An Interview with B.J. Lawry, author, editor and publisher.

MR: Thank you so much for allowing us to interview you, B.J.

Lawry: Thanks again. This is so much fun!

MR: How and where did you begin your writing career?

Lawry: I began writing in my teens and I guess actually "began my career" when a story I wrote at the age of 17 won a statewide contest out of hundreds of stories submitted by both amateur and professional writers. The story was about the rape of a teenage boy and I never imagined I'd win. Instead, I thought I'd be thrown out of the contest. Big surprise!

MR: You have worked for several newspapers, what were they?

Lawry: I was a reporter and feature writer for the Baxter Bulletin and creator and editor of a special monthly section. I was editor of a newspaper in Princeton, NJ, as well as features editor for a newspaper in Las Vegas. I also was editor of a magazine in Florida and a trade magazine in Indiana.

MR: Was your primary experience in the newspaper business?

Lawry: Yes. Always. My working life started out, at 16, selling thread in a dime store. I guess it was the proverbial Cinderella story. The publisher of a high-quality, internationally circulated architecture magazine "discovered" me and I got my first taste of editing and magazine layout. Within just a couple of months,
he made me editor and art director and I traveled all over the state of Florida with our photographer, doing photo shoots of very prestigious homes. The publisher was a very old man who died a couple of years later, but he had introduced me to a man who was on the board of Holt, Rinehart and Winston and that man hired me to work in his Palm Beach office as a "creative consultant," whatever that meant. After he died, just a short time later, I trekked all over the country, working for newspapers, actually trying to learn the trade. Didn't do too badly either.

MR: When did you begin writing fiction professionally?

Lawry: My first piece of fiction wasn't published until about ten years ago. Due to my newspaper jobs -- which are always a 24-hour experiences -- I didn't write much fiction during my working years. The rape story that won the statewide prize was sent out to one magazine, that's all, when I was in my early twenties. A letter from the editor came back saying, "This is one of the finest stories we've ever read but, due to the subject matter, we have to turn it down." You can imagine that broke my heart, but it also said to me (wrongly) that I should go back into hiding and forget about ever being published. Writers are far too sensitive when they're young. If I'd continued to fight, if I'd had people around me who believed in me, I may have published all kinds of fiction by now.


MR: Is "Pitcher Winder and other stories" your first book?

Lawry: No. "Pitcher Winder and other stories" is actually my third. The first was a history of a small village in Arkansas, titled "Cotter, Arkansas -- the story of a small town." It tells of the town's bursting out of the hills
as a railroad town to die a slow and sad near-death as passenger service disappeared. I also have a romance novella titled "Desert Heat." Both "Desert Heat" and "Pitcher Winder" are available through Amazon.com,
Barnes&Noble.com and iUniverse.com.

MR: Did you find it difficult to go from the "tight" writing of news to the more descriptive writing in fiction?

Lawry: No, because my newspaper work was always done with a
lot of description, even if I was covering a news event. I didn't just write cop blurbs (although I did a lot of that). I covered major events (Port Everglades, Florida burning; an earthquake in Guatemala; stuff like that) and more than just reporting was not only necessary but natural.

MR: What are the biggest challenges you have faced?

Lawry: This is a tough question because my life itself has been a challenge. With my writing, I guess it was in trying to make my family believe I could do it. Their reaction in the beginning was, "Oh, isn't that cute?" After that, the biggest challenge was trying to earn enough
money in the newspaper business to survive long enough to retire so I could write fiction. Newspapers never pay well, unless it's the "New York Times," so it's a struggle. Another challenge, at various times, was that I didn't and don't have a college degree. At one time I was even told by a newspaper editor that he couldn't hire me as a reporter because they had to hire a man.

MR: What was your reaction when that editor told you he had to hire a man instead of you?

Lawry: Heehee! Well, first of all, it was about 35 years ago, so there wasn't much I could have done in that case. But I got another job someplace (forget where) and six months later I went back to the same newspaper, got hired by them and went on to win reporting awards for them. The same editor was there but had moved up the ladder and I was hired by the man who took his place. The first editor never was pleased about my being hired but he was stuck with me. :)

MR: What projects are you currently working on?

Lawry: Currently, I'm working on what I hope is the final rewrite of a mystery titled, "The Piper of Featherly," which takes place in a small town in Arkansas. It's fun. I hope some nice publisher somewhere will be interested!

MR: Tell me about your e-magazine, "LoveWords."

Lawry: LoveWords came into being about a year and a half ago. I'd been in publishing -- both magazines and newspapers -- for four decades and, although retirement is great fun and something I've waited for since I started working, I had to keep my hands in the pot. LoveWords not
only inspires me but it gives writers from throughout the world a chance to be published and paid for it. I feel very good to be helping in that way. And we've met some great writers and terrific folks, too.

MR: What advice to you have for new writers that are trying to break into print?

Lawry: Write, write and keep writing! Equally as important? Read the works from the category in which you want to write. That's the best writing education you can get.

LoveWords e-Zine