Abby Bardi is the author of three novels: Double Take, The Secret Letters, and The
Book of Fred. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies and journals,
and she has written academic articles on Roma (Gypsies). She grew up on the
South Side of Chicago and now lives in Ellicott City,
MD, the oldest railroad town in America.
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What’s inside the
mind of an author?
I think most writers are always thinking about stories. I
had lunch with a friend the other day and she was telling me about something
her grandchildren did that hurt her feelings and by the time we’d finished
eating, we had shaped the whole traumatic event into a short story (she’s a
writer, too).
What is so great
about being an author?
Writing novels is a lot like time travel (I’m working on a
time-travel novel right now) where you move into alternate realities. You get
to shed your own identity and poke your nose into other people’s business, read
their mail, eavesdrop on their personal lives. The world of a novel has no
boundaries.
When do you hate it?
I don’t enjoy the fact that writing is a business with a
bottom line. I’m no longer naïve about this, but I still find it confusing
sometimes.
What is a regular
writing day like for you?
I write every morning for a few hours. It’s my treat before
the work day.
What is the usual
response when you tell a new acquaintance that you’re an author?
I don’t actually tell people that. I was at a party last
night and just as I was leaving, a guy I know mentioned how much he had liked my
first novel, The Book of Fred. I had
no idea that he even knew I was a writer, let alone that he had read it! But I
appreciated it.
What do you do on
those days you don’t feel like writing? Do you force it or take a break?
I take a break at certain times of the year, like when I
have a lot of work (I teach English, so I do a lot of grading).
Any writing quirks?
I tend to work on multiple books at once, which is a little
weird, I guess. I rotate them to let them cool off so I can see what needs
fixing.
What would you do if
people around you didn’t take your writing seriously or see it as a hobby?
Well, I don’t think people around me take my writing very
seriously. They just want me to cook them dinner. That’s okay with me.
Some authors seem to
have a love-hate relationship to writing. Can you relate?
Yes, definitely. I get mad at writing every few years and
walk out on it, but then I always come crawling back.
Do you think success
as an author must be linked to money?
Definitely not. Many great writers didn’t make any money,
and many bad ones did. I don’t see money as validating. On the other hand, it
can be hard to finance a writing addiction, so money is helpful.
What has writing
taught you?
Writing has taught me humility. I can write something I
think is amazing and then when I read it again, I see that it’s actually
horrible. Writing is never finished, so it has taught me to be very disciplined
and industrious, qualities that were not in my nature.
Leave us with some
words of wisdom.
Books are important! Buy them!
About the Book:
Title: Double Take
Author: Abby Bardi
Publisher: Harper Collins Impulse
Pages: 186
Genre: Mystery
Author: Abby Bardi
Publisher: Harper Collins Impulse
Pages: 186
Genre: Mystery
Set in Chicago, 1975, Double
Take is the story of artsy Rachel Cochrane, who returns from college with
no job and confronts the recent death of Bando, one of her best friends. When
she runs into Joey, a mutual friend, their conversations take them back into their
shared past and to the revelation that Bando may have been murdered. To find
out who murdered him, Rachel is forced to revisit her stormy 1960s adolescence,
a journey that brings her into contact with her old friends, her old self, and
danger.
