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Bestselling Author Barbara Delinsky ReadersRoom: Barbara Delinsky, welcome to ReadersRoom.com. It is a pleasure to chat with you today! Barbara Delinsky: The pleasure is mine! ReadersRoom: I'd like to start this off with your latest novel, The Summer I Dared – which has just been released. Could you tell our readers a bit about the book? Barbara Delinsky: The Summer I Dared tells of three people who survive a boating accident that takes the lives of nine other people. The story explores the emotions of these three people as they absorb the fact of being granted a second life, so to speak. For the main character, Julia Bechtel, the accident is a wake-up call. She has been an obedient daughter, wife, mother, and friend, always doing for other people. Suddenly she looks at her life and wonders what she can do for herself. Julia’s is a search for self, the coming-of-age story of a 40-year-old woman. ReadersRoom: The novel is set in a coastal New England town, and a large part of it revolves around the lobster trapping industry. Did you know much about lobstering when you started the book, or was that something you needed to learn and study?

Barbara Delinsky: I didn't know much more about lobstering than the fact that lobstermen use traps and wear rubber overalls -- and the fact that I love to eat lobster. So I had to do lots of research for The Summer I Dared. Some of it was online. Some of it was talking with people who did have a connection to lobstering. It is still a thriving profession along the Maine coast, and with a little digging, I found a treasure trove of information. I actually gathered so much that I put together a little book on lobsters and lobstering. It is being published by Down East Books in the summer of 2005.

ReadersRoom: I have to ask -- did you actually go out and pull a few traps yourself?

Barbara Delinsky: No, thank you, I did not. My one and only experience with a live lobster entailed putting it into a pot of boiling water. It was not a pleasant experience. I felt terrible for that poor lobster! So, knowing where those lobsters were headed, there's no way I could have pulled traps.

ReadersRoom: And the book coming from Down East Books -- what will the title of that be?

Barbara Delinsky: I'm not sure. The publisher is toying with something like, Does a Lobsterman Wear Pants ... And Other Questions about Lobsters and Lobstering. Who knows? It could end up being called simply Lobster Trivia.

ReadersRoom: I'd like to move back a book now to Flirting With Pete -- which just came out in paperback. Could you tell our readers a bit about that story?

Barbara Delinsky: Flirting With Pete began as a novella that I wrote a full seven years prior to the writing of the rest of the book. The novella told the story of a young woman named Jenny Clyde, whose life was so awful that she had to play mind games in order to survive. I knew that this novella alone wouldn't work for my readers, so I built a larger story around it. This one tells of a psychologist named Casey, who opens the book by inheriting the townhouse of her newly deceased father, a man who never acknowledged her through his life. With the townhouse come a maid, a gardener, and a manuscript – that original Flirting with Pete, the story of Jenny. In tracking the source of the manuscript, Casey learns about herself as she had never expected to do. The stories dovetail each other. At their most basic, though, they address the theme of our need for parental approval and what we do to win it.

ReadersRoom: I'd like to move now to 2001's Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors which is a nonfiction work and fascinating for a number of reasons, not least of which is how many women wrote it "with" you. Could you tell us a bit about how that project came to be?

Barbara Delinsky: I wrote a book several years back called Coast Road. In that book, there is a secondary character who is vibrant, beautiful, and artistic and, p.s., is a breast cancer survivor. Well, readers loved her. I received more reader mail on Katherine Evans than on any other character I've created. When I received yet one more letter, it hit me. Readers wanted a role model -- a role model of optimism and strength. They wanted to hear about a woman who survives breast cancer and survives it well. So I solicited my mailing list and local cancer centers, and I got letters from women who are living quite happily after breast cancer. Actually, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes in the words of these women (and their men -- a whole chapter on them). It is a very ... uh ... uplifting book.

ReadersRoom: Now, Barbara, for those who don't know, you are actually a breast cancer survivor. At any point did writing this book come "too close to home?"

Barbara Delinsky: No. To the contrary. Upliftwas actually my “coming out”. I had lived privately through my (two) experiences with breast cancer. Uplift was cathartic. For the first time, I looked back on the experience and processed thoughts and feelings. I talked with my husband and sons and learned things I hadn't known then. Most importantly, having been cured of breast cancer, I realized that I could be that role model my readers wanted. It's an empowering feeling. By the way, the entirety of my proceeds from this book have gone to breast cancer research. I ask you, does it get any better than that?

ReadersRoom: It absolutely does not. It's an important book, and on your Web site, you have a letter to petition bookstores to stock it, that readers can print out. Would you like to tell us more about that?

Barbara Delinsky: I would. Uplift is a must for those with breast cancer. It offers the kind of non-medical, non-threatening information that people (and their families, friends, and lovers) need. But those affected by breast cancer don't know it exists unless booksellers keep it on the shelves and visible. The petition is something that readers print out and present to their local booksellers urging them to keep the book stocked. These readers are my Uplift angels.

ReadersRoom: I know that in concert with the publication of Uplift you have formed the Barbara Delinsky Charitable Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Where can our readers find out more about the foundation, and how they can help?

