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P.I. BARRINGTON
CHAPTER ONE is happy to annouce the arrival of P.I. Barrington with her new Crime Thriller/ Near Future novel Crucifying Angel, Part One of a Three Part Series called FUTURE IMPERFECT. Over the course of the next month CHAPTER ONE will be helping you to get to know this magnificant novelist with a review of Cruicifying Angel, a possible sneak peak at the next installment Miraculous Deception which is due out June 1st this year (2010), and of course an interview with the lovely lady herself. So keep those peepers pealed for updates!!
Crucifying Angel Review
Book Written By: P. I. Barrington
Review Written By: Louisa Robertson
Introduction;
I have always been a fan of crime fiction; and P. I. Barrington has enticed this amazing story which has a flare of near future. She has made her stamp in the writing world with this fantastic new book. Her first novel is the first in her series of books called the Future Imperfect.
I can think of only one other Author who I can compare this level of writing to, and that is Tess Gerritsen, another crime writer who is lead in her field. P. I. Barrington has done herself and her publishers proud with this short but sweet novel.
The Book;
From page one you are dragged into this incredible world which is a borderline dystopia based in Las Vegas 2032 with crazy creatures which have evolved to survive. You are brought into the life of one Payce Halligan a Detective on the Las Vegas Homicide Unit as she is investigating a death which is quite obviously not an accident. Without giving anything else away I can only say that this book will not only take your breath away with its amazing written twists and turns but you will also get a glimpse into what can only be described as a brilliant mind. If you want to be; thrilled, chilled to the bone and lost in a nail biting look into the future then look no further… Track down your copy of Crucifying Angel.
Desert Breeze Publishing Inc. (Store)
P.I. BARRINGTON; THE INTERVIEW.
We managed to catch up with P.I. Barrington and ask her a couple of questions so that you could get to know her a little better. This is woman is a marvel to the world of writing with her incredable writing background and style. So without futher adue, here is P.I. Barrington!
1. How long have you been writing for?
Like most authors, since I learned I could string letters together to make a sentence, lol! Actually, I took a long detour through the entertainment industry—I wanted to work in music—and I did for over a decade in both radio and music company (clues: it was big, round like a stack of records, and is a Hollywood landmark!). I didn’t pick up a pen or touch a keyboard for literally about 20 years. So, if you only count my published time, it’s about two years’ serious writing.
2. What sparked your interest in writing?
The thing about writing is you don’t want to do it, you have to. Some people call it their muse, some call it their career, and some call it their calling. For me, it’s a physical urge…I’ve got to get it out even if I have to use crayons! And I think the general interest in writing is sparked by reading. Most of the time, writers are formed by what they’ve read; reading can be an addiction but a good addiction. If you ask authors who and what they’ve read, almost all of us will have lists longer than a California freeway. Reading and writing feed off one another in most authors’ heads.
3. How did you get published?
I started off small--tiny really--by submitting short stories to small online magazines, most of it tongue-in-cheek fantasy. I didn’t really take myself seriously; it was just sort of an “I wonder if I can do this” kind of thing. I just wanted to see if I still had it. I guess I did since they got published. My family was always nagging me to write for real and I’d never really finished a full manuscript. On a yahoo group, my (first) publisher, who is celebrating their one year anniversary this month, put out a call for submissions. I’d had this old manuscript that I’d been fooling with for about six years but never finished and I sent a partial to the Editor in Chief. She passed on it but had a seminal idea for a series and asked me to write up a first chapter. She was happy with it so she signed me on for a three book trilogy. Crucifying Angel is the first book of that trilogy, Future Imperfect. Book Two Miraculous Deception is literally in editing as we speak and due out June 1. My sister and I submitted a cozy mystery we’d come up with a few years ago and that sold to a different publisher.
4. What do you plan to do next, after your trilogy is complete?
First is a novella for a real science fiction anthology for Desert Breeze Publishing (Future Imperfect) that our Editor is putting together and that’s pretty much the next major project. Also, I have a new manuscript that I’m working on with my sister again, it’s in the tweaking process right now, but I’m very superstitious and don’t like to talk about projects before they happen (old Hollywood habit) and besides, I don’t want to give anything away just yet!
5. How difficult have you found it to get to where you are now?
You know, I feel so bad saying this because other authors have sometimes spent lifetimes trying to get signed, but I’ve never had problems getting published. Everything that I’ve had published has been in the last two years and I think got one rejection. It might just be because I’ve read everything from Aristophanes to Mad Magazine and every genre’ in between and then again it might be dumb luck! And I’m sure being a newspaper journalist helped me with style and learning to be concise in my writing as well as being able to self edit. I’m thankful every day that I’ve been so blessed.
6. And finally, do you have any advice for the aspiring writers who wish to take the next step and become a published author?
Yes. I have several major suggestions! First and foremost be honest with yourself and be your own worst critic! You have to demand the best from yourself in order to create something viable. Other authors have argued this with me, but I don’t care. I still believe if you’re really hard enough on yourself, you’ll do your best and it will show.
Second, the hardest part of writing a novel is finishing it. You cannot submit a partial (okay, me excluded) manuscript to an Editor who has a million other authors submitting as well and who doesn’t have time to walk you through how to write a book. Also, and I tell this to everyone: when you finish a novel and write “The End” something happens inside your head. You’ve taught yourself how to write a novel as you’ve done it. You’ve worked through openings and how they work or don’t; you’ve dealt with the terrible “sagging middle” where your plot can drag; and you’ve taught yourself enough discipline to finish. Suddenly you know what you’re doing (for the most part) because you’ve physically done it.
