Tending the Roses

An interview with Author Karina Bartow

1.   What is your favorite thing about yourself? And your least favorite?

My favorite thing is that I can usually have a genuine laugh once a day, at least, through thick and thin. It makes life a lot more pleasant to find humor in various matters. My least favorite thing is I don't have a poker face, which makes it difficult to—obviously—play poker, pull off a surprise, or handle conflict well. I’d much rather laugh, if the circumstances merit it.

2.   Is there a particular line you won’t cross in writing, even to satisfy a trend or—possibly—to make a story more compelling?

If I’m basing a character off of a real person in my life, I won’t include any major diagnosis they may actually have, even if it would enhance the plot. It just feels wrong.

3.   What would you want to be if you weren’t a writer?

Probably a wedding planner. I actually took a course for it way back after The Wedding Planner movie came out. When I realized having a guy like Matthew McConaughey fall for you wasn’t always on the table, I nixed the idea!

4.   Looking back, what do know now that you wish you’d known the first time you opened a file and typed “Chapter One”?

The first time I composed a chapter, I wrote with Julie Andrews’s accent in my head because I thought it made my words sound better! It took me a while to figure out I needed to write in my own inner voice to make it authentically mine.

5.   What was a best day of your professional life? A worst?

One of the highlights of my career was having the opportunity to be featured on a local morning show. I always had reservations about appearing on television, but it was a thrill. My worst was when I received notice—back in snail mail days—that a publisher who showed interest in my first manuscript lost it in their files. I’d waited over a year for their response, just to find out nobody ever laid hands on it. 

6.   Do you have a favorite quote? Feel like sharing it?

“Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow,” from The Secret Garden. My mom always used that story to help me deal with my Cerebral Palsy. That quote in particular is so powerful in showing how tending to positive thoughts can outweigh the negative ones that threaten to creep in.

7.   When you are choosing a book to read, what do you look for?

I look for a theme that’s original, that I can relate to, and that keeps me engaged with the characters.

8.   Character-driven or plot-driven? Where does your writer’s heart lie?

Character-driven for sure. Sometimes, I have an idea of where the plot is going, and my characters take over the wheel and do a few donuts!

Bio: Karina Bartow hails from Northern Ohio.  Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her.  Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want.  Her works include a mix of mysteries and love stories.  She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!

To learn more, visit www.KarinaBartow.com

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We assume we know everything there is to know about those who raised us…until we discover that we don’t!

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When an opportunity provides her the chance to peek into the past, she retraces his footsteps through the Alaskan countryside. Will she figure out the whole picture of this unfinished love story? And might the trail of breadcrumbs lead her to capture a love of her own?