Happy Birthday AGAIN to ME and all the September babies. And Happy Labor Day. This month we’re talking to Barbara Binns who most recently was up for an RWA Golden Heart. And we have Niambi Brown Davis. For a special treat A.C. Arthur is giving us a recipe for crab cakes. Last but not least a surprise excerpt.
Hello Barbara. For the members of the family that may not be familiar with you yet would you tell us a bit about yourself?
Barbara Binns: My name is Barbara Binns. I write YA as B. A. Binns, and adult works under my own name. I won’t tell my age, but I retired three years ago and now write full-time. I am a member of both the Romance Writers of America (Chicago North, Wisconsin, Golden Network and YA chapters) and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
My first Romance Slam Jam was in 2008 at Chicago. I loved being on the 2010 Anniversary cruise and I can hardly wait for Boston 2011.
My agent is Andrea Somberg from Harvey Klinger, Inc. and in April 2010 she sold my YA manuscript, PULL (formerly titled Pull My String) to WestSide Books. Since then I’ve been on a whirlwind as they are rushing it to print for an October 2010 release.
Contest finals
• 2009 Indiana’s Golden Opportunity
• 2009 Maryland Romance Writer’s Reveal Your Inner Vixen
• 2010 RWA® Golden Heart
Contest wins:
• 2009 Rose City Romance Writers Golden Rose
• 2009 Oklahoma Romance Writers of America Finally a Bride
Dyanne: Barbara thanks for the background. So, when did you decide to enter this insane world of writing?
BB: If you discount my first attempt, which I totally do since I recently found a copy of the manuscr
ipt I “wrote” back in college and I will never admit that it was mine, I started writing seriously in 2007. Since then I’ve taken a number of writing classes and completed three adult novels and two YA novels as well as a number of short stories. PULL is the first one that sold.
The real truth is I didn’t decide. The characters in my head tried to drive me crazy until I agreed to write down their stories.
Dyanne: Tell us about your first book, the highs, the lows, and the unexpected.
BB: PULL is a YA romanceD between two youths, David and Yolanda, who have suffered loss and developed a strength that the other needs. It’s also a coming of age story where both of them reach forks in the road leading toward adulthood and have to make choices that will forever alter their futures. And it’s a boy book, with everything seen and experienced from David’s point of view. I did that because I especially hope that male readers will find this a book they can relate to.
The most unexpected thing in the journey of writing and publishing PULL was how quickly things moved. I wrote the book in the beginning of 2009. I entered contests and got some good feedback which I used to upgrade the manuscript. Entered more contests and began to final. The first win was a huge high and I began sending out queries. Some got the quick rejection but others resulted in requests for partials and fulls before producing some really encouraging rejections letters-but they were still rejections. That 10th rejection was a major low. So was the 11th, 12th, etc.
Then, in November I won the Golden Rose YA contest and Andrea Somberg, the final judge, asked to read the full. She asked to represent me in December. We signed the agency contract in January and she sold the manuscript in April.
The unexpected – while the sale was being negotiated I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. After a complete hysterectomy I found myself juggling radiation treatments, line edits and promotion attempts.
My biggest high occurred earlier this summer when PULL received a glowing blurb from Tanita S. Davis, who received the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for her writing. And the second biggest high came when New York Times bestselling author heard about PULL and Lisa Kleypas told me she was eager to read it.
Dyanne: Barbara, if you could change one thing about your writing career thus far what would it be?
BB: I’d find a way to do a better job with my first drafts. The re-writing is exhausting. And I’d try to find the time to put more into my adult works.
I’d learn to write short stories and novellas. I’d kill for the skill to be able to tell a complete story in under 60,000 words.
Dyanne: Now for a game of what if. What if you could write your career in writing the way you would want it to be, give me the first line of your dream career.
BB: I’m not sure; I don’t have a dream career other than what I have now. Asking for too much more would be tempting fate.
Dyanne: If you could have one wish what would it be?
BB: Related to writing – I wish I could write better and especially faster.
Related to life – I would like to have many long, loving, prosperous and healthy years with my daughter. We aren’t close now, but I hope that will change.
Dyanne: What are you working on?
BB: I’m currently working on another YA novel as yet untitled. It’s a little darker than PULL and deals with a young man considering suicide and a girl who considers herself invisible and unlovable and how they both discover their mistakes about themselves.
I’m also working on an adult Romance that I call The Last Logan, about a woman forced to join forces with the brother of the man who raped her a decade earlier when a serial killer targets members of his family; including her daughter.
Dyanne: What words of advice would you give to a new writer?
BB: First, be a good reader. Read for fun, but also read to understand technique. Consider books you like (and those you hate) as textbooks of examples to show you what to do, and not to do.
Second, never stop working on your craft. It’s easy to think that writing is natural, like walking or running, so there’s little need to keep studying. But I find myself discovering something new with every writing course conference session or even reading blog posts on craft. Become part of a critique group, one that really tears into the words on the page. Learn the business end, seeing the world through the eye of an agent or editor will help you attract them.
Finally, treat writing like it’s a job. It may be a part-time thing, but schedule time to write every day and plan so that you meet your goals. This is a solitary profession and you are your own boss and that’s the toughest job there is.
Dyanne: What plans do you have for the future?
BB: Since a woman’s reach should always exceed her grasp, to paraphrase Browning, I’m planning on hitting the New York Times bestseller list as soon as humanly possible. Why waste time dreaming about anything less? My immediate future is to launch PULL, and complete the sequel. And promote like hell.
Dyanne: Where can readers reach you?
BB: Take a look at my website –
http://www.babinns.com/, follow me on my blog,
http://harperwriterstogether.blogspot.com/, or just email me at
binns@babinns.comYou can also catch me on Facebook or look at my Amazon.Com author page. I’m afraid I rarely tweet.
Report from A.C. Arthur: Things are moving along. I’ve been told A.C. believes in throwing a good party so I can only imagine the fun to be had at the conference. There’s still time to register for 2011 Romance Slam Jam conference.
