Wild Women Authors is pleased to feature author Karina Bartow and Undeveloped Memories, a women’s fiction mystery-adventure set in contemporary Alaska. With Karina is photo-journalist Lorelei Carmichael who will go first.
Good
afternoon, Lorelei. Thank you for spending time with us today. Let’s start with
you telling us a bit about Undeveloped
Memories. The book follows my
exploration into my Uncle Reed’s past. When I returned home to Arizona, my
priority was seeing if his physical health was as bad as my dramatic brother
made it out to be. While I stayed in the home where he raised us, I came across
an old roll of film he never developed, alongside other photos of a trip he
took to Alaska. Since I didn’t recall him talking about it before, the roll
intrigued me because I wondered what it might reveal, so being a photographer
myself, I processed it in our darkroom. What it uncovered only made me more
curious, and well, I couldn’t let it go.
What
made you choose photojournalism for a profession? My uncle’s history in it fostered that desire. I
understood it was his job, of course, but it was oddly an escape for him, too.
He loved the mechanics and craft of photography, but he adored the connection
it fused between him, his subjects, and his audience. That passion rubbed off
on me.
Knowing
what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick with being a
photojournalist or do something different? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my career and honestly wouldn’t change a
thing. After the discoveries I made in Undeveloped
Memories, though, my family keeps teasing me about becoming a private
investigator or an investigative journalist, at least!
What
is your biggest fear? Not being able
to take care of the people I love.
Who
is your favorite fictional character and why? Lois Lane, because she couldn’t rest until she unearthed the truth
about a story. I’d just like to think I’m a little wiser in my approach and
that I could figure out Clark Kent was Superman!
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? The best things in life don’t come easy.
Thanks for this, Lorelei.
Now we’d like to chat with Karina.
Which writer or
character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major impact on
your writing? A recent influence I’ve
enjoyed is author Nita Prose. While writing Undeveloped
Memories, I began reading her “Molly the Maid” series. Even though those
novels are pretty different from Undeveloped
Memories, they nourished the elements about family and yearning to
understand those who raised you on a new level.
With regard to research,
where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths,
thereby changing the original concept?
I’ve never had the privilege to travel to Alaska, so one of the first things I
did was talk to a friend who grew up there. I expected just to get some
information about the culture and food, but having lived through the 1964
earthquake, she also gave me a riveting eyewitness account of that event. Her
narrative became central to the plot, as I was only toying with ideas up to
that point.
Tell us a bit about your
publisher. How did you hear about them; what influenced you to submit to them;
how is the submission process; what is the turn-around time from date of query
to date of release? I’m honored to be
with The Wild Rose Press again, with this being my fifth release under their
kind wings. Undeveloped Memories is a
bit different from my previous works, so I didn’t know if they’d accept it
right away. To my delight, my awesome editor offered me a contract within a
couple of weeks, and all said and done, it’s been just about five months
between submitting my query to today’s release!
What are you reading right
now? No Rest for the Departed by
Nancy Herriman.
What's next for you? I’m presently working on two mysteries, and I have a
manuscript on the shelf that I’ll probably be tweaking at some point. I have to
decide which one will be on tap.
https://www.facebook.com/karinabartowauthor
https://www.instagram.com/karina.bartow/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15045283.Karina_Bartow
To purchase Undeveloped
Memories, go to:
https://wildrosepress.com/product/undeveloped-memories/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF5FRS3N/
https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781509262908
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undeveloped-memories-karina-bartow/1147667550?ean=9781509262908
Great spotlight!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pamela!
DeleteThank you for having Lorelei and me!
ReplyDelete