking, leading to the founding of Angel’s Bay?

Barbara: Angel’s Bay was a fun community to create.  I have no idea how it all came together but I wanted the town to have a history rich in legends.  In some of my research, I read about shipwrecks off the coast of California and how there are underground canyons where ships can be lost for centuries.  I thought that would be a cool tidbit to work in. To throw in a little more California history, I set the wreck towards the end of the California Gold Rush and filled it with gold.  The town was created by the bay, where some of the survivors made it to shore and ever since then stories of angels watching over the town have been told.  The women of the wreck also started the first Angel’s Bay quilt, which was made of squares telling each family’s story.  The quilting tradition continues today and the past and the present are constantly being reconnected with each new stitching of the quilt and of course the quilt shop is the heart of the town.

NR: I am very excited that Charlotte is finally getting her own story as she has been one of my favorite minor characters, can you give us any hints as to who she ends up with? (I am totally team Joe!)

Barbara: I cannot tell you who Charlotte ends up with — that would spoil the story, but I am really excited that GARDEN OF SECRETS features one of my favorite characters, Charlotte, as well as the two sexy men who want to claim her heart, Joe and Andrew.  Each is a worthy competitor.  So Charlotte has some tough decisions to make.

NR: Do you have any questions you never get asked but always want to be asked?

Barbara: That’s a tough one.  I think I’ve been asked everything!  I guess one question I’d like to answer that wasn’t asked is whether the series has to be read from the beginning.  While the entire reading experience will be richer from the start, I worked especially hard to make sure that each book stands on its own and readers can jump into the series at any time and not feel lost.

NR: On Novel Reaction each month we do a books to movie challenge where we read the book and watch the movie and discuss it. Which is your favorite book to movie and why?

Barbara: Another good question.  I recently saw SOMETHING BORROWED, which was based on the book by Emily Giffin.  I thought the movie was pretty close to the book with a couple of exceptions.  But I think the book did a better job of really showing us the depth of the characters, which made it easier to understand their motivations and actions.  I didn’t think Rachel came across as likeable in the movie when she sleeps with her best friend’s fiancé, but the complexities of the love triangle are better done in the book.  But overall, they were both great entertainment.

____________________________________________

Thank you so much Barbara for stopping by and sharing with us, I haven’t seen Something Borrowed yet but it is on my list. I just finished Barbara’s Angel Bay Series and enjoyed it. The reviews of the first four books will follow but here is the reading order:

Angel Bay Series:

Suddenly One Summer

On Shadow Beach

In Shelter Cove

At Hidden Falls

Garden of Secrets (September 2011)