Barbara Morgenroth Interview

Interview with Barbara Morgenroth, author of Flash

Is there someone or something that has had a major influence on your writing?

Each book has its own inspiration.  With Flash it’s easy to say that the book is informed by my own experiences as a photographer.  I majored in photography and fully intended to be a photojournalist but life doesn’t always accommodate you so I wound up writing.

One day I was having an email chat with a friend who is a comedy writer and the idea occurred to me what if a teenage girl had to become a paparazzi in order to support her family now that they had moved to Los Angeles.

I thought it would be a series of bizarre escapades but the moment I began writing, the characters had other intentions.

The completed novel is very different than I had imagined it that afternoon.  Books are like life.  They don’t always accommodate you either!

Bad Apple was inspired by the murder of a friend.  It was a very complicated situation and took a long time for me to sort out all the emotions of it.  When I did, I was able to put some of the experience into the book series—Bad Apple, Burning Daylight and Rise.

What do you listen to when you write?

I have very eclectic tastes and it depends on the day.  It could be madrigals and lute or it could be Lady Gaga or Linkin Park.

Here is a list I return to frequently:

Rabbit Songs (CD) by Hem

Lots of songs by Hem

Enlightened Rogues (CD) by The Allman Brothers

http://youtu.be/uH9DXcVtdxQ

So Long So Wrong (CD) by Alison Krauss and Union Station

So Long So Wrong

Raising Sand (CD) by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

http://youtu.be/AZXN0KHpvUg

anything by Michal Towber

http://youtu.be/zOl5YTWv46Q

http://youtu.be/gC9oiO4nxIY

anything by Evanescense

Lots of songs by Evanescence

anything by Buddy Holly

http://youtu.be/GMezwtB1oCU

anything by Madeleine Peyroux

http://youtu.be/h4stmQUlNhQ

anything by Melody Gardot

http://youtu.be/S_nC1zDKYbQ

Tell us about Flash.

 

Flash is the story of a 15 year old girl, Kip Chanin, who has been pretending to be 18 for a couple years.  She’s done this in order to drive a car and get freelance work as a photographer because her mother is a little on the unpredictable and unserious side.  Someone has to be the adult in the family.

When Dew, the mother, decides she wants to become a film star and they move to Los Angeles in order to attempt this nutty scheme, Kip has to become a paparazzi in order to pay the bills.

The first night on the street, Kip takes a photo of the young actor, Alex Milne, and that one shot changes both of their lives.  He’s intense, handsome, blond and an extremely caring person.  Of course Kip falls for him.  Of course he falls for her.  There’s that little age discrepancy--Kip’s really not 18--and the fact that Alex spends most of his time in Eastern Europe shooting a movie about killing a dragon titled Paper Wings.  

There is a sequel titled Flash of Light that ties up most of the loose ends.  Does Kip solve the murder that’s been hanging over the Milne family for decades?  That’s answered.  

Do you have any other books in the works?  Can you tell us about them?

Right now, I’m in the middle of Bittersweet Farm Book 2—Joyful Spirit.  It’s a series set at a stable and is about the horses and riding but in equal measure about the half sisters competing for the attention of their new trainer.

After that I will be writing Bad Apple 4—Parked.  That’s about Neal Marchal and Truly Lambert who came together because of a murder and formed a band while creating a very personal relationship.  This book will see them as the band becomes more in demand and Neal and Truly are pulled in opposite directions.

Who is your favorite author and why?

In women’s fiction that would probably be Victoria Clayton.  She’s so well-read and has such command of the language, it’s always a joy to read her.  And she tells a good story, too!

If it’s just in general, it would probably be Umberto Eco.

What are you currently reading?

I’m a bad bad girl.  I start books because they look so interesting before I finish others.  I’m reading the biography of a woman who was a portrait photographer in Hollywood, reading a nonfiction book on how to train three-day event horses as research for the Bittersweet Farm book and also reading a manual on Photoshop.

Thank you, Melanie, for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and my novel Flash to your visitors.