Pump Up Your Book Chats with Barbara Ardinger author of Secret Lives

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Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. (www.barbaraardinger.com), is the author of Secret Lives, a new novel about crones and other magical folks, and Pagan Every Day, a unique daybook of daily meditations. Her earlier books include Goddess Meditations, Finding New Goddesses (a parody of goddess encyclopedias), and Quicksilver Moon (a realistic novel … except for the vampire). Her day job is freelance editing for people who have good ideas but don’t want to embarrass themselves in print. To date, she has edited more than 250 books, both fiction and nonfiction, on a wide range of topics. Barbara lives in southern California with her two rescued Maine coon cats, Schroedinger and Heisenberg.

Website: www.barbaraardinger.com

Most recent blog: http://www.barbaraardinger.com/articles/2011/09/23/publishing-is-an-educational-experience/

Author Barbara Ardinger

About Barbara Ardinger

Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. (www.barbaraardinger.com), is the author of Secret Lives, a novel about crones and other magical folks, and Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives, a unique daybook of daily meditations, stories, and activities. Her earlier books include Goddess Meditations, Finding New Goddesses (a parody of goddess encyclopedias), and Quicksilver Moon (a realistic novel … except for the vampire). Her day job is freelance editing for people who have good ideas but don’t want to embarrass themselves in print. To date, she has edited more than 250 books, both fiction and nonfiction, on a wide range of topics. Barbara lives in southern California.

Facebook page for Secret Lives: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secret-Lives/140993335978461

Thank you for this interview, Barbara. Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later? Do you remember your first published piece?

A: I have a vague memory of writing a story for my daddy when I was in the second grade. (He loved it of course.) In the fifth grade, I wrote a puppet show based on The Littlest Angel for my class to put on for our parents. In high school, I was the only member of the Creative Writing Club that had a new piece to read at every single meeting. My sophomore English teacher drove me to a meeting in downtown St. Louis with a publisher’s representative, but that meeting never went anywhere. When I was in college, my freshman comp teacher, Professor Bierk, noticed that I was already a very good writer and asked me to join the yearbook staff. If I stacked up all the term papers I wrote in college and graduate school (B.S., M.A., Ph.D.), that stack of paper would be as tall as I am. I think I had a few short pieces published in magazines when I was in high school. My first published book was Seeing Solutions, published by New American Library (Signet) in 1989.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

A: I don’t think anything is frustrating about being a published author. I love it when I receive fan letters (these days, more often emails, but I used to get them on paper in envelopes). In fact, I have made friends with a couple people who started out just as fans. I also enjoy short book tours and meeting people, but I’m not like some authors who spend all their time on the road. That would make me crazy. (I’m a double Cancer; I need home time.)

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life? Do you have support?

A: I’m single and self-employed. I’m past normal retirement age, but I’m still working. I love editing and helping other people write better. The authors whose books I edit are smart people with good ideas, but few writing skills. I help them achieve “gooder English.” (That’s what I used to tell the engineers when I was a technical editor—gooder English.) How do I combine my life? When I’m working on a book, I edit in the morning, write in the afternoon, and do research in the evening. However, I have the covers of my eight published books in plastic frames on one wall of my office, in a column from floor to ceiling. Seeing Solutions is about six inches above the floor; Secret Lives is about three inches below the ceiling. I take this as a sign that I don’t have to write any more books ……….. and now a friend and I are talking about making a book out of the revisionist fairy tales I’ve been posting (with her illustrations) on the Womens Radio website. Because I live with two cats but no other human beings, I can work and eat and nap whenever I want to. It’s a good life.

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing? Where do you like to vacation? Can you tell us briefly about this?

A: My favorite thing in the whole world is going to the theater, especially musical theater. Just within the past few months, I’ve seen Kiss Me, Kate, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Noel Coward’s Private Lives and Hay Fever, the farce Noises Off, the 25^th anniversary production of Les Miserables, Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl, Cabaret, and The Robber Bridegroom. Later this month, I’m going to a lecture by Stephen Sondheim. I watch very little TV—I have a big DVD collection of more musicals, plus a lot of Shakespeare and other movies I like, so after the PBS Newshour, I watch DVDs from my collection or Netflix. What’s a vacation? When I travel, I make arrangements ahead of time to do a book signing or a book talk or engage in some other authorial activity. When I went to England, for example, I did several book signings and helped facilitate a ritual at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple. Loved it!

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

A: I’d go to London and see Michael Ball in Sweeney Todd. I’ve been a member of the Michael Ball Fan Club for ten years, and Sweeney Todd is one of my favorite Sondheim musicals.

Who is your biggest fan?

A: My network of friends gives me wonderful emotional support, They keep telling me they love what I write.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

A: I sit at my computer. I used to write in pencil on paper sitting on the couch, but I can’t read my handwriting anymore.

Do you have any pets?

A: I believe that we do not “have pets.” We cannot “own” another life, nor can we “own” parts of the earth. (We can use it and maybe take out a long-term lease on the land we live on.) I live with two rescued Maine coon cats, Heisenberg and Schroedinger. Yes, they’re named after famous quantum physicists.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

A: If I told you a secret, then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, would it?

What’s on your to do list today?

A: I’m doing two of these paper interviews, then I’ll check my email again, and then I’ll do a final edit on a long novel the author and I have been working on for several months. It’s an interesting science-fiction/philosophical novel. Tonight, I’ll be on a blogtalkradio show, “Over to Oberon and Ariel,” to talk about Secret Lives. After that, I’ll watch a couple episodes of Slings and Arrows, a terrific series about Shakespearean actors. It’s on DVD.

Now I’ve got a couple of fun questions for you. If Tom Hanks, in the movie Cast Away, unearthed a copy of your book, how would that help him find a way off the island?

A: Maybe he could learn to do some magic that would help him improve his life on the island. Maybe he could learn enough magic to teach that basketball to talk back. Maybe find a better way to signal the world that he needs to be rescued. But magic does not (that I know of) create airplanes that swoop down to save you.

You have a chance to appear on the hit talent show for authors, American Book Idol, with judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara Dioguardi and the newest addition, Ellen DeGeneres, to determine whether your book will make it to Hollywood and become a big screenplay where you’d make millions of dollars. What would impress them more – your book cover, an excerpt or your author photo – and why?

A: I’ve never seen these reality shows. I know who Ellen DeGeneres is and think she’s a swell entertainer, but I have no idea who those other people are. I’m a writer—an excerpt from my book should be more impressive than the cover or a photo of me. Although my author photo is quite nifty. So is the photo of me and the little witch that my daughter-in-law made for the book cover. Here it is: http://www.barbaraardinger.com/secret-lives

You just got word that your book has received the 2010 NY Times Bestselling Book Award and you have to attend the ceremony to give an acceptance speech. Anyone who’s anyone will be there and it’s your shot for stardom. What would you say and who would you thank?

A: I would say thank you to everyone who’s read Secret Lives and speak about how and why I wrote the book and how society should be more respectful of elderly people.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in (put month you are touring here) via a virtual book tour. Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

A: I’m “touring” with PUYB in October, 2011, and February, 2012. I chose PUYB because the blog tour has a wider outreach than I have by myself.

Thank you for this interview, Barbara. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

A: Thanks to you, too. Have you read Secret Lives yet? Have you bought your copy? (It’s available from the online bookstores.) Would you like me to sign it?

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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.

-- Sheila Roberts, Author of Winter at the Beach