Author Interview: Barbara Morgenroth

I am beyond excited to introduce the lovely Barbara Morgenroth to all of my followers! Barbara is here today to share a little bit about herself and her writing, so give her a very warm welcome!

In three words, how would you describe your writing?

Realistic, humorous, serious.

What do kind of genre do you typically write and why?

I am most happy doing Young Adult because it’s possible to tackle serious topics there that you can’t in adult literature.  Adults want to be entertained for the most part.  They want the roller coaster ride and walk away.  In YA you can have the roller coaster and have it be memorable or touching so that the ride stays with the reader.

I love laughing and having fun, I just don’t want it all the time.

I wrote a very cute and funny book about a dog at Christmas.  I liked being able to do that and then have the freedom to do something else.

If you write adult books, you’re expected to do that one thing and not go off and do something else.

You said you’ve worked in television before. What was that like?

Television is very demanding.  There are no retakes, there isn’t time for thinking or much editing.  You’re creating a show 5 days a week, 52 weeks of the year.  You have to write fast and accurately.  There’s a lot of pressure on everyone—the writers, the producers, the directors, the actors.  People can get frazzled and grumpy.  It’s terrifically exciting and creative but some people can’t do it permanently and I’m one of them. 

I like to think.  I like to write on my own.  I want to tell the stories I want, not that the producers or network wants me to tell.

My novel In Under My Head  was inspired by my experiences writing for television.  I think it’s pretty accurate and not always very pretty.

If you could be anyone from any of your books, who would you be and why?

Ariel from In Under My Head  because she is so much wiser than I am.

Why writing? Has is always been a part of your life?

First I was going to be a horse trainer.  Then I was going to be a photojournalist.

When I couldn’t get a job doing that I did become a horse trainer.  When life shifted again, I decided it was time to start writing seriously.  I was 24 and had my first book published when I was 26.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I have two dogs who keep me busy.  I spend quite a bit of time gardening, knitting and cooking.  And I’m still a photographer.  I have a friend who is continually saying “I’m bored” and I think, boy, wouldn’t it be great to have nothing to do for 15minutes so I could be bored.

What’s your favorite color?

Periwinkle blue.  That’s probably the color of old blue jeans.

Do you believe in ghosts?

No.  And I spent the early years of my life living in a house with a ghost.  He is David Belasco the famous Broadway impresario from early in the last century.  There is still a theater in NYC with his name.  My parents treated him like one of the family.

Then years later, I met some people who called themselves ghost hunters.  They wrote books about it, did TV shows about it.  They were famous for it.  They were absolute frauds.  I’ll bet they never ran into a real ghost.  I lived with one.

What’s your favorite book and why?

My favorite book of mine...well they’re all favorites in some way.

I have a great affinity for the book now titled Dream Horse.  It’s a middle reader book still finding an audience and I think that’s terrific.

Of my adult books, I have a soft spot for Almost Breathing.

Of my YA books, that’s very difficult.  I love the Bad Apple series but especially Book 2 Burning Daylight  because Neal and Truly find themselves as individuals and as partners in the larger sense as well as their place in the world as musicians.  There are some very lovely moments in that book where nothing much is happening but it’s like an earthquake occurring for how profoundly their lives are changing.

I love Flash and Flash of Light because Kip is a photographer and it’s so much about seeing.

My favorite book not written by me would probably be Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum , which can be read as an adventure or you can dig through the layers finding deeper meaning with each reading.

What can we expect next from you?

Right now I’m in the middle of Bittersweet Farm Book 2—Joyful Spirit.  It’s about a stable, competitive riding, competitive half-sisters, a super attractive trainer and the kind of events that happen in life.  Then I will either do Bad Apple 4, or finish a dystopian novel I started a while back then got sidetracked. 

Thanks so much! 

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I want to thank Barabara so much for sharing her interview with Peace Love Books! That was so much fun! For more information on Barbara and her books, check out the links below: 

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