Author ML Barrs is joining us today for an interview. Read on for the inspiration behind her new mystery release, Parallel Secrets.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: Parallel Secrets
Author: ML Barrs
Genre: Mystery
BLURB:
Parallel Secrets is a contemporary mystery, featuring a strong but conflicted female protagonist. After a young girl goes missing, former TV crime reporter Vicky Robeson joins the search with the help of her attractive new love interest. They take his RV to a tiny town in rural Missouri that’s filled with odd characters and darker secrets. But Vicky has secrets of her own. She believes this kidnapped girl may be linked to a case she reported on nine years ago, when a mystery child was found walking on levee, bloody and unable to speak. Back then, Vicky failed to follow up clues only she knew. Now, she has a chance to redeem herself. As she uncovers secrets, it becomes clear someone will kill to keep them hidden.
INTERVIEW:
Welcome! What was the inspiration behind your latest release?
The idea for Parallel Secrets came about after a road trip stop for breakfast in Arizona. The young woman who served us was beautiful, remarkably graceful, and clearly tough. She had spiky blonde hair and a floral tattoo on one arm. When we got back in the car, I told my husband that she would be a great character in a book. For the next hundred miles or so I talked about what her story could be. She was the genesis for Sam, the secretive café owner in Parallel Secrets.
Where do you get your ideas?
Life around me. I find people endlessly interesting. I read constantly–I’m the sort who stops to read historical markers. And working in news, there was a constant, sometimes overwhelming, stream of real-life drama that could be fictionalized.
Do ideas for plot or characters appear first?
Characters. My protagonist, TV journalist Vicky Robeson, lived in my mind for years. When I started writing, I was determined that my protagonist, Vicky, would be everywoman; that is, emotionally healthy, average physique, etc., who was good at getting people to talk and at seeing connections others did not. She would not be a super fit cop with a eidetic memory and flawed personality, not a surly agent with remarkable intuition and a drinking problem, etc. As Vicky’s character evolved, however, it became increasingly obvious that her troubled past shaped her persona. She and her inner thoughts became more interesting. And she still constantly battles a few extra pounds.
When did you begin writing?
I channeled my urge to write into a career in journalism. I did not write fiction until after I retired from my last job in television management.
What has been your biggest challenge?
I assumed that since I’d written and edited news stories for decades, writing fiction would be easy. Just make stuff up! I had trouble with basics like establishing and maintaining clear POVs, assuming readers would follow along as I hopped from head to head. My first experience with a professional editor was truly humbling.
AUTHOR BIO:
ML Barrs ran TV newsrooms for years, guiding and managing the content and production of more than eight hours of live newscasts a day. In her debut novel, Parallel Secrets, protagonist Vicky Robeson shares that kind of experience as well as the author’s passion for justice, especially when it comes to the safety and well-being of children and other vulnerable people.
ML Barrs grew up one of thirteen children—the first girl, with three older brothers—a birth order she believes shaped her essence by the time she was eight. A girl’s gotta be a bit pugnacious to get along in that environment. Amid the chaos of fourteen people living in a mobile home (not a double-wide), she turned fifteen, dropped out of school and ran away from home.
Being homeless, then working minimum wage jobs quickly grew old. She earned her GED and went to college, got married, and had two children. After starting as a ‘one-man-band’ TV reporter, she moved into management. After a successful career as a television news director and general manager, she decided that what she really wanted to do is write mysteries. Parallel Secrets will be published September 2023, and its sequel is in the works.
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