Won’t You Be My Neighbor—Deana Barnhart

I'm so excited to day to introduce you all to my good friend Deana Barnhart. I can say good friend because we've met in real life :) She has the cutest southern accent! Do you think I can get you to type in an accent?

Deana: Aww shucks Aieengee, thank yee fur havin' lil ole me on ur blog. I cunsider yew a good freend too.

K, that may be a little more Andy Griffith than Kentucky girl me. Hopefully my Podunk roots aren't that deep:-)  Ha! They probably are. Best to embrace my red neck side. Ya'll is probably used in my vocab more than I'd like to admit:-) But I promise people, I really can spell.

Anyhoo, I'm thrilled to be here...and quite intimidated to follow so many totally cute interviews. I hope I don't bomb...or ramble...like I'm doing now...

Angie: Don't worry, I'm a fan of the rambling :) and I LOVE the drawl. But you're right yours isn't so pronounced.

Alright y'all on to the first question...Name one food, one TV show (or movie) and one book you can't live without.

Deana: Oh crap. You've gotta start with the REALLY hard stuff. Let me see...

Food: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or Lucky Charms. I know I'm a real health nut:)

TV Show: Just one? Really? I guess Vampire Diaries even though Elana drives me crazy sometimes.

Book: That is so hard because I'm not usually the type to read books over and over. There are just too many. So what if I said my Kindle so I could buy the new ones? Is that too much of a cop out?

Angie: We are soul sisters I would pick all those things too!!! (Except the Lucky Charms—too soggy too fast for me :)

Deana: And that's why they're magically delicious because you have to gobble them up so fast it's like magic when they disappear :-)

Angie: I will let you pick a Kindle just this time, but only if you answer a follow up question. What is the BEST book you have read this year?

Deana: As for the book, I'm going to show my incredible slacker status. With this years beta reads and my own writing I've only read about 5 books this year. My fave would have to be Sing Me to Sleep by Angela Morrison. It was one of those where I stopped everything so I could finish it in a day. I was bawling like a baby after I finished. It was that good.

Angie: I LOVE a book that makes you drop everything. I've seen Sing Me to Sleep, now I'm really going to have to read it!

Because I've been thinking a lot about writing schedules for myself, I'm super interested in what everyone else does. So when do you do most of your writing? What kind of balance have you figured out? Tell me you have secrets.

Deana: Yeah, I have secrets, but they aren't the balance kind. I do know that I am a better morning writer so if I can get up, get the kids off to school and stay away from my blog, Twitter and people in general, I'm good to go. But being a recluse is hard sometimes :) On the other hand, when I get that fire burning for an idea that needs to come out, I'm lucky if I get showered and feed my kids cereal for dinner. So balance...not so much.

Angie: I'm a total moody writer. If I'm feeling it, I do great. If I'm not, my writing is garbage. I still haven't figured out how to write well through a slump. I guess that is the essence of a slump. LOL!

Deana: Ha! Now that would be a secret to know: How to write amazing while you're in a slump. When you find that out please let me know :-)

Angie: If I could figure it out, I'd be rich :)

Okay next question, I'll even make it multiple choice--but you have to explain why. 

What inspires you most:

A. Movies or TV (That Damon is a dish :)

B. Nature (I hear Kentucky is especially lovely)

C. Everyday life (Kids say the darnedest things)

D. People (We are all people watchers aren't we?)

E. Book (Need I say more?)

Deana: Aww man I stink at this, because I want to choose all of the above. 

If I absolutely have to pick one it would be people. I love taking little quirks from people to help create my characters. I suppose it's the people that really make books, movies, life and even nature that much more appealing in my opinion.

Angie: You are like a wisdom guru! Characters are really the only thing that matters! Tell me a little about your favorite character from your WIP.

Deana: I would have to say Mole is one of my favorites. She's a girl the mc, Kali, meets in a mental institution from the past. Mole's battled so many demons in her young life that she's developed multiple personalities to help her cope. I love a flawed character and Mole is a mess! But her flaws are also her strengths and actually allow her to grow through the story. She's just cool people in my book (no pun intended).

Angie: You should intend the pun. It was funny :) 

Deana: Cool, then pun totally intended :-)

Angie: Mole sounds so interesting! Did you have to research multiple personalities to write her? I read a book years ago about multiple personalities and it scared the crap out of me!!!

Deana: I did do research for Mole, and actually found varying opinions on whether people even believe MPD is a real mental disorder or not. For the sake of my book and the many case studies I read about, I choose to be a believer.

Angie: I'm a believer too :)

Okay, time for the last question (that went by fast). Of course it needs to be a pageant question, and you're a southern bell straight from pageant country so I expect great things from you!

On to the question...What is the greatest gift you've ever been given? And why.

Deana: Yep, I'm southern to the core. The bell part I'm not so sure about :-) I wasn't a pageant gal, but I was a Tennessee Twirler and we did pageants as a part of our competitions. I stunk at the them...but I did rock a baton :-) 

As for my greatest gift? I could go the pageant route and say something like "my life" or "my family". But like I said, I was never good with the pageants so I'll stick to my greatest writer gifts.

I have two. One was the Storymakers Writer's conference I just got back from. Between my husband's Marriot points and my Dads sky miles, I got to meet tons of awesome bloggers (you being one of course), I learned loads, and got to experience life out west!

My second greatest gift was received this past Christmas. My computer crashed right in the middle of editing Ripple Effect and I was devastated. Until I got a knock on my door and there on the porch was a brand new computer!

These two gifts aren't just awesome because of how cool they are, but because they showed me how much my family really believes in me as a writer, and that is about the best gift I could imagine...until I land an agent and a book deal of course :-)

I can't believe the interview is already over. It's been so much fun Angie!

Angie: You rocked it! Seriously! I give you a standing ovation. Next time I'm in Kentucky or Alabama we will do lunch! And let's plan on making Storymakers a standing yearly date :)

Deana: Sounds great to me girl! Good luck with your move. When are you becoming a southern girl?

Angie: We are moving to Orlando Florida in July! Yikes!!! Talk about culture shock. 

Thanks for taking time to let me interview you! You are awesome :)

Now that you all know Deana a little better, jump on over to her blog and give her a little love :)

-Angie