"I Wish I Could Write a Beautiful Romance—Haha!"

The Barbara Conrey Edition

Leave it to today’s guest, Barbara Conrey, to laugh at the idea of writing a lighthearted love story. This is the author whose novels dig into the messy, meaningful stuff—brain cancer, mental health, sexuality, and now A Fine Layer of Dust, which explores surrogacy.

Light and breezy?

Not exactly her lane—which is good news for us readers who crave deep stories that lead, ultimately, to forgiveness, second chances, and redemption.

Whether channeling her anger over losing people to glioblastoma or her curiosity about a three-time surrogate neighbor, Barbara lets real-life inspiration spark her stories—then makes them entirely her own. Even when that means telling her latest tale from a male perspective.

Let’s dish on what she has in common with her main character Jake, the significance of her settings, and the part of writing that still challenges her the most.

**To enter our drawing for a chance to win a copy of A Fine Layer of Dust, drop a comment below by Sunday.**

Author Confessions (AC): Tell us about your novel…

Barbara Conrey (BC): A Fine Layer of Dust started as a story about surrogacy, but turned into Jake Trenton’s story, a wonderful man, husband, father, who makes one horrible mistake that destroys the lives of two families.

It is also the story of forgiveness, redemption, and second chances.

AC: What’s your take on the idea of “write what you know”?

BC: I think we all write what we know, but we also write what we learn, either through research or interviews. Otherwise, we’d run out of things to write about.

AC: Why did you write this book and why now?

BC: The idea to write about surrogacy came after my neighbor announced she was pregnant as a surrogate. She’s been a surrogate three times. The first time, she stopped over and told me that she was pregnant and that she was a surrogate. We live two houses away from each other, and she didn’t want me to see her pregnant and then have no baby after she delivered.

The following two times she became pregnant, she basically yelled across the fence, “Doing it again!”.

This idea, that someone would do this three times, just intrigued me, and I knew I wanted to write about it. After speaking with both my neighbor and her husband, as well as several other women who came forward when they discovered I was interested in writing a book about surrogacy, I realized that all of these women (and my neighbor’s husband) had had positive experiences. I couldn’t have created tension in any of their stories. And that’s when the story became Jake Trenton’s story. His was the voice I heard, so he became the story I wrote.

AC: Why did you write from the male perspective?

BC: Funny you should ask, because that was my agent’s first question. The only answer I have, as I stated earlier, is that Jake’s voice was the one I heard while I was writing.

AC: Did any experiences or events from your life shape the plot?

BC: In a way, yes. An episode in his childhood drives Jake. That same episode has always driven me.

AC: Are any characters—or aspects of characters—based on you or anyone you know?

BC: Yes, Jake’s brother Robbie is based on my brother, Tim.

AC: Do you find yourself drawn repeatedly to the same or similar themes? Why?

BC: I am drawn to the medical or psychological issues that destroy people. I know, that sounds dreadful. In Nowhere Near Goodbye, I wrote about glioblastoma, a brain tumor that has no cure—but researchers are getting closer! I wrote that book because I was angry. Three people I knew died from glioblastoma, two were children, one an infant, and the other a young girl who was nine.

In My Secret to Keep, I wrote about homosexuality and how some people still struggle to accept themselves, no matter that in today’s world, homosexuals are (mostly) accepted.

In A Fine Layer of Dust, I touched on mental health and a fairly horrific suicide scene.

I wish I could write a beautiful romance. Haha!

AC: Any details in the book that reflect your real life?

BC: In both Nowhere Near Goodbye and My Secret to Keep, I used the neighborhood where I live as the setting. None of my neighbors who read the book even noticed.

In A Fine Layer of Dust, I set the story in Vermont, a state that owns my heart.

AC: Any fun “confessions” you’d like to make? Or things no one knows about you?

BC: I am a very neat person except for my office. It looks like a war zone.

Behind the Keyboard: AKA The Top 10 List

1. How long did it take from the book’s beginning to The End?

Three years

2. How many drafts?

Four

3. Do you use a daily word count / time period / etc to know when you’re done for the day?

No. I work from early morning until the middle of the afternoon. And then I’m done until the next day. I don’t even check my email.

4. Type or handwrite?

Type. I cannot read my handwriting.

5. Plotter or pantser?

Both? I start writing once I know the ending, and then, as I get into the story, I keep chapter notes so that I can ensure I can get from Step A to Step B.

6. Beverage or other pre-writing routine of choice?

Hot tea first thing in the morning then water.

7. Do you read outside your genre? If so, what?

I read almost everything except horror and erotica.

8. Most exhilarating aspect of writing?

Revision. There is nothing more intimidating to me than the blank page.

9. Most challenging aspect of writing?

That first sentence. It has to be perfect.

10. Favorite resource for writers?

Other writers!

AC: Barbara Conrey, thanks so much for Confessing!

To enter our drawing for a chance to win a copy of A Fine Layer of Dust, drop a comment below by Sunday. If you enjoy a book, then leaving a good review is the best gift you can give an author.

To learn more about Barbara, check her out at barbaraconreyauthor.com