The Reading Frenzy: Author Barbara Davis Interview

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Author Barbara Davis Interview - The Wishing Tide

Please welcome back to the blog author Barbara Davis who is here talking about her second novel The Wishing Tide. Enjoy our chat and learn how this Jersey born woman is considered a "Southern Author".

ISBN-13: 9780451418784
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: 9/2/2014
Pages: 416

Overview

From the acclaimed author of The Secrets She Carried comes a novel about the pull of the past and the power of love. As offseason begins on the Outer Banks, a storm makes landfall, and three unlikely strangers are drawn together…

Five years ago, Lane Kramer moved to Starry Point, North Carolina, certain the quaint island village was the place to start anew. Now the owner of a charming seaside inn, she’s set aside her dreams of being a novelist and of finding love again.

Barbara welcome back to The Reading Frenzy, congratulations on your second book release.
Tell my readers about The Wishing Tide.

Thanks so much for having me back. The Wishing Tide is set on Starry Point, N.C, a fictional island situated along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It’s the story of three very different, and very scarred people—a recently divorced inn owner from Chicago, a New England lit professor, and an eccentric old woman island locals have nicknamed Dirty Mary—who are thrown together when a tropical storm makes landfall. On the surface they seem to have absolutely nothing in common. But when the threads of an old island secret gradually begin to unravel, reweaving themselves around a decades-old tragedy, the things that bind them eventually become clear, threatening to alter their lives forever. Ultimately, Tide is a story about grief and forgiveness. Each of the characters is stuck in one way or another, so mired in grief and guilt that they no longer know who they are or what they want. Eventually, they have to find a way to forgive the past—and themselves—and to fight for the lives they want.

Barbara both novels are set in North Carolina is the reason just because you live in the Carolinas or is it something else?

Well, book one, The Secrets She Carried, is set on an old tobacco plantation, so what better place to set it than North Carolina. And I knew from the get-go that The Wishing Tide was going to be set on an island with a lighthouse and beautiful windswept dunes, so again, where better than the Outer Banks. It’s such a rich state, with so many beautiful setting to offer, mountains, oceans, lakes, beaches. You name it, we’ve got it.

Barbara the covers of both your novels are stunning.
Did you have anything to do with the choices?

I have to say, the art department at Penguin is top notch. The first time I saw both covers I actually cried I was so in love with them. As to having input, they are all about picking my brain for ideas, and making sure the images they use are true to the story and the characters. They encourage me to send art that appeals, and are very careful to make sure my covers convey each novel’s feel and concept, which I love. Just one of the many things that makes being a Penguin author one of the best gigs on the planet.

I’ve often mentioned how I love the unique cadence of a Southern, Low Country novel.
Do you think a Yankee could write one?

I was born in New Jersey, so no one was more surprised when I found myself labeled as a “southern writer” though maybe I shouldn't have been when I think back at how quickly I picked up a drawl. I think as a writer one of your best tools is your ear. I love dialect and rhythm, in speech as well as prose, the way words feel and sound and taste in the mouth. I have a sort of metronome in my head when I write, that tells me when I’m off, and when I’m on. So yes, I think it’s absolutely possible.

Barbara you have your first and second novel now under your belt. What if anything has changed as far as you the writer?

On Secrets, I was what’s called a total Pantser. In other words, I wrote the entire novel by the seat of my pants, resulting in several false starts, a book that was much too long, and took two years to write. With Tide, as well as the book I’m working on now, I’ve become a maniacal Plotter. I’ve learned the absolute necessity, for me at least, of working from a detailed outline. The outline for Tide was one hundred and thirty pages long. The outline for my current work in progress is one hundred and sixty pages. Now, every morning when I boot up the laptop, I know exactly what scenes I’ll be working on. I stay on point and on word count. If I’ve done what I’m supposed to on the outline, the novel almost writes itself.

Barbara on your last visit you told us you were a voracious reader.
Tell us the best book you’ve read since we chatted last year.

Oh, there are so many great books out there right now, but I think I’d have to say my favorites was The In Between Hour by Barbara Claypole White. She writes such wonderfully damaged, real-life characters who have to fight through their issues and scars to find hope and love. I absolutely loved it.

Barbara your novels are considered women’s fiction.
Do you mind being put on a specified genre shelf?

Well, I’m usually shelved with general fiction, but I don’t mind being labeled women’s fiction at all. It feels accurate. My stories are about a woman’s journey, about reconciling old issues, getting unstuck, learning to forgive, or fight, or grow, and usually taking a chance on love in the process. I want the women I write to resonate with real woman, to have issues they can connect with, to feel like someone they might know in real life.

Barbara your website says you’re hard at work on novel number three. Congratulations!
It says it’s set in Florida. Can you give us a hint about it and when to expect it?

It’s set on Florida’s gulf coast, on a sleepy spit of beach called Hideaway Key. The main character, Lily St. Claire, has just inherited a beach house from her financier father that neither she nor her mother knew he owned. When Lily learns the cottage once belonged to her mother’s sister, an infamous beauty whose name has been banned for as long as she can remember, she’s determined to head south and get to the bottom of the decade’s old feud between the two sisters. She’s expecting a charming Florida beach house, a vacation getaway. Instead, she finds a broken down bungalow crammed with forty years worth of memorabilia, and a set of old journals that finally tells the story her mother has kept do fiercely hidden. A gorgeous setting, bitter sibling rivalry, two romances, a stunning betrayal... I guess you can tell I’m having a great time writing this one.

Thank you so much for answering these questions. Good Luck with this novel and all in your future too!

Again, thanks for having me. It’s been a real pleasure.

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MEET THE AUTHOR:Barbara Davis is the author of The Secrets She Carried. She currently lives near Raleigh, North Carolina with the love of her life, Tom, and their beloved ginger cat, Simon.