Reading Time: 4 minutes

Please welcome author Barabar Britton to my blog. I’ve known Barbara for a few years as we attended a writing group together. She is also published by the Pelican Book Group, the publishing house I work for and publish my own work through. 

When did you decide that you would be an author? Was it something you fell into, felt called to…?

I had no idea that I would become an author later in life. When I was younger, no one mentioned being an author as a career choice. I enjoyed my creative writing class in high school, but the teacher never encouraged me to go further with my storytelling.

Many years later, I was teaching chapel to elementary students at my children’s school. Every week, I would create or mold curriculum to teach the Bible to my students. When I prayed for “creativity” to help me put all my lessons together, I received a prompting to write stories. Eight years later, my fourth story sold to a publisher and wouldn’t you know, it was a take-off of a Bible story.

What’s your pet peeve?

At home, my pet peeve is when people leave their dishes where they finished eating. The dishwasher might only be a step away. When I was pre-published, I avoided telling people that I was a writer because the first question that came out of their mouth was, “Are you published?” It is very difficult to be traditionally published and many readers do not understand the years of rejection it takes to receive a “Yes” from a publisher. Writers need all the encouragement they can get.

What was your most embarrassing moment as a writer?

 I don’t know if it’s embarrassing, but it sure is interesting to gauge people’s reaction when I say that I write Biblical Fiction. I’ve heard:

-my grandmother reads that.

-the sound of footsteps fleeing my table.

-isn’t that a tad redundant? (I didn’t think that was funny, but it was said by an atheist)

 What has been your most difficult challenge as an author?

Marketing consumes a lot of my author time. Authors have been delegated most of the marketing and discoverability aspects of their career. What once was done by a publisher is now done by the author. I am not a tech savvy person, so I have had a big learning curve since my first book debuted. Once you figure out a system, everything changes in the cyber world.

How do you process rejections and/or negative reviews?

Rejections are part of writing. They aren’t fun, but I amassed over 200 rejections before I sold my first manuscript. Negative reviews hurt my feelings—for an instant—and then you have to let them go. I bathe my writing in prayer and I have a Christian publisher, so I am comfortable with my stories. Not every story is for every reader. You never know what a reader is going through in their life. Sometimes a story can be too real for them to read, or it’s simply not their genre or story trope.

 What is your current work in progress?

I am working on another Bible story, but the daughters of Zelophehad have one more book to go before they claim their land. “Claiming Canaan: Milcah’s Journey” will release in April. I have a Historical debuting in June. If you liked “Me Before You” but disliked the ending, then you will like “Until June.”

Bio:

Barbara M. Britton lives in Southeast Wisconsin and loves the snow—when it accumulates under three inches. She is published in Biblical fiction and enjoys bringing little-known Bible characters to light in her stories. Barb is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Romance Writers of America and Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. Barb has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate.

Website: http://www.barbarambritton.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraMBritton

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-M-Britton-173432342754243/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-M.-Britton/e/B01C800ADG/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

 

Latest book release: “Heavenly Lights: Noah’s Journey.”

Book blurb:

Noah bat Zelophehad might have broken tradition by being able to inherit her father’s land, but her heart’s desire is to have the finest herds in all of Israel, something an orphaned and unmarried woman has never achieved.

Jeremiah ben Abishua cannot speak, nor hear. God has made his thoughts captive to his mind. But he can communicate with one shepherdess, a woman who sees his skill with animals and treats him like a man worthy of respect.

When their people disobey God and incur his wrath, Noah and Jeremiah must overcome tragedy in order to change perceptions in the tribes of Israel. Will their kinship desire to care for one another and the four-legged creatures God has placed in their care, be able to flourish in a land filled with enemies of the One True God?

God gave Noah bat Zelophehad four sisters, a way with four-legged creatures, and a strong spirit. She will need all three gifts to thrive in the Promised Land of God and find love with a special shepherd.