Welcome Back to Pottersville: Interview With Libby Barnfield

“Romantic, liberating and totally addictive this will obsess you, leave you wanting more.

HUNTER FAIRMONT is a self-made billionaire, the ever gorgeous alpha bachelor. MCKENNA RAYNE is the self-made recluse, and loves her invisibility more than anything. He needs a personal assistant and she needs a job. But things aren't what they seem. Secrets are hidden, skeletons are in closets and both their worlds collide. He will stop at nothing to make her his, and she's not ready to fall. Fate has her own plan. Suddenly the game changes for the both of them, and every step becomes more deadly and lethal than the next. Someone else has Hunter in their sights, and will stop at nothing to have him. With no promise of a tomorrow, will they both survive what's to come. When Hunter Becomes the Hunted.” Blurb for Hunter, the first in the Bloodlines series.

This month, we’re going to beat the winter chill by going down to Oz to chat with our Author of the Month, Libby Barnfield.

15) Libby, this is a departure for me because not only have I never profiled an Aussie author (to my recollection), I’ve also never done so for someone with only one book on the market. Tell us about Hunter and the Bloodlines series in general.

The Bloodline Series is written from the perspectives of a large, yet tightly-knit family. Each story captures the essence of the bond between siblings and the loyalties that come with such a bond. Even though they are self made billionaires they are all still very grounded and don't forget their roots.

Each sibling will have their own story to tell, with its own suspense, drama and intrigue.

Book one HUNTER of the series is where it all begins, him being the eldest. Hunter is the founder and CEO of Fairmont Holdings PTY LTD. It was one of those mornings when things could go wrong and did.

Trying to finish a deal buying a shipping yard his personal assistant goes into labor early sending his office into a tail spin of chaos.

Sarah, who is a dear friend to him an his entire family, works behind the scenes in keeping the company running smoothly. She suggests a woman called McKenna to come and help until he found a new personal assistant. McKenna also happens to be her Goddaughter.

A Goddaughter with a secret and also tortured past.

But Hunter also has a secret, but is soon revealed when he gives his heart to her.

Hunter works closely with the FBI, to close for his liking to bring down a crooked Governor that runs the underground.

There's a ripple in their plan though. The Governor has a daughter that wants to make Hunter hers, and now McKenna stands in her way of getting what she wants. So from twists and turns, suspense and drama, to hitmen and secrets it's an action packed edge of your seat read. Oh, and you'll also need a box of tissues because this story will touch all the feels.

14) You’re thus far exclusively a romance author but you stray into other genres and subgenres. The Bloodlines series is romantic action/adventure featuring conspiracies and the FBI. And, as with virtually all fiction, nothing is ever what it seems. What led you to create the male protagonist, Hunter?

Well, both Hunter and McKenna are the protagonists in this story.

But Hunter is a man with a difference, he knows what he wants and he goes after it. He's persistent but has one flaw: He likes to take over where he sees he can be of assistance, but for all the right reasons. His heart is always in the right place when it comes to the people he loves and cares for, he'd move mountains.

He's ruthless in a boardroom, and is a take no prisoners type kind of guy.

He doesn't let a lot of people in his inner circle because he's a very private kind of guy.

13) You’d told me recently that you’ve written nearly a dozen full drafts filling out the Bloodlines series plus two others. One paranormal romance and the other romantic fantasy. In the future, are you planning on doing more romance hybrids with other genres?

As a writer/author … I feel as if I am filled with so many stories to tell, that flow the moment I begin to write. These stories, over time, seem to evolve into something beyond genre expectations, so I am sure that I have more stories to tell yet from all types of genres.

12) Speaking as a woman, how do you explain romance literature’s enduring appeal from Jane Austen to the Brontë sisters to Barbara Cartland to today’s romance authors?

I believe, that no matter the time the story is situated, love was and still continues to be something that each person at some point on their journey can relate to. Whether it be love of family, or, quite simply, falling in love for the first time. The classics paint a remarkable picture of love of the purest kind. A vulnerable time; nonetheless. A time when divorce was taboo and quite simply “not an option”. And now, the modern, strong and independent career woman, who knows her worth and refuses to settle. Each continue to lure me as an author and a reader, as love will always be relatable.

11) While growing up in Australia, who were your favorite authors and had any of them gone on to influence your work today?

