WRITING OUT OF THE BOX

Good Morning, Sandra here. Have you ever had something burning inside of you that needed to be written but it doesn’t fit into any genre or niche? We are told that those books are extremely difficult to sell. We are discouraged from writing them. But Barbara Larriva, my guest today, does write outside the box and made it work for her.

Please let me introduce you to Barbara.

Q. What does it mean, writing outside of the box?

A. To me, writing inside the box means writing for an established genre. Writing outside of the box means writing from the heart even though it might not fit into an established genre or sales niche.

Q. And you always wrote outside the box?

A. Laughs. Heck no. When I first thought about writing a novel I joined RWA, the only writing group around at that time. I was told the easiest way to get published was to write romances. So I wrote a couple which were rejected. That didn't surprise me as I had never read a contemporary romance. Its not that I had anything against contemporary romance its just not my preference. Then I thought, well maybe I'll write an inspirational romance. I hadn’t really read those either. It was the rejection I received from the editor at Tyndale that made me realize what I was doing wasn't working. She wrote: "your book is neither romantic nor inspirational." So I made an announcement at the next writers' meeting I attended. "As long as I'm going to get rejected, I might as well write what I want to write." And the idea for my first published book POPPY was born soon after.

Q. How did you get POPPY published?

A. I searched in books stores for books similar in size and style to what I had and came up with a short list. Ballantine Epiphany, a division of Random House, was looking for inspirational books that were unique. They bought POPPY, published it in hardcover in 1987 and paperback in 1990.

Then in 2002, Crossings Book Club bought it (changing the name to POPPY, ANGEL OF LOVE, and made it their main fiction selection that summer.

Q. Did Ballantine publish any other books of yours?

A. Yes, THE GIFT. And unfortunately, shortly after, that line at Ballantine was eliminated.

Q. How would you describe your books?

A. I wasn’t sure how to classify or describe my books and am still not sure. I can only go by what readers have told me. They suggest its inspirational because of the impact the books have had on them. I think of them as books of hope. But they don't fit in any traditional inspirational niche. Poppy was often compared to Jonathan Livingston Seagull in style and size.

Here's a sample of emails I've received:

Anne wrote, "Little did I know how this little gem would change me. I was touched by the beauty of the story and certainly cried through it. Every year since then I have read it again, through good times and difficult."

Dawn wrote, "I cannot thank you enough for the book. I could not put it down. It was the most beautiful book I have ever read. Truly inspirational."

Q. Do you have anything in the works?

A. It's been a long time in between sales because of the difficulty of finding a niche for my “different” style books. I did sell a book recently. TAU Publishing just published my inspirational novel, CHILD OF THE SEA. I wrote it after the tragic tsunami of 2006.

After a killer wave leaves black holes

where hearts had once been,

a mystical child helps seven grieving women

learn the spiritual principals

needed to heal their tortured souls.

There is one book I wrote that I haven't been able to get published. It's called THE SEED and is about street children in India. Several New York agents and even a major publisher loved the book, but just didn’t know what to do with it. It's a hard sell because there's no niche for it. But I'm hoping the popularity of Slumdog Millionaire will help regenerate some interest.

Q, I know you're a cat lover and founded a kitty organization to rescue cats. You had 7 cats at one time and wrote a book that is really “out of the box”. Can you tell us about it?

A. I wrote a book called The Long and Short of Seven Cat Tails. Each one of my seven cats had its own chapter and told his/her story from its point of view. No one was interested in publishing it so I self-published that book for me and my family. I am so glad I have the book since five of the kitties are now gone. Two of those five lived to be 20 years old. I currently work my day job at Purr-Suasions, a cat gift shop in Scottsdale, and I sell my books there.

Q. What do you like to read?

A. I like to read inspirational books that touch the heart. Emotions and feelings are hard to find in books. From the beginning, I wanted to write books like Og Mandino, who by the way endorsed POPPY. I love stories about angels. My books hint that there are angels. As an aside, I don't watch much TV but Touched by an Angel was my favorite TV show.

Q. Thank you for joining us Barbara. Do you have any final words of encouragement for our seekers here at Seekerville ?

A.I think it’s important to write what is in your heart. Don’t write just to fulfill a trend or fad, but write what you love to read and think about. I’d like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Mother Theresa: "I am like a pencil in God's hand. He does the writing. I had nothing to do with it."

Barbara will be giving away one of her books to the winner of the drawing at 8:00 pm Arizona time. So welcome Barbara and don’t forget to leave your email address if you want to be included in the drawing.

She’s also brought her favorite foods. Barbara is serving a spread of strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, New York cheesecake and a plate of double chocolate brownies. Yummmm There’s a rich blend of coffee with a choice of flavored syrups to go along with the goodies.