Ask the Author: Barbara Freethy

“Ask me a question.” Barbara Freethy

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Barbara Freethy Hi Shirley - I'm so glad you've discovered my books. If you like standalone novels, SUMMER SECRETS, DON'T SAY A WORD, GOLDEN LIES and DANIEL'S GIFT are some of my most popular books.

If you like series, I have a long-running series called the Callaway that features of family "born to serve and protect", many of whom are firefighters. That series begins with ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS. And there are 14 books and 2 novellas plus a spin-off into a new series WHISPER LAKE.

If you like thrilling romantic suspense, I have an FBI Series that begins with PERILOUS TRUST that you might enjoy. You can see all my books on my website at www.barbarafreethy.com/books - Please let me know once you start reading which book you picked!

Enjoy!

Barbara
Barbara Freethy Hi Cindy - Sorry to take so long to answer you. FEARLESS PURSUIT the next FBI book will be out on July 21, 2020 - so not too long now! DARING DECEPTION will probably be out in early 2021. All the best. Thanks for your interest. I'm thrilled you're loving the series!
Barbara Freethy I'm so glad to meet you! I would love to come your beautiful country. Hopefully, we will all be able to travel again in the future! All the best!

Barbara
Barbara Freethy Don't Say A Word was one of my favorite books to write. I'm thrilled you enjoyed it. I hope you take a look at my booklist and find many more books to enjoy. Have you tried Summer Secrets? It's another one of my bestselling standalone titles.

Barbara
Barbara Freethy Hi Cindy - Yes, there will be at least three more books in the FBI series, maybe more! I'm so glad you liked Critical Doubt! Thanks so much for the nice note!
Barbara Freethy Hi Mariamne - I'm trying to sell On A Night Like This to film companies as we speak! Hopefully, I'll have good news soon. Hope you enjoy the rest of the series. Sorry it took me so long to see your message!
Barbara Freethy Thanks so much! My characters take a long time to really come to life. I find that as I write them, they develop and change. It's not until I'm writing dialogue and I hear them speak and I think about how they would act or react that I fully get to know them. I wish I could see them more clearly from the very beginning, but they always take on more shades and dimensions as we get to know each other! I like to write about people that we can all relate to; they just find themselves in extraordinary situations that are fun, sometimes scary, and always intriguing!
Barbara Freethy Sorry I missed this question from so long Cindy! Hope you enjoyed TENDER IS THE NIGHT!

Barbara
Barbara Freethy Hi Sandra - I'm honored to be your All Time Favorite Writer! That is so cool. I am thrilled that my settings and characters come alive for you. Most of what I do is done in research online and in talking to people who live where my story is set. Occasionally, I get to visit the actual location, but not as often as I would like unfortunately. Hope you find many more books of mine to enjoy!
Barbara Freethy So happy you're enjoying my books, Tena! Unfortunately, I have no plans for book signings in Texas any time soon but if I do I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks so much for dropping me a line!

Best,

Barbara
Barbara Freethy Hi Carol - The digital edition of the book will be available for preorder first week of March. The print just gets put up there faster, but the other is coming soon. Thanks for asking! Hope you're loving the Callaways!
Barbara Freethy NOBODY BUT YOU is a Callaway wedding novella best read after Book #4 - it features the wedding event of Max and Emma. Book #8 Somewhere Only We Knows comes out on February 12th! Preorders are now up at all the retailers! Thanks for asking. Hope your mom enjoys!
Barbara Freethy Hi Laura - I'll be moving on to the Callaway Cousins after Somewhere Only We Know so there will be many more Callaway books to come. Hope you enjoy Burke's story - it will be out in two days!
Barbara Freethy Hi there- I'm so happy you love the covers of my new upcoming series Bachelors & Bridesmaids! I love them too. The books are pure contemporary romance. They're a little shorter and sweeter in tone with no graphic sex scenes but lots of romance, fun and emotion!
Barbara Freethy Getting to share my overactive imagination with others :-) I love to make up stories. I have done it since I was a kid. And books are the ultimate escape, both for the reader and the writer. When life got boring, I made up my own adventure, and I still do. It's a great job. It's hard though. It's not easy to get from page one to the end. It takes a lot of stamina. Many people have ideas and can write a chapter or two, but putting a cohesive story together over several hundred pages is a huge challenge and anyone who gets to the end of a book should enjoy at least one moment of pride and satisfaction!
Barbara Freethy I think when a writer encounters a block, it's because something has gone wrong in the story. There's a hitch in the plot that prevents the writer from moving past it. So sometimes I'll back up, take a look at my most recent scenes and then back up even more, see if I took a wrong turn somewhere. Sometimes, I'll try writing the scene from another viewpoint to see if that makes a difference.

Another reason for writer's block is fear - emotional paralysis. Writers become afraid to write because they're afraid their story won't be good enough or they won't be good enough. Even after a writer sells a book, this kind of paralysis can attack as the writers wonders if they can do it again and again or if it was all just a fluke. The only way to get past fear is to face it and to write through it. Write anything and don't let yourself edit until you have at least several pages. Break through the internal critic and you'll find the story will usually start to flow again!
Barbara Freethy Hi Pattie Jane - Sorry for the delay in answering your question. I was getting my next book ready to release this Thursday.

I'm so glad you enjoyed Daniel's Gift. That was one of my most personal stories and one that still brings a tear when I re-read it.

As for finding time to write, sometimes you do need to give yourself a break when you've had a lot of life changes. But the best way to really get anything done is just to start off with small goals. Try writing one page a day, that's it. Something you can do in less than an hour. Then if it turns into two, keep going. Like exercising, it's easier to write if you do it all the time. It's much harder to get back into a story after you let a week or two or even a month go by. So I try to keep the story in my head but working on it a little bit every day, sometimes weekends, too. But try to focus on feeling good about what you get done versus feeling bad about what you didn't get done. Keep the positive energy going!

Good luck!
Barbara Freethy Hi Carola - Love to meet a new fan from Argentina! I'm so happy you enjoyed ALL SHE EVER WANTED. That was a really fun story to write. I was inspired by some of my experiences at college and while the story was pure fiction, some of the characters were based on friends from college days. And I'm very glad I kept you guessing on the suspense plot!

I hope you enjoy many more of my books to come!

Thanks for your note!

Barbara

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