Ellen Barker returns to the Spotlight to discuss her latest novel, Still Needs Work
Author Name: Ellen Barker
Book Title: Still Needs Work
Book Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: June 11, 2024
Welcome back, Ellen! Please tell us about your latest release.
An irreverent look at the alien denizens of the tech world, the fraught business of mergers and acquisitions, and the parallel universe of job openings. It’s a contemporary story of the working world wrapped around a very human story of one person, her dog, and her community of support.
What inspired the idea for this book?
Two things. First, everyone has work stories to tell, right? The more ludicrous, the better. I’ve certainly had my share of them – although I have to say that when I let my protagonist loose, she told her own stories! The book is not a chronicle of my job. Second, I had a ready-made main character left over from my previous novel, East of Troost, and I wanted to see what was next in her life.
How has your real life (day job, hobbies, etc.) informed your books (or latest release)?
I found myself writing little snippets from my own work life into this book. The overall story is complete fiction, but things like walking out on Navy Pier in Chicago, or passing out leftover pizza in Millennium Park are real.
In what ways do you think you’ve evolved as an author since your first book came out?
The last book had a lot of my youth in it. With this book, although I’m writing the same character, it’s all fiction. I’ve told my own story and can let the story go where it will now.
What’s your favorite part about writing/being an author? What do you find challenging?
Writing is the best part, seeing how the characters develop and where the story goes. I love that. I literally keep writing to see what happens next. What’s challenging is marketing the books. It’s very hard to earn money at this.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
Read, read, read. Read the kind of books you want to write. If you want to make a career of it, start early and work hard to get a good agent. Find a way that works for you to build up a following on social media – repeating, a way that works for you.
What’s capturing your imagination these days outside of reading and writing?
Art! I go to an open studio every Wednesday morning and paint – sometimes watercolor, sometimes acrylic. Sometimes it’s awful and sometimes I surprise myself. I can’t explain it, but making art seems to be a great counterpoint to writing fiction.
Can you tell us about what you’re working on now?
Yes, I have another book, The Breaks, coming out in February 2025. It’s a standalone book like this one, although it does have the same main character, and her dog Boris continues his supporting role. This one will have a hint of romance and a side story about a young woman just getting out of prison.
And a year after that, something entirely different: a novel that takes place in Saint Louis, in the bicentennial year 1976. The main character is a 23-year-old woman just moving to Saint Louis.
What was the last book you read? What did you think of it?
Laurie Frankel’s The Atlas of Love. I love this book, I love how she takes ordinary life and makes it so interesting. It has a surprise baby, quirky characters, and everything that makes us human, from the cruel to the sublime.
Where can readers find you?
http://www.ellenbarkerauthor.
https://www.facebook.com/people/Ellen-Barker-Author/61550221886112/
Thank you, Ellen! Still Needs Work is OUT NOW.
Still Needs Work
Marianne gets the call while attending a conference in San Francisco: laid off, department dissolved. Two days later, she’s back home in the dicey Kansas City neighborhood she moved to after a reversal of fortune two years ago. After all this time rebuilding her life, it’s all collapsed.
The daily grind is just that: a grind. Until it isn’t, until it’s gone and taken health insurance, retirement contributions, and the currency to buy food and shelter, never mind the free coffee at the office, along with it. In the aftermath of her layoff, Marianne tries all the usual routes to re-employment, but a middle-aged woman, regardless of experience, has little job cred in the tech world, especially with an address in the heartland. A contract job at a Chicago startup morphs through two acquisitions in eight weeks. And then she’s mugged in her own neighborhood, which frightens her enough to consider a permanent move away.
An irreverent look at the alien denizens of the tech world, the fraught business of mergers and acquisitions, and the parallel universe of job openings, Still Needs Work is a contemporary story of the working world wrapped around a very human story of one person, her dog, and her community.
Author bio:
Ellen Barker grew up in Kansas City during a period of demographic upheaval and returns there in her novels. She has a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, where she developed a passion for how cities work, and don’t. She began her career as an urban planner and then spent many years working for large consulting firms, first as a writer-editor and later managing large data systems, jobs rich in corporate drama large and small. She is the author of East of Troost, which introduced readers to the neighborhood where Still Needs Work takes place. She now lives in Los Altos, California, with her husband and their German shepherd, Boris, who is the inspiration for the dog in this novel.