Meet the Author: D.M. Barr
Local author D.M. Barr with her dogs
This week in our ongoing "Meet the Author" series, we spoke with local author Dawn Barclay (also known as D.M. Barr).
The award-winning author of Expired Listings, Saving Grace, Murder Worth the Weight, The Queen of Second Chances, and Simple Tryst of Fate, D.M. Barr is a VP of Sisters in Crime New York/Tri-State, Mystery Writers of America, and is the president of Hudson Valley Scribes. She lives happily in New York's Hudson Valley, where she concocts tales of sex, suspense and satire. Her husband and two adult children are very afraid.
Describe one of your most recent books in 25 words or less.
Saving Grace is about a supposedly paranoid heiress who believes her husband will murder her once she inherits her father's billions and must save herself.
What inspired you to write this book?
My husband asked me once too often about what I might expect as an inheritance once my father passes away.
Tell us a little about the book writing process.
Once I got started, the book went through two different iterations and took about a year to complete and another year to revise and sell to a publisher. I normally get into a rhythm of writing about 1000 words a day. The research involved rewatching the movies Gaslight and Suspicion and reading about paranoias and poisons.
What do you do for fun when you're not writing?
I love travel, spoiling my rescue dog, water aerobics, walking, competitive trivia, word games, reading, and consignment shopping (I love collecting clothes!).
What's the next project you're working on?
I just released a nonfiction book called Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse, and I am working on a book proposal for the follow-up book, as well as my next thriller.
What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
Sit down and write, even if you think what you are writing is terrible. Get into a daily writing routine. Remember that the magic comes from revision and you can't revise an empty page.
What are you currently reading?
The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters
Tell us about one of your favorite books or a book that changed your life.
I think a book that changed my life was Harriet the Spy when I was a kid. I became a reporter later in life.
Do you have a favorite quote from a book?
“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Who are some of your favorite authors?
So many... John Steinbeck, Jane Austen, Larry McMurtry, Marshall Karp, Brad Parks, and the list goes on.
If you enjoyed this interview and would like to learn more about Dawn Barclay and her work, visit dmbarr.com or dawnbarclayink.com, or follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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