Southern-Style Meet & Greet with Kathleen Y'Barbo

Welcome to another week of Southern-Style Meet & Greet!  Before we get to this week's interview, I'd like to announce the winner of last week's contest for a book by Trish Perry.  The lucky winner is....

Renee Ann (reneeasmith61@...)

Renee Ann, I'll be contacting you shortly to get your mailing address so you can get started on your next book quick as a blink.  :o)

Now, folks, we've got a real live Southerner with us this week!  Kathleen Y'Barbo is a full-fledged Texan through and through (like 10th generation Texan, she told me).  I hope y'all will enjoy this week's get-together as we have another good ol' fashioned conversation.  :o)

________________________________

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I fell in love with reading as soon as I figured out how. But I came from a little Gulf Coast town in Southeast Texas, and I’d never met a real author. Never even considered I could actually write one of the books I voraciously consumed. It wasn’t until I was well into my 30s and facing my fourth (and last) child going into preschool that I decided to try and write a book. It was April 1996. By the end of May I had written my first 100,000 word novel (in 5 weeks). The words just poured out. Then I wrote another. By the fall of 1996, I found an RWA meeting and admitted I was a writer. I’ve never looked back.

If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be and why? (This is, of course, assuming that writing IS your dream job!) :o) 

It is! However, my other dream job is acting as publicist to get the word out about all the fabulous books we have in the CBA. I’m truly blessed because I’ve been able to do that as well.

What genre do you most like to write? 

I’m primarily a historical writer, though I do have to get in a contemporary novel every once in awhile. I love the research, the turn of a phrase that indicates the time period, etc. However, right now I’m working on a book that involves a whole bunch of those same things, and it’s contemporary.

Hmmm...sounds like it's a mix of historical and contemporary, which I oh-so-love.  *grin*

Do your own personal experiences, or those of family and friends, ever find their way into one your stories? 

Of course they do!

What do you hope readers “take away” with them after they read one of your books? 

I want them first and foremost to be entertained, but I also want them to learn something about God. Jesus spoke in parables and taught in stories that captured the listener’s attention and pierced their hearts.

What is your latest book release? 

I’m proud to announce that my latest historical The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck (Waterbrook Press) is now out. I’m so excited about this story because Charlotte has been with me since I first wrote The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper, the first book in the Women of the West series. She’s gone from being a ten-year-old pickpocket in book 1 to lovely but spirited teenager in book 2 (Anna Finch and the Hired Gun), and now a grown woman taking on the world in book 3. Here’s a little about the novel:

An aristocratic astronomer out to save his family and a Denver heiress out to take on the world meet their match in The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck, the latest historical romp in the Women of the West series from Kathleen Y'Barbo. From Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show's London debut to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and the mining town of Leadville, Colorado, join Charlotte Beck and Viscount Hambly as they discover that sometimes love arrives at the most inconvenient of times. Read a sneak peek of the first three chapters at http://bit.ly/iWVjM8 to see why Romantic Times magazine gave the tale 4 ½ stars and named it a June Top Pick. In stores on June 21, or pre-order now at http://amzn.to/lWngDt!

Are you currently working on another novel, and if so, can you give us a snippet about it?

I’m just finishing up a contemporary novel called Daddy’s Little Matchmakers, which will release from Love Inspired in January as the first of a three-book series featuring widowed heroes in a Texas beach town. It’s a tale of three little girls who think their daddy, a widowed veterinarian, is ready for a love, even though he completely disagrees. Throw in a classified advertisement, a pair of grandmothers ready to help love along, and a girl who loves the little Texas beach town but thinks God is calling her to leave and you’ll see why love is in the air.

Those grannies always like to match up the young 'uns!  Can't ever seem to stop 'em!

Where can readers find you on the web? 

I’ve got a fabulous website at www.kathleenybarbo.com that’s going to soon have a fun reader’s page with some interactive things. Readers can follow my Twitter feeds through the website or my Facebook readers page (https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_168502412817&ap=1) or follow me directly on Twitter using the name KathleenYBarbo.

What is your most favorite thing about the South? 

The people. They’re just so friendly. My guess is all that sweet tea and good food just makes them naturally happy. At least that’s how it is down in Texas.

Well, sweet tea always puts me in a better mood, so I'm sure that must be it.  :o)

Iced Tea—sweet or un-sweet?

Definitely sweet!

BBQ Pork or BBQ Beef?

Yes, please! :)

Potluck dinner or restaurant dinner?

Depends on the restaurant. I do love the pot-lucks though. :)

Summer or Winter? (There are only two seasons down here…really.)

The thing about Texas weather is when its 110 degrees in the shade, I’m wishing for winter. Then, winter comes and I’m thinking I can’t wait until it gets warm again.

You know, I have that same problem.  We girls have the hardest time making up our minds.  Oh, well!


Country gal or city gal?

I’m sort of in-between. My home town of Port Neches, Texas had about 10,000 people in it last time I checked.

You, you all, or y’all?

Y’all, of course!
_________________________________

Well, I hope y'all had as grand of a time as I did meetin' & greetin' this week with Kathleen!  I'm tickled pink that she's offered a book this week, too!  If you'd like the opportunity to win a copy of Kathleen's newest book, The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck, all's you gotta do is live in the US, and leave a comment with your email address before Sunday, July 24th, and your chances improve immensely to have a copy of your very own!  (The winner will be announced on next week's Meet & Greet.)  And let me just tell ya that Kathleen's books are truly wonderful.  I'm in the middle of her newest one right now, and it's a real page-turner!  There'll be a review of it come tomorrow, so y'all come back now, ya hear?

(And even if you are fortunate enough to already have a copy, don't be bashful about leaving a comment or two, anyway.  Nothing's as much fun as good conversation....with sweet tea, o'course.)  :o)