Book: Barbed: A Memoir
Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
I am a writer, author, and poet, each of which defines me a little differently and compels me into different places physically and artistically. What they have in common is a love for stories: when I meet people, I love to learn why they are where they are, where they were before, why they do what they do. In my case, the short answer to those questions is that ranching made me a writer, and readers can learn more about why as they travel through the stories in ‘Barbed’.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Barbed’ book?
The book version of ‘Barbed’ that is now published represents about seven years of writing and re-writing. Not wanting to forget the people who helped me as a rancher, I wrote down what happened—what we all did. The story around those events wasn’t clear at first because I was still living it, and it hadn’t reached its end, which was to be a publication offer, but I didn’t know that at the time I was working on the manuscript. I thought the story started and ended with my coming to and leaving the ranch. The story, and my publisher, felt otherwise.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Deborah Ledford was the first published author to work with me to make my writing into a manuscript. As a mystery author, she knows what puzzles readers will and won’t accept: whodunit? Yes. What ‘it’ means without an antecedent? No.
Lisa Schnebly Heidinger was the one who said I had to finish ‘Barbed,’ a great honor and huge push at the time because she had literally written the book on Arizona (“Arizona: 100 Years Grand 1912-2012”), the state where ‘Barbed’ takes place.
I listen to Craig Johnson’s Longmire books over and over because he is a master of weaving description into the narrative without having to stop for it. I aspire to that level of craft.
I also revere Barbara Kingsolver, Alberto Ríos, Fredrik Backman, Neil Gaiman, Sherman Alexie, Ivan Doig, and others I cannot hope to emulate yet, and once I had written ‘Barbed,’ I felt that the very best I could with what I had learned about writing up to that point, I decided to go get an MFA to give me more facility for future books I hope to write.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
In the saddle of a beloved horse is a place like no other; probably the spot most likely to bring out my best self. I like who I am when I am simply in that moment with my trusted friend, and I am most disgusted with myself when I feel I messed up and ruined that moment for both of us. Thankfully, my horse friends have been very forgiving, which is part of why being with them is so precious.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?
Thankfully, to start writing, all we have to do is start writing, which is a frequent blessing for me, as writing is my second most favorite place in the world. To start turning that writing into a book, oh, yes, there is lots of editing, re-writing, and other re-visioning to make that story into the best version of itself. I often say ‘Barbed’ needed both Julies to make it work: the publisher who worked me from Soulstice, Julie Hammonds, and me.
Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Barbed’ book?
I wrote the first draft in 2014. I revised it in 2016, then again, massively, in 2019 when Soulstice expressed an interest in it. I stopped work on it, telling Soulstice I couldn’t do it, in 2020 when I was also trying to run the ranch for a second time, then told them I wanted to try again when I realized coming back to the ranch was what the book needed to end on. Soulstice sent me an editorial letter about what I needed to fix in late 2020, and Julie Hammonds and I worked almost daily to bring ‘Barbed’ to a print version through spring 2021. In October 2021, we had an actual book in hand.
Q7. On what all platforms readers can find ‘Barbed’ book to buy?
Barbed is in print and an e-book. I’d like to read it to make it an audiobook, but I haven’t figured out how to voice the male characters…yet.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Barbed’?
‘Barbed’ was always part of the title. Julie at Soulstice pushed to add ‘A Memoir,’ hoping to interest memoir readers, a very dedicated market. I fought with myself, going several rounds, over whether I was allowed to have a memoir as a non-famous person in my forties. I had hoped to someday, but I didn’t think I’d start a writing career with one. Besides which, I wasn’t quite evolved enough to believe Sherman Alexie when he told an audience I was part of years prior that “you had an epic day today. You have stories to tell.”
Ultimately I decided that if it were a friend of mine who was asking me, I would say ‘Of course you get to have a memoir! Everyone gets to have a memoir!’ I would never limit a friend, so why would I limit myself?
The cover came from Lindy Martin of Faceout Studio. Soulstice wanted a Flagstaff connection if they could find one, and Faceout is run by a graduate of Northern Arizona University, which is right in town. Lindy had designed for Christopher Paolini, and since I had devoured the ‘Eragon’ books and she had a unique way of making a cover look like a gateway into a world I wanted to be in, I was quick to say ‘Lindy! Yes, Lindy!’ when Soulstice presented her as an option.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
Because the events that comprise ‘Barbed’ have a ‘you’ll never believe this’ quality that made me want to record them in the first place, I didn’t worry much about a fresh approach.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
I did a lot of living between the events recorded in the Bootstraps and Begats sections of ‘Barbed.’ I went back to Spain to help my horse farm owner friend write his memoir, became fascinated with and visited every one of the (Alta) California missions, danced on both a rooftop and a stage in Las Vegas, and performed and got published as a poet. Most otherworldly of all, I accepted myself as a writer. These are all adventures I may write about someday, that added to the perspective I needed to revise and finish ‘Barbed,’ but they will remain unpublished stories for the time being.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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