Interview with Barbara Ann Wright and giveaway |

Happy Friday!

Bold Strokes Books author Barbara Ann Wright is here today.

She’s giving away an e-copy of Children of the Healer to one lucky winner. More details are below.

Please welcome Barbara Ann Wright.

Before we begin, thanks so much for stopping by today for a chat.

Thank you so much for inviting me! I love talking about my books. It always gives me a thrill.

Where do you live and does it influence your writing?

I live in Austin, Texas. I moved here in 2011, and it has really made me step up my writing because there are so many other writers living here, and we have a great community with plenty of writers’ Meet-ups and critique groups. I’ve made some awesome friends here, and we get together for writing parties all the time.

You have an army of pets. Who makes up the army and do they protect or torment your household? Both, perhaps?

I have two cats and one dog. The cats are an eleven-year-old Russian Blue named JJ, and a nine-year-old long-haired tabby named Roxie. My dog is eleven, and she’s a lab-mix named Polly. They mostly torment me with their long napping sessions, tempting me to lay down with them when I should be working. They’re my very sleepy army, but they still follow me from room to room, making me feel like I’m at the head of a parade.

When you were in the sixth grade, your mother gave you a typewriter. How did this change your life? At the time, was your mom aware of your writing ambition?

My mom knew I liked making up stories, but I didn’t have the patience to write them down by hand, especially since I could think so much faster than I could write. The typewriter gave me a chance to work much faster, and I actually started finishing stories rather than just starting and forgetting them. Well, once I learned to type, that is. My mom has always been my biggest writing supporter.

In 2004, you came in second place in the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing. What was the impact of receiving this honor?

After the Asimov competition, it finally occurred to me that I could do something with my writing instead of just entertaining myself or the occasional friend who I could bribe to read my work. I learned so much at the conference for the winners: writing techniques, how to submit for publication, which books to read for the best advice on writing and publishing. I made industry contacts that I kept for years. After Asimov’s, I began to write with an eye for one day getting published rather than just fooling around.

What about science fiction appeals to you?

Everything? Lol. I know that’s not a good answer. I love reading about and making up worlds with no boundaries. That’s not to say that science fiction doesn’t have rules, but I get to set those rules as I go along, working with a blank canvas to create the stories and societies I want. I said from the beginning that I wanted to create societies where no one cares what someone’s sexuality is, and I think many people find my work refreshing because of that. I like to create societies that I’d want to live in…except for the monsters and such, that is. 😉

Who are your favorite science fiction authors?

CJ Cherryh tops my list. I love everything she’s ever done. I will forever be grateful to RA Salvatore for instilling in me a love of fight scenes. His are some of the best. I like D. Jackson Leigh’s Dragon Horse series, and Rebecca Harwell’s Iron Phoenix. Mercedes Lackey and CS Friedman are awesome, along with James Tiptree, Jr. I love Anne McCaffrey and Trakena Prevost.

For years, women have played a minor role in science fiction. How do you tackle this issue?

By putting them absolutely everywhere in my stories. Women heroes and villains, humorous sidekicks and faces in a crowd. In the real world, I volunteer to speak at every science fiction convention within driving distance and tell them I’ll be on as many panels as they want. I try to challenge every misconception in any way I can.

Tell us about your latest release?

Children of the Healer is the third book in the Godfall series. It’s a science fiction series about a group of colonists who crash landed on a planet far from home two hundred and fifty years before the main story takes place. The crash left some of them with extraordinary mental abilities (like telepathy, psychokinesis, etc.) and they decide to be gods over the others. In the third book, the main characters are recovering from the war that ended the second book, and they’re trying to form new alliances and put their world back in order. I don’t think I need to tell you that things don’t go as planned. Along the way, there is plenty of friendships one and lost, and plenty of ladies who love ladies.

What three things can’t you live without?

Books. Cats and dogs. Netflix. Central heat and air. Those are my biggies. A faux fur blanket is nice, too. And glitter, can’t do without that. Beyond that, just your regular food, water, and shelter.

When you rant on your blog, what types of things get you going?

Sexism, mostly. Trolls. People who think all books should be free, as if writers don’t need to eat like everyone else.

Thanks so much for chatting today.

Thanks for having me! I encourage anyone reading this to contact me so we can chat about books. It doesn’t have to be my books, even! Very magnanimous of me, I know.

CHILDREN OF THE HEALER

With the Storm Lord dead, Cordelia Ross and Simon Lazlo return to Gale, to normality, but when they find the populace poisoned by the drushka, it’s clear the aliens must be dealt with before life can be anything near normal. In the north, Patricia Dué takes control of Gale’s mine with Jonah, the servant she created in Dillon Tracey’s old body. She thinks controlling the humans’ only source of metal will bring her power, but her past won’t be banished so easily.

Amidst the chaos and conflict, a prophet predicts that true calamity is still to come, and the only way to stop it may be a murderous widow looking for revenge. As factions splinter and reconnect, the fate of Calamity lies uncertain, and even the prophets can’t see every ripple on the horizon.

Bold Strokes / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AUS

MEET THE AUTHOR

Barbara Ann Wright writes fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories when not adding to her enormous book collection or ranting on her blog. Her short fiction has appeared twice in Crossed Genres Magazine and once made Tangent Online’s recommended reading list. Her work has made Tor.com’s Reviewer’s Choice books, has been a Foreword Review BOTYA Finalist, a Goldie finalist, and a Lambda Award finalist. She’s won five Rainbow Awards and made BookRiot’s 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels by Female Authors.