Sunday, July 16, 2017

The Thorn Among the ROSA's - Meet Peter Barker




In an effort to really get to know each other, we thought it would be a good idea to publish a series of interviews with fellow ROSA members to learn more about who they are, what they've published and what makes them tick. We'd like ALL our members to feature, so please drop our chairperson, Romy an email on romy@romancewriters.co.za and she'll send you some questions to answer.


Today we put the spotlight on our treasurer, Peter Barker!


What is the last romance novel you read?

Survivor by Lesley Pearse  (I met her at the Kingsmead Book fair)

What type of Romance / what genre do you write?
   
Contemporary Romance

Are you published yet? If so, with whom?

   About to be published with The Wild Rose Press

What do you love most about writing? 

   A wonderful use of all my creative energies.

And what is your biggest challenge as a writer?

   Finding the time to get to it.  I hope it will be a bit easier when I retire at the end of the year.

Do you have a playlist while you write?

   Yes. At the moment I have Ann Sophie Mutter playing Mozart.  Beautiful woman, delightful music.

Peter's latest book: Cupid Mislaid


What was the inspiration behind your last book?

A newspaper article by Carol Lazar in which she described how she and her husband had gone to  the 
bar mitzvah of the son of a friend of theirs. After leaving the shul they went to their house for a party.  It was only when someone walked in carrying a tray of bacon kips that they realised they had gone to the wrong house. I shared this story with the ROSA members and someone said to me "There's an inspiration for your next book." and that is what it became.

What is your proudest achievement as a writer?
   
Getting published Yay!!

What advice would you give someone who tell you they want to write?

   Have a passion for your cause. Believe unshakably in what you are doing, or give up writing.

If you could give your life / dreams / goals a hashtag, what would it be?

   #To write-to write perchance to dream.   (no disrespect intended to William Shakespeare)

What keeps you motivated to write?

   To share my art form with the rest of humanity        

What is your writing schedule like - do you write every day / a certain time of day?

   Any available time. I hope to get into more of a routine after retirement

Tell us about the first love story you ever wrote.

When I decided to write, the first thing I did was to write a 50k word romance novel just to see if I could.  I was pleased to discover that I found it quite easy to create 1,500 words in an evening.  It is a lovely story and I may re-write it in due course. As it is it is full of technical errors, piles of "tell" instead of "show' as well as confusing points of view.

What is the best part about being part of ROSA?

The friendship I enjoy with the other members as well as learning from the advice and experience of members who have been in the game longer than I have.


Connect with Peter!

TWITTER: @petergbarker
WEBSITE:  https://peterbarker.herokuapp.com/      (Still under construction)
FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/petergbarker.



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