Interview with Barbara Dana

www.barbaradana.com

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

When I was 8. I wrote a series of stories about an elephant (Fatso), a mouse (I can’t remember his name) and a cat (Happy the Tearless Cat). They were close friends and had adventures. The series ran in the school newspaper. It was called “Fatso and His Friends”.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

I am a writer and an actor. When I was 22 I was on the road for a year in a play. During the days when there was no matinees I started writing a children’s book. I sent the first several chapters to the agent of my fiancé. The agent submitted the chapters to Atheneum and they gave me a small advance to finish the book. I was lucky!

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

My latest release is A VOICE OF HER OWN: BECOMING EMILY DICKINSON, published by HarperCoillins. It came out a few months ago, It’s a historical novel based on the childhood and adolescence of Emily Dickinson. What would be my favorite thing to tell you about it? Her story inspires me. She wanted to be a writer in a time when women rarely did things other than housework. She was true to herself even through she felt different from “normal people” . She followed her dream and became one of the greatest poets that ever lived.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

I have many inspirations, including the daring of Emily Dickinson. There are several writers who made me think, I want to do that! It started with A.A. Milne who wrote “Winnie-the-Pooh”, then E,B. White who wrote “Charlotte’s Web, “Stuart Little” and “Trumpet of the Swan”. After that came James Thurber, who wrote funny short stories based on life with his family and relatives. When I was a teenager it was J.D. Salinger. I tried to write like all of them! Also, my father was a writer. This inspired me too.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

I have three sons and four grandchildren. Two of my sons are writers. It’s great to have writing in common. My granddaughter, Molly, Is a gifted writer and so is my grandson, Sam. My youngest grandchild is four. His name is Emmet. I just gave him my first children’s book, the one I wrote when I was 22. His mother is reading it to him now and he likes it. That’s a thrill.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Peanut butter.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Hug my dog, get a cup of coffee, check my email.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

My basement is clean and organized! My kids and I just cleaned it!

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Blue. I love it and it’s the color of the sky, which is infinite.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Mighty Mouse. My youngest son wanted to be Mighty Mouse when he was two. He wore a cape made out of his yellow blanket and I painted whiskers on his face and a black circle nose.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Charlie Brown. When I don’t get a letter for a few days I feel forgotten.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I would like to see and experience the world at different times in history, but with all the problems I think I would pick now, where I live in New York. Maybe that’s because it’s familiar, but certainly because women can do more of what they love now then they could in other times in history that I know of. We are getting more and more rights to be ourselves and have our own voices. There are a lot of artistic possibilities in New York.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I love jazz and classical best. I usually listen to music while I write. Something that goes with the time and spirit of what I’m working on.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I don’t have a favorite TV show. My sons are actors. One is currently on “Sons of Anarchy”. Another is often on David Letterman, but the main reason I watch those shows is because of my sons. Two movies I especially love and watch over again are “Local Hero”, “Waiting for Guffman”. The last movie I saw in a theatre was “A Serious Man”. It’s the new film by the Coen brothers and my oldest son is in it.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Be true to yourself.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

My next book is about a girl and her service dog, a yellow lab, who becomes her friend and helps her get her life back after she is in an automobile accident.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!