Barbara Delinsky: The Foundation is a receptacle for the monies I earn from Uplift and from T-shirts and other items that are available through my Web site. The address there is www.barbaradelinsky.com. Once there, going to Uplift will tell readers all they want to know.

ReadersRoom: Since we announced this chat a month ago, we've gotten a lot of questions from our readers for you. Would you answer a few of those for us now?

Barbara Delinsky: I'd be glad to.

ReadersRoom: Kara H., Louisville, KY: An Accidental Woman is my all-time favorite of your books. Poppy is such a wonderful character. When you talk with fans, is there a hands-down favorite book?

Barbara Delinsky: That's a toughie. The two books readers most often cite are For My Daughters and Three Wishes. Both are emotional books about the power of familial love. I still cry when I read either one.

ReadersRoom: Pamela F. Carson City, NV: In 1980 you researched and wrote your first book and then it sold! How did you feel and did you know EXACTLY what you were getting into?

Barbara Delinsky: I knew NOTHING about what I was getting into! I knew that I'd had a good time writing that first book, that I was ecstatic to sell it, and that I had lots of other book ideas in my head. If you had told me then, though, that I'd be where I am today, I'd have thought you loco. It's been a fabulous journey. But y'know -- the greatest joy for me still comes from the writing itself. When I have an uninterrupted morning to write, it is a total treat!

ReadersRoom: Emma S., Ada, OK: Thank you for writing Uplift. Your show of support and comfort gives all cancer "Fighters" and "Survivors" a huge feeling of care. During the writing of this, was there a pivotal moment? A moment when you had to lean back, close your eyes and breathe?

Barbara Delinsky: There were lots of those moments. I had dealt with my own cancer by dealing with it medically but going on with my everyday life and basically ignoring the cancer. Suddenly, in compiling Uplift, I was living with cancer all the time. I did a lot of deep breathing. But it was worth every breath. My heart warms when I hear from readers like you, Emma, about being helped by the book. This makes me think that my career has real meaning.

ReadersRoom: Laurie G., Miami, FL: At your Web Site "Cafe" one of the answered questions includes that you belong to a book group. Could you describe your book group in ten words or less? (Claire Marino does such a good job, does she have special plans for the site this summer?)

Barbara Delinsky: My book group in ten words or less? How can I do that? We've been together for upwards of 15 years, and it isn't only about books. BTW, we do NOT read my books. And none of the other members are writers. As for the site this summer, each month has a new “face” This summer there will be lobsters and trivia and summer recipes. Lotsa good stuff.

ReadersRoom: And the last question (or at least the last we have time for): Aspen W., Seattle, WA: When you are writing, what is your best habit and what is your worst habit?

Barbara Delinsky: My best habit? Rewriting all the time. My worst? Rewriting all the time. That said, eventually my gut tells me when the moment has come to save, print, and escape.

ReadersRoom: Thanks for answering those! Barbara, you started your career off in romance crossed over into suspense ten years or so ago. Did you find changing genres to be a difficult process as a writer?

Barbara Delinsky: Not for me as a writer. But publishers and booksellers have trouble making the switch. Once the publishing world puts you in a slot, change is hard. I'm still fighting the battle to make sure that my books are positioned on the general fiction shelves as well as the romance shelves. When the latter happens, many of my readers simply don't see my books, and if they don’t see my books, they can’t buy them.

ReadersRoom: Do you think most of your readers made the crossover with you?

Barbara Delinsky: Definitely. I wasn't the most popular romance writer. My books were too realistic. So I took with me those readers who want a realistic, complex, family-driven story that does have a love story in it, and the rest of my current readers discovered me along the way. My success has been a gradual thing, for which reason my audience is solid.

ReadersRoom: Our readers who are also writers like to know about our guests' working habits. Do you write at certain times of the day, look to produce a certain number of words per day, etc?

Barbara Delinsky: I'm usually at work by 7 a.m. and aim to do 5 pages. If that takes me until 7 p.m., so be it. I work at home on a computer, and, yes, I rewrite constantly.

ReadersRoom: And so, what is next for Barbara Delinsky?

Barbara Delinsky: I am currently writing my 2005 book. Tentatively titled Pandora in Blue Jeans, it has ties to Grace Metalious, author of the provocative Peyton Place. Do you remember this book? My main character, Anne Barnes, has been haunted by Grace, because (a) Anne is a writer, (b) she comes from a small town that is positively convinced that IT was the model for the town of Peyton Place, and (c) Anne’s own life has been very directly and specifically impacted by Grace and Peyton Place.

ReadersRoom: And when it is ready for publications, readers will be able to find out about it at your Web site, www.barbaradelinsky.com?

Barbara Delinsky: That is correct.

ReadersRoom: Finally, Barbara, is there anything you would like to say to your fans who may read this interview at ReadersRoom.com?

Barbara Delinsky: I say, thank you. My fans are the reason I write. They have been supportive of my career from day one. My greatest joy is hearing from them. So I also say, please write me and tell me your thoughts! That can be done through the Post Office at my Web site, www.barbaradelinsky.com.

ReadersRoom: Barbara Delinsky, thank you for joining us here today, and best of luck with all your current and future projects!

Barbara Delinsky: My thanks to you for inviting me to chat. It's been a delight.




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