A Slice of Cake With... Stephanie Barr

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with Stephanie Barr.

Stephanie is a slave to three children and a slew of cats, she actually leads a double life as a part-time novelist and full-time rocket scientist.

People everywhere have learned to watch out for fear of becoming part of her stories. Beware! You might be next!

What kind of books do you write?

I write books about people and the interactions of people because I love that subject. It might include romantic or other forms of love. It might include societal concerns and issues, environmental ones, bigotry, misogyny, etc. Because my focus on is on the problems, issues, and communications of people, I often manipulate my settings so I can highlight what I want to focus on, with magic, perhaps, or talking cats, with smart computers or space catastrophes. There's really no telling. I love making problems and making my characters solve them, using their brains without compromising their "humanity"—though they might not technically be human. The fact that cats and dragons are almost always a part of my books, well, that's a personal quirk.

Can you describe your writing why?

I love to tell stories. I think it's a great way to explain complex points and demonstrate points of view that many people my struggle to grasp. I love coming up with characters and letting them amuse the heck out of me. I love to make people think about things they might not have thought about on their own. There are many things in this world that disturb me that I cannot correct on my own, but I can vicariously address them in the worlds I create. And that gives me solace. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

My favorite is generally the one I'm writing now (Catalyst):

"Go ahead and cry, honey. You're overdue for a good purge," Lucy murmured, stroking her hair. "It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is," Chloe muttered in muffled tones to Lucy's blouse.

"No, baby, of course it isn't." Lucy looked right at Raven and smiled. "It's Raven's fault."

"Me?" Raven sputtered. "How in the world could it be my fault?" Chloe had pulled back looking just as baffled. "I wasn't even there."

Lucy looked at him with completely innocent eyes of celestial blue. "Raven, weren't you just telling us how your only purpose for the past untold centuries has been to look out for and train the chosen one if she showed up on this side? I mean, isn't that the whole reason you've been trapped in a cycle of dull humdrum lives, to be here to help the key when she arrived? You completely dropped the ball."

Tell us about your latest project

Cats find their way into all my books and many of my stories, so I decided to write an anthology of cat stories (released 7/30/2019. I like cats (I own ten of them). I like how beautiful and graceful they are, how soft and fluffy and affectionate they are (and purring is so wonderful), how intelligent and independent they are, and how, with all that and the fact you can leave them around small children, they are also deadly killers. I mean, how cool is that. So, I wrote twenty stories celebrating the many aspects of cats, their interactions with people. I have angel cats and adventure kitties, soldier cats, cats that save the world or just a couple of people, ghost cats, dragon-cats, vampire cats, and even zombie kitties. Cat lover should be in cat heaven. It's called Pussycats Galore and you can find it everywhere, most likely, ebooks are sold.

What is your favourite cake?

I like several kinds of cake but my current weakness is yellow cake with raspberry filling. Cream cheese icing is my favorite.

A yummy looking cake indeed! You can keep up to date with Stephanie and her books at her website.

Join me next week when I'll be having a slice of cake with Sophie Kearing.

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.