Lastly start with a smaller publisher. Aspiring writers get upset sometimes when I tell them that because they have visions of millions of dollars (or pounds) flooding their bank accounts. That is unrealistic at best. You’ll have a better chance at being published by a smaller publishing house that doesn’t have millions of people submitting every single day. They tend to actually look through the submissions they get and are more attentive to your potential.
Oh, yeah, and listen to your editor. The education you get from them is invaluable because it will make you a better writer. There are some truly great online courses that do walk you through the various aspects of writing, the sagging middles and other challenges I mentioned and which don’t cost an arm and leg, so check those out too. And to all aspiring writers, “Break a leg”! (That’s good luck in Hollywood speak, lol!)
We managed to catch up with P.I. Barrington and ask her a couple of questions so that you could get to know her a little better. This is woman is a marvel to the world of writing with her incredable writing background and style. So without futher adue, here is P.I. Barrington!
1. How long have you been writing for?
Like most authors, since I learned I could string letters together to make a sentence, lol! Actually, I took a long detour through the entertainment industry—I wanted to work in music—and I did for over a decade in both radio and music company (clues: it was big, round like a stack of records, and is a Hollywood landmark!). I didn’t pick up a pen or touch a keyboard for literally about 20 years. So, if you only count my published time, it’s about two years’ serious writing.
2. What sparked your interest in writing?
The thing about writing is you don’t want to do it, you have to. Some people call it their muse, some call it their career, and some call it their calling. For me, it’s a physical urge…I’ve got to get it out even if I have to use crayons! And I think the general interest in writing is sparked by reading. Most of the time, writers are formed by what they’ve read; reading can be an addiction but a good addiction. If you ask authors who and what they’ve read, almost all of us will have lists longer than a California freeway. Reading and writing feed off one another in most authors’ heads.
3. How did you get published?
I started off small--tiny really--by submitting short stories to small online magazines, most of it tongue-in-cheek fantasy. I didn’t really take myself seriously; it was just sort of an “I wonder if I can do this” kind of thing. I just wanted to see if I still had it. I guess I did since they got published. My family was always nagging me to write for real and I’d never really finished a full manuscript. On a yahoo group, my (first) publisher, who is celebrating their one year anniversary this month, put out a call for submissions. I’d had this old manuscript that I’d been fooling with for about six years but never finished and I sent a partial to the Editor in Chief. She passed on it but had a seminal idea for a series and asked me to write up a first chapter. She was happy with it so she signed me on for a three book trilogy. Crucifying Angel is the first book of that trilogy, Future Imperfect. Book Two Miraculous Deception is literally in editing as we speak and due out June 1. My sister and I submitted a cozy mystery we’d come up with a few years ago and that sold to a different publisher.
4. What do you plan to do next, after your trilogy is complete?
First is a novella for a real science fiction anthology for Desert Breeze Publishing (Future Imperfect) that our Editor is putting together and that’s pretty much the next major project. Also, I have a new manuscript that I’m working on with my sister again, it’s in the tweaking process right now, but I’m very superstitious and don’t like to talk about projects before they happen (old Hollywood habit) and besides, I don’t want to give anything away just yet!
5. How difficult have you found it to get to where you are now?
You know, I feel so bad saying this because other authors have sometimes spent lifetimes trying to get signed, but I’ve never had problems getting published. Everything that I’ve had published has been in the last two years and I think got one rejection. It might just be because I’ve read everything from Aristophanes to Mad Magazine and every genre’ in between and then again it might be dumb luck! And I’m sure being a newspaper journalist helped me with style and learning to be concise in my writing as well as being able to self edit. I’m thankful every day that I’ve been so blessed.
6. And finally, do you have any advice for the aspiring writers who wish to take the next step and become a published author?
Yes. I have several major suggestions! First and foremost be honest with yourself and be your own worst critic! You have to demand the best from yourself in order to create something viable. Other authors have argued this with me, but I don’t care. I still believe if you’re really hard enough on yourself, you’ll do your best and it will show.
Second, the hardest part of writing a novel is finishing it. You cannot submit a partial (okay, me excluded) manuscript to an Editor who has a million other authors submitting as well and who doesn’t have time to walk you through how to write a book. Also, and I tell this to everyone: when you finish a novel and write “The End” something happens inside your head. You’ve taught yourself how to write a novel as you’ve done it. You’ve worked through openings and how they work or don’t; you’ve dealt with the terrible “sagging middle” where your plot can drag; and you’ve taught yourself enough discipline to finish. Suddenly you know what you’re doing (for the most part) because you’ve physically done it.
Lastly start with a smaller publisher. Aspiring writers get upset sometimes when I tell them that because they have visions of millions of dollars (or pounds) flooding their bank accounts. That is unrealistic at best. You’ll have a better chance at being published by a smaller publishing house that doesn’t have millions of people submitting every single day. They tend to actually look through the submissions they get and are more attentive to your potential.
Oh, yeah, and listen to your editor. The education you get from them is invaluable because it will make you a better writer. There are some truly great online courses that do walk you through the various aspects of writing, the sagging middles and other challenges I mentioned and which don’t cost an arm and leg, so check those out too. And to all aspiring writers, “Break a leg”! (That’s good luck in Hollywood speak, lol!)