Rosalind Barden Interview Published on: 15, Apr 2021

Living in the Fairview Hill neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, during my elementary school years. The entire hill was a playground, with interesting side streets and old houses. I draw a lot of inspiration from Fairview for the setting in my young adult mystery, “Sparky of Bunker Hill and the Cold Kid Case,” which is set in 1930s Los Angeles. I think Fairview is similar to LA’s old Bunker Hill back in Sparky’s era.

Our Mom was always reading to us, and when we were old enough, we were the ones reading picture books to her. I remember her taking us to the little Fairview library, and the big downtown Cincinnati library for our reading supply. She loved books and passed the love of reading on to her kids. As I got older and began to seriously write, she was my cheerleader.

I loved so many books, but here are a few: “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak, “Put me in the Zoo” by Robert Lopshire, “Winnie the Pooh” by A. A. Milne, “Misty of Chincoteague” by Marguerite Henry.

I read all the time as a child, and still do. I am currently reading Gigi Pandian’s “The Accidental Alchemist,” the first in this mystery series. I read the rest of the series out of order, and now it’s fun learning how the series began. I enjoy biographies too, and recently read “Ada Blackjack, a True Story of Survival in the Artic” by Jennifer Niven. I love short stories. “Folks you Meet in Longs and Other Stories” by Lee Cataluna is a delightful anthology I bought from Kona Bay Books, Hawaii’s largest independent bookstore.

That’s my Mom. I was always creating stories from pictures I drew, usually involving monsters of one kind or another.

The publisher, Mystery and Horror, LLC, came up with the Mardi Gras theme for the original short mystery anthology, “Mardi Gras Murder,” edited by Sarah E. Glenn. Because I am more familiar with Los Angeles than New Orleans, I decided to place my story in a Hollywood Mardi Gras party, starring Josh the actor with a big ego. That resulted in my story, “International Vogue and the Pajama Fiasco Weekend.” When the publisher announced they were doing a second anthology, “Mardi Gras Mysteries,” I decided, why not continue Josh’s Mardi Gras adventures, but this time in a blow-out Palm Springs party? I had a lot of fun writing it. Fortunately, Mystery and Horror, LLC accepted the story, “Mardi Gras Forever and the Bigfoot Fiasco.”

Keep it fun, don’t take yourself too seriously, and be careful not to let the campy elements override the story and characters. Readers still want a solid story structure, with beginning, middle, end, and they want interesting, three-dimensional characters. In my short story “Monster Teach Back,” from the “Strangely Funny VII” anthology, you could say the main character is a victim, but as the story goes on, maybe you’ll wonder if the stepdad wasn’t right about him after all.

I was fortunate to have supportive friends and family who were delighted when my picture book “TV Monster” was published. My sister was a big booster of my work and continues to be. Friends helped set up my “TV Monster” book signings and more friends stopped by. The signings were a lot of fun. That said, not everyone was supportive. For new writers, it is important to be prepared for this, and to keep in mind that a person’s negative reaction has little to do with your book, and more to do with what is going on inside that person. Try not to let negativity sideline you.

It’s been about five years. Sisters in Crime is a supportive organization and has a ton of resources for writers. Bestselling mystery author Diane Vallere, who was president of the Los Angeles chapter, was kind enough to write a blurb for my mystery, “Sparky of Bunker Hill and the Cold Kid Case.” I’ve also participated in book signings at the LA Sister’s in Crime booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I highly recommend Sisters in Crime for mystery writers, as well as mystery fans.

I both wrote and illustrated “TV Monster,” so all the drawings, including the cover, are mine. Illustrating that book was the most fun, paid work I’ve ever done. My editor David Allender at Crown (now Random House Children’s Books), gave me excellent advice on improving the story and also the cover design. I owe a lot of the book’s enduring qualities to David.

My short story “Cat Discipline” was the first to appear in a print anthology, “Twisted Cat Tales,” edited by Esther Schrader. The famous Burbank horror bookstore Dark Delicacies hosted a signing for “Twisted Cat Tales” that Esther and some of the authors, including me, participated in. Dark Delicacies is such a cool bookstore and truly one of a kind. It’s worth going out of your way to visit.

That was my hope, but because that award is based on reader votes, nothing is certain. I am so grateful that readers did vote for “Sparky of Bunker Hill and the Cold Kid Case.” At the end of the day, being an author is all about the readers. I had a blast attending the awards event in Columbus, Ohio, and meeting so many authors of so many kinds of books.

Any age! If you want to write, go for it. Don’t worry about being perfect or following what are supposed to be the “rules,” especially when you’re first starting. Go at your own pace, do your own thing. Eventually, you’ll realize there are no rules. What is important is to start and keep going, whatever your age.

“Sparky of Bunker Hill and the Cannibal Caper” is my current project. It’s the second book in the “Sparky of Bunker Hill” mystery series. Sparky will be going through non-stop craziness in “Cannibal Caper.” I’m hoping readers will enjoy it as much as the first “Sparky.”

Promotion takes a lot of work and time. It’s tough for me to give an average, because I’m still learning how to do the promotion and continue trying new approaches. Promotion can be fun. I loved putting together my website https://rosalindbarden.com/ but researching how to create a WordPress site was time consuming, and it always needs updating. Book signings and festivals are a blast. I loved participating in LA Comic Con and speaking at the panel organized by author Robert Mellette through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). But, again, there is a lot of prep work beforehand, such as printing reader handouts and spreading the word on social media. I have had a wonderful experience with AllAuthor. I love the book cover images AllAuthor creates, as well as the seasonal image templates I can get creative with. Having polished cover promotion images ready for social media posting has saved me so much time. Using AllAuthor’s template, I was able to quickly create an image with both the “Mardi Gras” anthology covers that got a great response on social media.