I could not be happier for my friend and writer, Barbara Conrey. Her eagerly-anticipated debut, Nowhere Near Goodbye, launches TODAY
Author Name: Barbara Conrey
Book Title: Nowhere Near Goodbye
Book Genre: Women’s Fiction
Release Date: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Congratulations, Barbara! Please tell us a bit about Nowhere Near Goodbye.
Nowhere Near Goodbye is a story of family, failure, and second chances.
What sparked the idea for the book?
Years ago, a friend lost her granddaughter to a brain tumor called glioblastoma. It’s supposed to be extremely rare, yet I know four people personally who have died from this tumor. My friend suffered greatly while her granddaughter struggled to live and I felt powerless when her granddaughter died. I knew that someday I wanted to write a story where the tumor didn’t win.
Thank you for sharing that. What a heartbreaking time for you and your friend. How did you go about researching the topic matter?
It took five years to write this book, but in my defense, I didn’t know what I was doing for the first two years.
I researched this tumor to the point where I received monthly newsletters from several cancer organizations with the latest findings on new techniques and clinical trials. I actually watched the removal of a tumor online and discovered a site where you could buy all of the tools needed to perform brain surgery – which just totally creeped me out.
As a novice writer, I was attracted to women’s fiction because there seemed to be guidelines that I could follow, or maybe it was because after I joined Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), there were so many helpful and talented authors who wrote WF that I fell into that genre.
Yes, I love WFWA! Such a supportive community. For you, what’s the hardest thing about writing?
For me, starting is the hardest part. Coming up with an idea and then putting it on the page.
And what do you love most about it?
I love it when I’m writing my rough draft, or even in the revision stage, where a thought sort of takes off, and even I don’t know fully where my initial thought will take me. It’s almost magical.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read Nowhere Near Goodbye?
That’s a wonderful question and one I worry about. There are so many wonderful books to choose from. What inspires a reader to choose an unknown debut? I don’t think I know the answer to that other than this: I wrote this book because of the issues it addresses. Not just cancer and dying, but mothers who don’t fit the mother-mold. Mothers who are judged for their choices when fathers never would be. I wrote this book because second chances are so, so important, and I wish everyone could have a second chance. Maybe even a third. So maybe I’m hoping readers will find my book because they are interested in the same issues.
Are you working on a new project?
Yes! A new project! I find it challenging to be releasing my first book and knee-deep into the second. It kills me that I’ve had to put writing my second novel on the back burner temporarily.
My new novel is also about second chances and right and wrong. Just as Nowhere Near Goodbye is located in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, so is my new, as yet untitled, story. Two female friends fall in love during the early 1960s in one of the most conservative parts of the country. The story reflects their innocence. What they are forced to give up because of their feelings for each other. And a secret that threatens to destroy one of them. I love secrets! And second chances.
Where can readers find you (website, blog, social media, etc.)?
Facebook: Facebook.com/baconreywriter
Twitter: Twitter.com/@barbaraconrey
Instagram: Instagram.com/@barbaraconrey
Website: Author/Story Teller – Barbara Conrey
Nowhere Near Goodbye
A mother’s love vs. a doctor’s oath.
Oncologist Emma Blake has dedicated her life to finding a cure for a rare brain cancer. Twenty-five years ago, Emma’s childhood friend Kate died of glioblastoma, and Emma vowed to annihilate the deadly disease. Now, Kate’s father, Ned, is pushing her to work harder to fulfill that promise.
When Emma discovers she’s pregnant, she’s torn between the needs of her family and the demands of her work. While Ned pressures her to do the unthinkable, her husband, Tim, decorates the nursery. Unwilling to abandon her research, Emma attempts to keep both sides of her life in balance. Emma knows she needs to reconcile her past with her present and walk the fine line between mother and physician. But Ned has a secret, and when Emma discovers what he’s been hiding, the foundation of her world cracks.
Author bio:
Barbara Conrey worked in the health care industry for many years before opting for an early retirement, which lasted all of three months. She then accepted a position in finance, for which she had absolutely no background, and four years later, she decided to write a book. But not about finance.
Travel is her passion, along with reading, writing, hiking, and exploring antique shops. Her greatest love is Miss Molly, her rescue beagle. There are stories to be told about beagles, and Barbara hopes to incorporate some of them into her books.
Barbara lives in Pennsylvania, close to family and friends.