Ask the Author: Donna Barker
Answered Questions (6)
Donna Barker
I do have a favourite character, Tara, the protagonist.
I find it interesting that readers have strong reactions to Tara -- some have said that at moments in the story they want give her a swift kick in the back-side to smarten her up, and others have said they want to hug her.
There are several scenes where, while I was writing, I wanted to both kick and hug her at the same time -- which is sometimes how I feel about the people in my life who I love the most deeply! She feels like family to me.
Thanks for asking!
I find it interesting that readers have strong reactions to Tara -- some have said that at moments in the story they want give her a swift kick in the back-side to smarten her up, and others have said they want to hug her.
There are several scenes where, while I was writing, I wanted to both kick and hug her at the same time -- which is sometimes how I feel about the people in my life who I love the most deeply! She feels like family to me.
Thanks for asking!
Donna Barker
I don't fight it. I read. Or scroll Facebook endlessly.
I'm a technical writer in my day job so if my creative writing isn't fun, I put it aside. I know that's not the advice or practice of all the big authors. But it's what works for me. I write when it flows.
I'm a technical writer in my day job so if my creative writing isn't fun, I put it aside. I know that's not the advice or practice of all the big authors. But it's what works for me. I write when it flows.
Donna Barker
That is a great question!
Drinking Scotch with Strangers is definitely another blended genre novel. It's got romance (with sex scenes, door open) but it's not a romance novel since the heroine assumes the typical role of the hero who isn't ready to settle down, while the hero plays the "good girl," as it were. And so far I can't see it ending with a HEA.
But what's the blend? Well, since ill-informed, self-help seems to come quite naturally to me, I'm going with gonzo journalism rebel romance.
Gonna have fun finding a home on Amazon...
Drinking Scotch with Strangers is definitely another blended genre novel. It's got romance (with sex scenes, door open) but it's not a romance novel since the heroine assumes the typical role of the hero who isn't ready to settle down, while the hero plays the "good girl," as it were. And so far I can't see it ending with a HEA.
But what's the blend? Well, since ill-informed, self-help seems to come quite naturally to me, I'm going with gonzo journalism rebel romance.
Gonna have fun finding a home on Amazon...
Donna Barker
Having a legal outlet for all my dark fantasies. I'm quite certain I'd be on husband number four by now if I didn't test those fantasies through my characters. They provide sober second-thought.
Donna Barker
As of October 2015, I'm working on two projects:
1. a follow-up to Mother Teresa's Advice called Mother Teresa's Karma for Killers.
2. a rework of the first novel I wrote, called Drinking Scotch with Strangers. It's rebel romance. The main character is a 40-year-old who thought that suggesting her husband have an affair to avoid having to have sex with him anymore was a good idea. Much drinking and unladylike behaviour follows. All hilarious, of course.
1. a follow-up to Mother Teresa's Advice called Mother Teresa's Karma for Killers.
2. a rework of the first novel I wrote, called Drinking Scotch with Strangers. It's rebel romance. The main character is a 40-year-old who thought that suggesting her husband have an affair to avoid having to have sex with him anymore was a good idea. Much drinking and unladylike behaviour follows. All hilarious, of course.
Donna Barker
My brother and I were brainstorming blended genre books and titles you would never — and should never — find in a bookstore. Things like:
Astrology + Business = Float with the Angels without Being Eaten Alive
Humour + History = Not That Kind of Nazi
Business + Science fiction = The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Extraterrestrials
Hobby + Psychology = Deco Designs for the Serial Killer Mind
Travel Guide + Murder mystery = Best Places to Murder on the Orient Express
And finally,
Religious + Self-help = Mother Teresa’s Advice for Jilted Lovers
It seemed like a crazy cross-genre blend, but when I thought about it, I realized that I’d actually read a religious self-help book — The Secret.
I wondered what MY life would be like if I had the power to control the Universe (as The Secret asserts we can) and believed, like Mother Teresa did, that suffering was a gift from God. The answer was obvious: I’d become a psychic serial killer.
This novel is a cautionary tale to myself to not try to develop my universe-controlling abilities!
Astrology + Business = Float with the Angels without Being Eaten Alive
Humour + History = Not That Kind of Nazi
Business + Science fiction = The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Extraterrestrials
Hobby + Psychology = Deco Designs for the Serial Killer Mind
Travel Guide + Murder mystery = Best Places to Murder on the Orient Express
And finally,
Religious + Self-help = Mother Teresa’s Advice for Jilted Lovers
It seemed like a crazy cross-genre blend, but when I thought about it, I realized that I’d actually read a religious self-help book — The Secret.
I wondered what MY life would be like if I had the power to control the Universe (as The Secret asserts we can) and believed, like Mother Teresa did, that suffering was a gift from God. The answer was obvious: I’d become a psychic serial killer.
This novel is a cautionary tale to myself to not try to develop my universe-controlling abilities!
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