"Journeying" with Barbara Fleming

November 3, 8:40 PMLexington Literature ExaminerJ.W. Coffey

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Fleming's latest was released in Aug 2009
photo courtesy of publisher

Historical fiction writer Barbara Fleming released her latest novel, Journeying, through Five Star/Cengage in August of this year. She answered a few questions about her book and her writing style for me.
 

~What first sparked that urge to write? When did you know this is what you wanted to do as a career?

BF: Reading Little Women when I was a very young girl drew me into writing. I identified with Jo, writing, reading and weeping in her garret. I started writing when I was a teenager but did not complete a novel for many years after that.

~What kinds of stories fascinate you? What do you like to write the most?

BF: Any story that brings people alive for me, makes me care about them, holds my attention. Memorable stories reside in my head for days after I have finished reading them, leaving me wishing there were more to read. I like most to write stories about characters who matter to me, involved in tales that resonate in real life. When I am telling a story, the characters live in my head—sometimes to the point that I wish they would go away once in a while.

~Do your characters come first or does the story?

BF: The characters come first, in a setting or circumstance. With Journeying, for instance, I knew I wanted to write a story about a strong, independent woman in the early west, and as an amateur historian I had ample material in my own hometown to draw on. So that’s how it started. My characters take on a life of their own. Sometimes they surprise me with their words or actions. They lead; I follow.

~How do you deal with rough patches, aka the dreaded writer's block?

BF: Usually I handle writer’s block, which doesn’t happen to me very often, by working on something else for awhile.

~Tell us about your latest novel?

BF: Journeying tells the story of Hannah Morris Bowman, who leaves her home in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872 to travel west in a wagon train with the man she loves, a bi-racial physician, son of a slave. Hannah and Lucas homestead in northeastern Colorado. Over eight years, Hannah writes in her journal about her experiences as a frontier woman, wife and mother. She copes with racial hatred and with tragedy and loss but also encounters kindness, generosity and love. Her journal ends when a climactic event brings racial tensions to a head; more than a century later, her great-granddaughter finds the journal and answers some of the questions Hannah left unresolved.

~Who is your favorite character in this book?

BF: Hannah Bowman, my protagonist, is my favorite character, although I’m awfully fond of her spirited daughter, Meggie, too.

~What's some good advice that you can give to aspiring writers out there?

BF: The best advice I can give any writer is to join a critique group with other writers you respect—not a group that praises everything you do, nor a group full of harsh critics, but one where people are able to be absolutely honest in their responses, ask intelligent questions, and genuinely love writing. Anyone who starts writing with a goal of making money, or even, for that matter, getting published, is probably doomed to disappointment. Write because you love to write; revise, revise, revise, and keep writing. Once, a long time ago, a successful published writer also gave me excellent advice I’ve never forgotten: Write about what you know.