Barbara Bretton is the award-winning, best-selling author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.

She has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette, among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.

Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors (Gale).

Leena Hyat interviewed Barbara Bretton in June 2003.

SHORE LIGHTS

ONE AND ONLY
Berkley Pub Group
February 2003
Buy Now

GIRLS OF SUMMER
Berkley Pub Group
November 2003
Pre-order Now

Writerspace: Please tell us about your latest release, SHORE LIGHTS.

Barbara Bretton: SHORE LIGHTS is, at heart, a love story about family â?? most especially about the difficult but unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters. (Yes, there's a romance in there â?? one I know you'll enjoy.)

Writerspace: How did you happen upon the idea behind SHORE LIGHTS? Do you attribute the premise purely to your imagination or was any part of it inspired by an incident or a person you know in real life?

Barbara Bretton: How about "all of the above". SHORE LIGHTS, like most of my other books, came to me in bits and pieces. A lonely old woman burdened with secrets. A strong but damaged man. Mothers and daughters in various combinations. The Jersey shore. The old samovar on my end table that had been part of my life since the day I was born.

Writerspace: What sort of research did you have to do for this novel and how long did it take you?

Barbara Bretton: I didn't need to do much research atall for SHORE LIGHTS. I had lots of experience as a daughter and I know the Jersey shore inside and out.

Writerspace: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received in your writing career and who gave it to you?

Barbara Bretton: Vivian Stephens, my first editor, told me two things I'll never forget. Number one: be true to who and what you are. Readers can spot a phony three bookstores away. And number two: your readers will find you. You may not have as many of them as Stephen King but if you follow your own inner compass and stay true to the stories that mean the most to you, you'll reach an audience of readers who will stick with you forever.

Writerspace: I really enjoyed the character of Aidan O'Malley. What personality traits would be a must for your ideal hero? Of all the heroes you have created thus far in your career, who is your favorite and why?

Barbara Bretton: Aidan O'Malley is certainly one of my favorite heroes. I like strong, courageous men with hearts of gold. Good men in bad boy clothing, if you will. He reminds me a great deal of Andrew McVie from the time travels I wrote years ago for Harlequin. There's nothing I like better than putting a broken-hearted hero together with the woman who can put things right.

Writerspace: Is there a certain place in your home where you find yourself most inspired to write or can you write anywhere, anytime?

Barbara Bretton: Lately I seem to be finding inspiration in my living room, of all places. (God bless laptops!) I turn on the stereo, turn off the lamps,and write by the twinkle of tiny white Christmas lights strung through the philodendrons. Bizarre, I know, but it works for me!

Writerspace: What's your favorite / most memorable scene in SHORE LIGHTS? Why?

Barbara Bretton: At the very end when Maddy runs to Aidan and her hair's a mess, her nose is running, she's shivering in the snow and he looks at her and sees the most beautiful woman on earth and falls the rest of the way into love.

Writerspace: Of all the books you've written till date, which is your favorite? Why?

Barbara Bretton: Shore Lights is my current favorite because I wrote it right after the deaths of my parents when I was so filled with emotion that the fictional DiFalco and O'Malley families became real and very welcoming to me. I also hold a special place in my heart for SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, my 1940s book from Harlequin American's wonderful Century of American Romance sub-series written back in the early 1990s.

Writerspace: Have you created any secondary characters that you'd like to feature as the main character in a book yet to be written?

Barbara Bretton: GIRLS OF SUMMER, my November release for Berkley, brings back Hall Talbot from A SOFT PLACE TO FALL and lots of other familiar characters from Shelter Rock Cove. And I'm working on a continuation of SHORE LIGHTS right now that will take us through Maddy and Aidan's wedding jitters and give Billy O'Malley's widow Claire a new love.

Writerspace: I've heard it said almost every author at some point or another suffers from writer's block. Have you ever had that problem? If so, how do you deal with it?

Barbara Bretton: Oh yes, I've had that problem (although I feel it was more a case of burnout than block) and the only way I've discovered to deal with it is to step back, turn off the laptop, and go out and live your life. Read books. See movies. Visit with your friends. Drink up new sights and sounds and sensations. Fill up the creative well. It might take awhile but I guarantee that before long the words will flow freely again. (And remember that you're not alone. It happens to the best of us.)

Writerspace: How do you relax and unwind between deadlines/books? Aside from reading, what other hobbies do you indulge in?

Barbara Bretton: I clean the house! You wouldn't believe what happens to a writer's house when she isn't looking. I have lots of hobbies but my favorites would have to be photography, watercolor painting, and bird-watching. (Yawn. But you'd never believe me if I said sky-diving or snake-charming, would you?)

Writerspace: What advice would you give aspiring writers today?

Barbara Bretton: Write every single day. I don't care if it's only one sentence. Make sure you put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) every day. Writing is a muscle that needs constant exercise. The more you write, the better you write. The better you write, the quicker you'll make your first sale. Be fearless! Believe in yourself and your dreams because they really can come true.

Writerspace: What can fans expect from you in the next twenty-four months?

Barbara Bretton: GIRLS OF SUMMER will be on the stands in November 2003, followed by as-yet untitled releases tentatively scheduled for August 2004 and May 2005.

Writerspace: Barbara, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I've really enjoyed this and look forward to GIRLS OF SUMMER later in the year!