Colleen Hoover

Elizabeth Lennox

Addison Moore

Alanea Alder

Are all my favourite authors.

Maybe I have been influenced by all of them, all wrapped up in a parcel. They are all phenomenal authors in their own right.

10) How difficult it to ply your trade in a nation with few publishers and only a dozen literary agencies? Or is all that moot since you self-publish?

I think that we are in a time where social media has empowered authors, like myself, to self publish as we have the ability to self market our work across various, popular platforms which has proven to be successful. It’s an amazing source and slowly but surely, more and more authors utilise it as they become familiar with the internet. It’s quite a “personal” approach to marketing your published work, as it’s US who manage ourselves, keeping our fingers on the pulse at all times and giving our reader fans a more personal experience. All thanks to social media. So, with only few publishing houses here in Australia, I would say that I am not disappointed with the alternative- self publishing.

9) As with my upcoming book, American Zen, you’d assembled a play list for your protagonist, Hunter. How come McKenna, the female lead, doesn’t have one? Or will she get one in the future?

The playlist covers both characters. Each song goes with each consecutive scene in the book from start to finish.

8) Do you believe that other romance authors should, like you, merge genres or do you think there’s still a place in modern literature for romance purists?

Contrary to popular belief, love has no limits and neither should your stories! I don’t get caught up in a specific genre when planning out my book. I let the story line and its characters come to life before worrying about things like that. I feel that this allows the story to unfold organically without limits and as it progresses, the structure and genre forms without being held back. There is always plenty of room for romance purists!

7) Describe your typical writing day in the outback, if such a thing exists. Do you draft in notebooks, laptops, both and, if you set daily words goals, what are they?

My typical day of writing...

I'm a bit of both a plotter and a pantser.

I draw up an outline on how I'd like the book to go. But unfortunately, it never goes the way you plan. My characters seem to go off on their own merry little way, and take the story into different directions, but eventually I may be able to swing the story back around to the direction I'd like for it to go.

Characters have things to say, and sometimes they don't quieten down until they've told their story.

So a book has lots of plot twists and turns and makes for a good read.

6) Humans will continue to fall in love for as long as the species endures. Yet, romance literature, as well as anything else, has to evolve in order to remain fresh and relevant. What do you see those changes as being in the future?

Love, as I said, will be infinitely relatable; no matter the setting. I believe if there are any changes to be made, they would be to simply keep the story line and setting as relatable for the modern reader as possible. So changes to a classic setting may change from a modest woman, newly of age waiting for a suitor. To a woman who becomes a famous writer in a time where women weren’t to work at all. These changes should be encouraged too!

5) You’ve also told me you’ve begun a paranormal romance series. Without divulging spoilers, tell us a little about that series.

Love, triumph, power, good and evil, to name a few, are all common denominators of the paranormal I am writing.

4) Plotter, pantser or plantser?

As I said in question seven, I’m a bit of both. I like to at least start a kind of direction I’d like to go, but when I start that goes right out the window. But I still like to think I’m in control when really I’m not my characters are I just write what they tell me.

3) You’re also merging romance with fantasy in another series. Could you tell us a bit about that?

I’ve written a Fantasy Romance that’s action packed. I actually dreamt this series, and began just writing it. All I’m going to reveal is there’s Fallen Angels and Demons in it. It’s a wait and see….

2) Do you have a projected launch date for the second entry in the Bloodlines series?

No, unfortunately I don’t have a launch date. This is a total rewrite because I lost the complete first manuscript, and I wasn’t able to retrieve it all. So, it’s virtually start from scratch kind of thing. But I will say it’s got a lot more in it the second time round.

1) So, what’s next for LibbyJ?

I’m hoping the release of book two to The Bloodline Series and the launch of My Fantasy Romance in 2022. I’ve also got a few other ideas on the back burner as well. I would like to try my hand a Recency Romance as well, but we’ll see how things go with the others first. I don’t want to limit myself to just the one style of romance writing, I’d like to try different types of romance as well. So let’s see what the future holds.

If you’re interested in learning more about Ms. Barnfield’s work, please follow the handy links below:

Author Page.

https://www.facebook.com/libby.j.author/

Instagram.

https://instagram.com/__libby.j_author__?igshid=1xqdqyt8gvhsu

House of Chapters.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1750764315077533/?ref=share

TikTok

http://www.tiktok.com/@libby.j_author

Twitter

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