What happens when they both start wanting a real marriage?
Barbara says she lives by the philosophy that one should never turn down the opportunity to get on a plane no matter where it’s going, but deep down inside wishes she could travel everywhere by train.
Ironically, she now lives on an island that doesn’t have any trains at all.
What are some of the challenges of being a writer?
Can I say writing? Apparently Victor Hugo used to have himself locked in a room with only a pen, ink and paper so that he’d be forced to write. Otherwise, he’d be out on the town having fun. Writing does take a lot of self-discipline. I’d be much more prolific if I had more (curse you, solitaire and facebook). Really the only thing worse than writing is not writing. At least that’s the case until inspiration strikes while you’re at the keyboard and then you feel like you have wings. It’s sublime. Also marketing. I really dislike marketing.
Tell us about your road to publication.
Like
another more famous road it’s paved with good intentions. When I finished
university I decided I’d knock off a romance for a bit of cash before writing a
‘real’ novel. Oops. The people at Harlequin saw right through me. I refuse to
repeat the comment that cut to the bone but was absolutely spot on.
Later
on I went into journalism, but I still heard fiction calling my name when I
allowed myself some quiet time to listen. So I finally went back to romance and
this time did it with a little more respect for the genre. That seemed to work.
Hmmm,
maybe my road was paved with bad intentions.
How do you come up with your characters?
Sometimes
I think of a situation and wonder who would be an appropriate person to inhabit
that world and sometimes I think of a person and wonder what would be an
appropriate place for them to inhabit. With romance, of course, once you’ve
stumbled upon a character you think you can work with you have to come up with
an appropriate counterfoil – a hero or heroine worthy of them, even if they
don’t realize it themselves.
How do you come up with plots?
Actually
plots are my biggest problem. I love my characters – they often spring into my
head pretty fully formed, although they need a lot of fleshing out. But then
comes the problem of what to do with them. If I could just stick them in a room
and make them chat for the entire length of the book I would be very happy.
Alas, readers expect a little more than that. As I reader myself I fully
understand and try to come up with something to move things along. I often talk
it out with my husband or daughter and they can often come up with some useful
ideas.
Tell us about your latest book. What made you write it?
Counterfeit Viscountess is about a man and a woman who are forced
to pretend they’re married in order to save the woman’s reputation. So they
pretend to be in love to society and, when they actually fall in love, they
pretend to each other that they aren’t. It gets complicated.
I
wanted to write a really sweet story where the interaction between the two
characters was all on an intellectual, non-physical level. That sounds so dry
and unappealing, but they really fell for each other and the conflict in the
story was all about them keeping their hands off each other. If they hadn’t
been able to do that everything would have gone wrong.
What advice do you have for beginning writers?
Write.
Then write some more. However, don’t be too quick to publish. It’s so easy now
to self-publish and I’m all for it, but sometimes when you get rejected by a
publisher it’s for a reason and you should pay attention. Hone your craft. I
know quite a few writers who are quite embarrassed by their first (or second or
third) efforts. They’d be a lot more embarrassed if those efforts had been out
there on amazon for the world to find.
What’s your next project? (or What are you working on now?)
I’ve
got a couple of things on the go at the moment. I imagine most writers do; it’s
a way to stave off writer’s block. If things aren’t going well with one project
then try writing the other one. It often works.
I’m currently working on a collection of loosely tied together Christmas stories set in Newfoundland, where I live. I’m also working on an old school locked door style mystery set in Manitoba, where I once lived.
Now let's look at Counterfeit Viscountess:
Dashing Christopher Hawking just wants a
bed for the night. He didn't expect to find it occupied by a beautiful woman or
to be caught sneaking out of her room. In the light of day, a London-bound member
of the ton finds them together.
Attraction flares between the two in spite
of themselves. But how will they save Caroline's reputation and calm the storm
of the ton's gossip?
Want more? Let's get an excerpt:
When they were alone again and the tea
distributed, Christopher and Caroline did their best to explain to Eleanor the
events of the morning and the evening before.
Eleanor listened without interruption,
contenting herself with the occasional raised eyebrow as her only commentary on
the convoluted tale. When they had finished she turned to Christopher and
remarked, "I must say, it seems quite foolish to have allowed Annabelle
Winthrop of all people to discover you. She's a complete pea goose and she
won't take kindly to Miss Saxon's appearance on the scene. She's been setting
her cap at you forever."
"I didn't exactly do it on
purpose," Christopher was stung to reply.
"On purpose or not, it's got you into
a great deal of difficulty which could have been avoided if you had taken more
care."
Recognizing the signs of temper on
Christopher’s face, Caroline interjected quickly. "Indeed, Lord Saxon did
everything he could. If not for his quick thinking, we would have already come
to ruin. You really cannot blame him for the presence of Miss Winthrop in the
same inn where we were staying."
"Nonsense, I can blame him for
anything I wish. I've been doing it since he was a baby and very handy it's
been as well. It's one of the only advantages of having a younger
sibling."
The fond smile she bestowed on her brother
precluded any sting Caroline, less used to the ways of siblings, might have
imagined such a comment implied, as did Christopher’s bland acceptance of her
outrageous assertion. Though she had watched, and frequently envied, the
comfortable, if often fractious, interaction between the brothers and sisters
she’d played with as a child, she clearly had much to learn about family
relationships when adulthood was achieved.
“However, I suppose there’s nothing we can
do about it now,” Eleanor conceded, magnanimously. “But mind, Christopher, I’ll
expect you to take a great deal more care the next time you break into a
respectable woman’s bedroom.”
https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Viscountess-Barbara-Burke/dp/1509231129
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/counterfeit-viscountess-barbara-burke/1136955014?ean=9781509231126
https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-Burke
https://barbaraburkeauthor.wordpress.com/
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