Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! I am a practicing attorney and mediator in Fort Lauderdale and I have written books in several genres. I have a humorous award-winning cozy mystery series set in Hollywood, Florida, starring Jamie Quinn, a reluctant family law attorney who keeps finding herself in the middle of murder cases. There are five books to date and a sixth one on its way. I also have a children’s fantasy (The Fight for Magicallus); a humorous grammar book (Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person); a short story (If You’d Just Listened to Me in the First Place); an award-winning series of humorous essays (Quirky Essays for Quirky People); and a memoir (Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four).
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four is a memoir I co-wrote with my son, Josh Venkataraman, about his successful four-year quest to obtain posthumous pardons for four men wrongfully charged and convicted of a heinous crime in the Jim Crow South. We wrote it to inspire other people to take action in their own communities for a cause they care about.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do my best thinking in the shower or the pool, I call it a water epiphany.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love comic writers like Dave Barry, Erma Bombeck, and Mike Birbiglia, and I love books with heart like The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and Less. They taught me that a reader has to care about the characters and relate to their struggles.
What are you working on now?
Book 6 of the Jamie Quinn Mysteries, which is called Villainy at Vizcaya.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method is connecting with readers on Goodreads.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would recommend writing every day, reading books on how to write, taking classes, joining writing groups, setting definite goals, do flash fiction exercises to sharpen your writing, and don’t be hard on yourself. Pianists can’t play Mozart right out of the gate. It’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have heard a lot of great advice. One thing that stuck with me is that a book is a series of scenes that are connected.
What are you reading now?
Story by Robert McKee. I just finished the Pulitzer-Prize winning book Less. Loved it!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have several projects in the works: a children’s book, and a YA book.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That’s too hard! lol. Books that taught me how to survive on a desert island, most likely. Also, a couple from the Harry Potter series, The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene, and the complete Shakespeare.
Author Websites and Profiles
Barbara Venkataraman Amazon Profile
Barbara Venkataraman’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile