Ask the Author: Barry B. Wright
Answered Questions (9)
Barry B. Wright
I would travel to the year 1922 when The Camomile by Catherine Carswell was first published. Once in Glasgow, I would search with the intent to meet my parents-to-be in their youth. It was a part of their lives I knew little about, and I would dearly want to linger long enough to get to know them and just hang out. Also, there would be the joy of meeting grandparents I never had the opportunity to meet.
Barry B. Wright
Angel Maker evolved from a short story I wrote, entitled: The Murder of Arthur Brodley. I’ve always been interested in early 20th century history especially the three decades that included the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. They always seemed to me to be a conflicted and interesting set of decades and as a result I felt a need to find out more about the foundations for a lot of the people’s attitudes. My next novel Traces of Evil will fill in the period from 1923 to just before WW2.
Barry B. Wright
To quote Kahlil Gibran, “Work is love made visible.” Inspiration comes from life experiences, photos, articles (online and hardcopy), songs, podcasts, and on-line courses and lectures. Anything, in other words, that captures my interest is noted and placed in folders for possible future use. Often a lot of research precedes the writing of a novel as well as during its creation. My recent novel Angel Maker, written under the name, Barry B. Wright, is a case in point.
Barry B. Wright
The drafts of what I am presently working on are found at chapterbuzz.com/bawright.
Barry B. Wright
At the moment, there are 12 books that I have added to my summer reading list.
1. War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan
2. The House by the Lake by Ellen Carey
3. 1945: The Year that Made Modern Canada by Ken Cuthbertson
4. Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5 by Robert Galbraith
5. The Next Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia
Shah
6. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
7. The World: A Brief Introduction by Richard Haass
8. The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914 by
Barbara W. Tuchman
9. The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from Freemasons to
Facebook by Niall Ferguson
10. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
11. Lethal White: A Cormoran Strike Novel by Robert Galbraith
12. Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett
1. War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan
2. The House by the Lake by Ellen Carey
3. 1945: The Year that Made Modern Canada by Ken Cuthbertson
4. Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Novel, Book 5 by Robert Galbraith
5. The Next Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move by Sonia
Shah
6. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
7. The World: A Brief Introduction by Richard Haass
8. The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914 by
Barbara W. Tuchman
9. The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from Freemasons to
Facebook by Niall Ferguson
10. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
11. Lethal White: A Cormoran Strike Novel by Robert Galbraith
12. Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett
Barry B. Wright
I love the whole creative process. It still amazes me what is hidden in the recesses of my mind. According to the author, John Updike: "...Most lives are basically mundane and dull, and it's up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting." In a nutshell, if only for a moment, the writer takes the reader on a journey of escapism within a genre and through their chosen character. The 'make believe world' is the wonderful mindscape a writer gets to play in. Yes, that is the best part of my day.
Barry B. Wright
If you get blocked on one story, write another one. For me, writer's block is usually caused by lack of mental energy. My fix is to stop and write something else. For example, recently I challenged myself by writing a short story and a poem without "e's" and posted them on my site at wrightba.com. It is important that whatever you decide to do, it must be fun to keep you writing.
Barry B. Wright
One day I awoke as a child. The next day I awoke as an adult, and my mother did not know me.
Barry B. Wright
Advice to aspiring authors.
1. Try not to get in the way of your stories.
2. Keep a diary.
3. Persist, have courage, write from the heart.
4. Quote from Yoda: “Do. Or do not. There is no try;
5. A quote from Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within:
“Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.) Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on each page.) Lose control. Don’t think. Don’t get logical. Go for the jugular. (if something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.
1. Try not to get in the way of your stories.
2. Keep a diary.
3. Persist, have courage, write from the heart.
4. Quote from Yoda: “Do. Or do not. There is no try;
5. A quote from Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within:
“Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn’t mean to write, leave it.) Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don’t even care about staying within the margins and lines on each page.) Lose control. Don’t think. Don’t get logical. Go for the jugular. (if something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.
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