Interview with Glenda Yarbrough
Published 2014-01-09.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
I thank God for giving me a new day, but I guess what pulls me from my comfortable bed is the drive for a cup of hot cocoa. I wish I could say it was the desire to bring some character to life that had been playing in my head all night.
Who are your favorite authors?
I enjoy different authors, but I lean toward a good mystery writer or one of suspense. I enjoy John Grisham, James Patterson, Mary Higgens Clark, but even with my favorite authors I will have favorite books.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I love to travel, and if given the chance I will go on a trip, even if it's just a short day trip. But I may also spend it picking out black walnuts if it is a fall day. And of course, there are the normal chores of running a household. I love to read, listen to the radio and there is nothing more relaxing than an old black and white detective movie.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Yes, it was in a seventh grade English class. My story was about an old house that was built before the Civil War, which was in the community where I lived. I fell in love with the house and the stories that surrounded the house--stories of lost money, generals visiting the house, the mystery around the house of why the people who lived there were supposed to have left in the middle of the night, and all the ghosts who lived in the house. In my writings today, the house makes it appearance in the novel, Aunt Phoebe's Valley.
Describe your desk
My poor desk. Someone said perhaps I would be a better writer if I would just get my desk in order. That should paint a good picture of what my desk looks like.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in the Deep South. I enjoy writing about the South, the people, and especially in a time frame of the fifties and sixties when the South was more laid-back, but also struggling with many things for Civil Rights, to the poor hoping to find a way to survive. There wasn't a lot of jobs during this time except in the fields, but there was a source of material for stories. I heard stories from everything where a man and three others were arrested for murder after the body was found on a woodpile,(which is told in the book What Happened Last Night), a woman chasing her sister around the kitchen for cheating with husband, and a man who left his wife and houseful of kids to run off to Texas. Of course, the stories were told after I was an older teenager or young adult because these were people in my family, and in the South, you don't tell all your family secrets--they just kind of leak out over time.
When did you first start writing?
Around fifteen. I wrote short stories in high school, one was published in the school paper, but after I finished school, I lay the writing aside as I married, had my children, and would occasionally write a few pieces. I have always written something, but somewhere around my early forties, I looked at my writing in a different light. I knew it was me, writing was where I truly found more contentment than in any other work that I had ever done.
What's the story behind your latest book?
Aunt Phoebe's Valley is about a naive thirteen year old girl who visits her great-aunt in Courtland Alabama. During her visit she gets into more trouble, meets more people, sees more life than she ever has in the past. She learns that a person's character is in his heart, and whether he is in overalls or in a suit, he can have a sinister heart. She sees people for who they really are, how death regardless if it is an accident or murder breaks the heart of the loved ones. And secrets are buried deep.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
After many attempts at the regular route of being published, I discovered that people were publishing there own books and being successful in doing so. My first book, Under The Fish Pond, Based on a True Story, was banned for over five hundred days and I will admit, that can take the wind out of anyone's sails, but once the Alabama Supreme Court released my book, things went a little better. There was only 1000 copies of my first book and after someone called me searching for a copy, she encouraged me to reprint it. I did and the desire to publish grew even more . It is a trill to have someone call you up, tell you they loved your book, and want to know when there will be another one, to have a newspaper calling and wanting to know when the next book will be released because someone has called them. With so many ways to publish a book, there is no need to wait for a publishing house to say your book is good enough to be publish. Time to get it out there yourself.
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
Yes. Since Smashwords have so many companies to list my books with, it allows more people to be able to download them. They give a broad range of outlets for my e-books.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
When a reader tells me how much they have enjoyed my book. I love going to Q&A gatherings for my books. It gives me a chance to meet the readers and so much fun as we discuss the book. For my last book, Back To Midnight, at a Q&A, one of the readers asked me about a house that was in the book. She wanted to know where the house was since the book was loosely based on true story and set in a local town. When I told her the house did not exist, she made a comment that they had driven all over the place looking for that house. Everyone burst with laughter--it was one of the delightful moment of the evening.
What are you working on next?
After Aunt Phoebe's Valley, Liar will be published.
What is your writing process?
When an idea comes to my mind, I play around with it for a little while to see where it is going. Sometimes it goes nowhere. Other times I may begin what I think is a short story that turns into a book. This happened with Petals of Deception. I don't make an outline, but the book plays out in my mind as I see the characters. There are times I know how it will end, while other times it will come as the book processes.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
No, not really. I have always enjoying reading.
How do you approach cover design?
I want a cover that will cause a person to want to know what is inside the book. I look at different ideas until one grabs me. The novel Under The Fish Pond, which is based on a true story of a man burying his wife under a back yard fishpond, had to have a face under a fish pond with little gold fish. The woman is under a little goldfish pond while everyone is searching for her. That had to be on the cover.
What do your fans mean to you?
Oh, they are wonderful! The writing can satisfy as I am working, but the fans make it all worthwhile as they let me know how much they enjoy the characters, telling me who they thought the killer was, then discovering they were wrong when they reached the end of the book. Everyone of them that says to me how much they love my books, brings a special joy to my heart. Writers may love to write, but they also love to know their fans love their writing, love their characters.
What do you read for pleasure?
All kinds of things, but mainly mystery/suspense.
Smashwords Interviews are created by the profiled author or publisher.
Books by This Author
Twinkle, Twinkle
by Glenda Yarbrough
1901 Americus, Georgia, Sala and Talu moves into the Windsor Hotel. Her mother has obtained a new job as a maid and they have a new home on the third floor of the hotel. Everything is wonderful until Sala meets Thornton Heitzig, a powerful business man and politician. He becomes Sala's lover but as time passes, he will also become her killer. And also Talu's. But Talu's ghost doesn't forget.
Petals of Deception
by Glenda Yarbrough
Humor, mystery, romance are all in Petals of Deception. Marriage is to take place in two weeks, but with yellow roses, gifts, a jealous boyfriend, a nosey mother, and an old friend back in town, nothing is going right for the bride.
What Happened Last Night?
by Glenda Yarbrough
There are six short stories in this book.
When her husband returns home after a night out with his friends, his wife is worried when he refuses to tell her why he is so scared. But Esteen will stop at nothing to find out What Happened Last Night?, even if it means she must encounter Claude Hawk Randolph.
Little Things
by Glenda Yarbrough
(3.50 from 2 reviews)
This book will be free for two days--July 8-9, 2012. After this date it will be $.99 There are two short stories in this book, both about romance, but both very diffident since no two romances are alike.
Maggie's fiancés Fred broke her heart when her future husband ran off with the bride's best friend, who also was supposed to be her Maid of Honor.
Under The Fish Pond
by Glenda Yarbrough
Under The Fish Pond, a novel based on a true story.
Publication of this book was banned for over five hundred days by a local judge in Decatur, Alabama. This ruling was overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court enabling publication of the manuscript. Under The Fish Pond is a novel based on a true story that kept the local community guessing where the young mother of three was.
Thomas Matthew
by Glenda Yarbrough
When Amanda Willington buys the old Saunder Castle, she is looking for a new beginning after losing her husband in the war. The old house has many rumors of families leaving in the middle of the night, but Amanda does not care what the neighbors say about her new home. She does not believe there is a lady in blue living there, nor any other ghost.