Make Note of Barbara Pronin
Greetings, Noters!
Happy March! So much has happened since I last posted, and it’s only been two weeks! In that time, I’ve since finished edits for #TagMe for Murder, and Coco’s next adventure is now available for preorder. Even more fun, book bloggers & bookstagrammers on NetGalley can request an advanced reader copy of #TagMe for Murder to get the inside scoop! I also launched a fun book trailer that you can check out here.
What a whirlwind, right? And I’m not even finished! Next week, on March 14th and 16th, J.C. Kenney and I are celebrating The Bookish Hour’s ONE-YEAR anniversary! We’re celebrating with some fantastic authors, too. Jennifer J. Chow, V.M. Burns, Annette Dashofy, Korina Moss, Joan Long, M.A. Monnin, and Leah Dobrinska are joining us during our two-night author event on YouTube. Make sure to like/subscribe to The Bookish Hour to stay connected!
My guest this week knows all about just how exciting an upcoming book launch can be. Without further ado…
A Bit About the Author: Barbara Pronin saw her first byline in a community newsletter at age eight and was forever hooked on writing. She has worked over the years as an actress, a probation officer, a news editor, and a substitute teacher, the last of which inspired her first book, a non-fiction guide to effective subbing still in print more than 30 years later.
Her earlier mysteries, including three as Barbara Nickolae, earned kudos from such best-selling writers as Mary Higgins Clark and Tony Hillerman, and have recently been republished. While her latest mystery, “The Miner’s Canary,” is still garnering rave reviews, her newest work, a World War II historical titled, “Winter’s End” is set for publication in late 2023.
A lover of dark chocolate, Greek sunsets, and Dodgers baseball, Barbara lives and works in Orange County, Calif., where she writes on real estate for RISMedia and is eagerly waiting for the next cast of characters to take up residence in her head and demand that she tell their story.
Check out her website at https://www.BarbaraPronin.com and find her on Instagram @writerbobbi.
Barbara, thank you for being here today. I can’t wait to learn more about your remarkable career and writing. I like to say that writers are readers, first and foremost. What book made you first fall in love with reading?
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. A neighbor gave me the book for Christmas when I was 10, and I was drawn in by the immediacy of it, as though I were right there in the story with Nancy – a girl detective, no less – looking for clues. It’s that sense of immediacy that I strive for in my own story-writing. I want my readers to be totally invested in my characters.
Nancy is such an inspiration — she continues to be my biggest role model. Your bio tells us that you got hooked on writing at age eight; how did you begin that journey?
I wrote a play in sixth grade about an archaeologist who gets bitten by a tsetse fly in Africa. It was pretty sappy, but my class ‘produced’ it onstage, and hearing the characters speak the words I wrote was a pretty heady feeling – and I never stopped writing after that.
I bet that was inspiring to see your words come to life. You describe yourself as having a serpentine career path. How have all these experiences effected your writing?
During and after college, I went from acting to probation work to news editing to substitute teaching. All that play-reading gave me a good ear for dialogue. Probation work gave me a grounding in criminal procedures. News editing taught me to write sparely and descriptively and to keep only the best words – and substitute teaching led to my first published book, which gave me the confidence – and the credentials to try my hand at fiction.
What a treasure trove of experiences to choose from! Tell us about your character, Julie Goldman. How did she first introduce herself to you?
She walked into my head as I toured what’s left of the eerie old goldmine near Deadwood, S. Dakota. I wasn’t sure who she pushed into the depths of it, but I knew she had a daughter to protect, and I could hardly wait to get home to my computer and let her start spinning her story.
What’s one thing about Julie you admire? What’s one of her biggest flaws?
I admire her pluck in seeking a life for herself and her daughter in the face of so much loss. One of her biggest flaws is her lack of self-confidence. She tends to keep too much inside for too long before finally seeking help to understand it. But then, maybe that’s just the flaw that keeps the reader engaged.
I think self-confidence is a very relatable flaw. We all question ourselves and can sympathize with characters who struggle this way.
What is your favorite way to de-stress after a draining writing session or a tough day?
Tinkering at the piano, for which I have no talent but I hope I do in my next life.
My mom always said I would regret giving up on my piano lessons, and I dare say, she was right. When it comes to writing, what has been your favorite “research” moment or activity?
Filling in the geographical details in and around Deadwood to augment my personal experience there as a tourist.
Tell us three things that are always on your writing desk/writing space.
A yellow pad. A telephone. A cup of coffee.
What is your favorite, can’t-live-without writing tool?
Wikipedia. No matter what piece of trivia or timeline or backdrop I’m looking for, I can find it there quickly and easily.
The go-to for all answers! For our final question, it’s vacation time. What literary hero do you enlist to be your travel companion? Why?
Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich’s hapless young bounty hunter. She has enough curiosity to keep things interesting, enough flexibility to forge a new path, and just enough sense to know when she’s out of her depth.
Keeping things interesting is essential for a fun trip — too true! Barbara, thank you for taking the time to share a bit about yourself and your writing. Noters, check out Barbara’s latest book, The Miner’s Canary, wherever books are sold!
The Miner’s Canary: Haunted by a death she might have prevented, single mom Julie Goldman returns to the brooding Black Hills of South Dakota to turn the old Victorian she inherits from her aunt into a bed-and-breakfast inn. But mysterious deaths are piling up, and a series of vaguely escalating threats convince her that someone wants her gone. When daughter Lu is run off the road while riding her bike, Julie knows she must find and stop whoever has them squarely in their sights.