Pump Up Your Book Chats with ‘Chasing Zebras’ Barbara Barnett

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Barbara Barnett is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics, an Internet magazine of pop culture, politics and more owned by Technorati Media. Always a pop-culture geek, Barbara was raised on a steady diet of TV (and TV dinners), but she always found her way to TV’s antiheroes and misunderstood champions, whether on TV, in the movies or in literature.

Barnett’s regular column, “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House, M.D.” features insightful episode commentaries and interviews with the House cast and creative team. It is the place for intelligent discussion of the hit television series starring Hugh Laurie.

Barbara has had an eclectic career. With an undergraduate degree in biology and minors in chemistry and English, she pursued a PhD in Public Policy Analysis after spending a few years working in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Her first professional writing gig was with a food industry trade magazine, and although it wasn’t exactly like writing for The New Yorker, it completely hooked her on the profession of writing.

She also writes lots of other things, including technology (from a non-geek perspective), the movies, politics and all things Jewish. Based in the north shore suburbs of Chicago, Barnett is married with two brilliant children and a dog. Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. is her first (commercial) book. She hopes it’s not her last.

Visit Barbara’s website at www.barbarabarnett.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Barbara! First of all, can you let everyone know why you wrote your book?

The book was inspired by my regular Blogcritics feature “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House, M.D.” I started writing the column mid-season four and after awhile I realized that the series was complex enough to warrant book treatment. I also had three-plus seasons I’d not written about at all, and I wanted to address the entire series. I’d read episode guides for this and other series, and to me, most fall short: either they focus on recapping every episode in every detail or they only look at one aspect: philosophy, medicine, etc. I wanted to do something that was fun as well as analytical, hence the book.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

Probably the episode guide. Six seasons and well more than 100 episodes. Maintaining a level of detail and consistency across so many entries was a huge challenge. Because every episode includes specific highlights, it required the most concentration. But I really wanted a comprehensive guide to serve new viewers just as the narrative chapters are really intended for veteran fans. Also, after many seasons, some things blur together. I had to be extremely careful to cite the right episode, the right character. The level of detail took a lot of concentration to get correct.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

I love House because it’s a series that asks the fundamental question: what does it mean to do the “right thing?” I spend a lot of time in the book talking about that (among other things), but the series point of view is fascinating and counter-intuitive. I wanted to pay homage to that.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

I’ve been a writer as long as I can remember. My first poem was published when I was nine or ten. I’ve been writing ever since.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

Even though I’ve had a very eclectic career in the sciences, social sciences, politics and arts, writing has always been a crucial part of every job I’ve had.

I’m the co-executive editor of Blogcritics Internet magazine, where I also write politics and culture articles (and reviews). I have a couple of novels I’ve been working as well. I started my professional writing career in the late 1970s with a business magazine. It was trial by fire, and have written two commissioned books for the National Safety Council. And then went on to spending many years in environmental public affairs, writing everything from newsletters to speeches.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Keep writing. I know it sounds trite, but it’s true. Just as important is to love the language. Play with finding the rhythm of the piece (even non-fiction has a rhythm). The words you choose should always be chosen with care. Be precise, but be clear and concise.

The other thing I suggest is to learn how to be a brutal editor of your own work. Don’t be afraid to lose a paragraph or a page if it serves the book. Read aloud and be ruthless. Rip it to shreds and start over if you need to. Your editor and publisher will thank you for it—and the publishing process will go that much easier.

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

I live in the northern Chicago suburbs with my husband, dog and my son’s rabbit. Our daughter is newly married and in the third year of her PhD program in chemistry at the University of Washington. Our son is a sophomore at the University of Illinois studying advertising and music production. He’s interested in sound design, production and composition. My husband is a bioengineer, a software applications engineer and a jazz pianist. All four of us write in varying degrees. I spend my days as a Jewish educator and musician in a synagogue!

Q: Can you tell us a little about your childhood?

I was a pretty classic underachiever: smart, but uninspired (and very lazy). I remember, however, always having a great curiosity about everything. We had a big backyard and every spring I’d collect pond water and look at it under a microscope as the season went on, noting the changes in the organisms that lived there. That interested me. Arithmetic, not so much. I was able to barely get by without ever opening a textbook, but my essay projects, research projects and test scores were always high enough that I got away it. It’s one of my biggest regrets.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

Curled up in the corner of our Laz-E-Boy love seat, footrest out with lap desk.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

Doing that as I write this. We are spending a week in paradise in a condo overlooking Banderas Bay on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. I’m writing, taking lots of pictures (the sunset is spectacular from our terrace) and going to the beach a lot! Whale watching in a tiny boat tomorrow.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

I let everyone know it was available for pre-order last March (the book came out in September). I put it on my personal blog and then had a website designed for the book. I tweeted and face-booked it constantly.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

Very. I use Facebook and Twitter (especially) pretty regularly.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

I think the Internet and social networks have changed promotion vastly. Authors have access to huge audiences and potential audiences that simply were inaccessible just a few years ago. Even when doing conventional promotion (TV/radio interviews, etc.), the ability to spread those around the ‘Net via YouTube and Twitter really increases visibility.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

The time involved from concept to first royalty check. Obviously if you have an advance (which I have) that helps, but from idea to royalty check #1 can take two years (or more). Writing for the Internet is all about immediate gratification—immediate feedback. The publishing process is all about taking time. It’s an adjustment if you’re used to writing for the Web.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

Seeing the book in print for the first time (whether that’s the galleys) or the finished, bound book with its shiny cover. My agent told me when this first began that it was akin to holding your first child. It’s pretty close!

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

Because of e-publishing and other factors, the publishing business had changed a lot. As a writer, technology has made it easier. Manuscripts go back and forth via email. Meetings are taken via Skype. Even the original galleys for the book came through email. But nothing takes the place of reading in print, so I was wisely asked to print out the galleys and edit them as if reading for the first time in print. Brilliant.

Also, technology has led to requiring shorter book runs. It’s less of a risk for a publisher to do a run of 5,000 than 25,000, and new printings can be undertaken quickly and in smaller quantity. So that is good for niche writers and smaller publishing houses.

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

Up till now (other than for peace in the Middle East) it had been to be a published author. Now… That CZ was not a fluke and that there will be more books to come.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

Right now, I am at that place. I’m on vacation away from the 0 degree temps and snow. I’m looking out on the Pacific Ocean from my rooftop terrace listening to the waves rush up onto the shore. My husband is sipping coffee three feet away from me, and I can’t think of any other place I’d like to be.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

My agent, my publisher, my very indulgent and tolerant husband—my very supportive fans—and my very first editor Rita Tatum who taught me how to take a sharp blue pencil to my own work before she—as my editor—ever saw it.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, Barbara. Do you have any final words?

Thank you so much for this opportunity. Buy the book! Seriously, I hope you enjoy Chasing Zebras if you do happen to read it, and come join the conversation over at Blogcritics.org!

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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