Linda-Marie Barrett
Yes, I am a huge fan of this book (and the author). I was intimately involved in the author's writing process and I have to tell you, it's one of the best books I've ever read! She digs deep into not only how a salon works, but you learn so much more about who Linda-Marie Barrett really is. It's a fascinating read! Rave reviews from Julie Cantrell, Elizabeth Gilbert, Bren McClain and Patti Callahan Henry, to name just a few! It's a must read.
Linda-Marie, tell us about your newest book, Creating a Salon.
Creating a Salon is a guidebook to hosting gatherings that center rich conversation. I weave the story behind the creation of the Black Swan Salon, which I host at my home, with instructions for readers on forming their own salons. I share suggestions on selecting members, choosing discussion formats, and logistics around setting and timing, plus real-life examples of what worked, or didn’t, at my salon. As a bonus, the book contains 14 salon starter kits, each on a different theme, to help readers host with confidence. Another special element is the inclusion of the voices of my salon members. They share their feedback on the positive and sometimes challenging salon discussions we've experienced together, along with stories that have influenced how they move through life. Creating a Salon is a very accessible and personal guide that I hope inspires more meaningful gatherings, which lead to deeper friendships.Now, tell us about where you live and why you love it so much.
I live in Western North Carolina, within walking distance of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Mountains to Sea Trail and only six miles from downtown Asheville.
I can be in the wilderness or attending a music concert within minutes. Our neighborhood is very peaceful, with deeply good, community-oriented folks who rallied around each other in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. My home is filled with books and I share it with my best friend who is also my husband. What more can you ask for?
Where were you living when you were 7 years old? Are they fond memories?
I lived in Natick, Massachusetts. I loved my pre-teen years! Our house was close to our elementary and junior high schools, so we could walk to school through the woods. My parents signed me up for every free program available-sports for all seasons, school plays, girl scouts, band, church volunteering– and were very hands off on supervising me.
I was always on the go when I wasn’t deep into a book or writing poetry. I was on fire in the best ways then, fearless and ready to try everything. Life was amazing, and then came junior high (sigh).
Is there a book that changed the way you look at life?
Books continually change my perspectives on life. I’ve learned almost everything through books. The first book I picked up, whether it was from my kindergarten teacher, my mom, or the bookmobile librarian, began a relationship with literature that is the core of my being. Because I know you’ll insist on me naming a book, the first book series that I recall deeply affecting me was The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.
The possibility of alternative realities, magical beings, and becoming royalty despite humble beginnings truly lit a fire in my imagination. I really tried to get to Narnia, but that never happened.
Do you have a favorite children’s book and what about it makes it so?
I loved so many books about myths, fairytales, fantasy, and magic. A childhood standout among them was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
Children trying to be good in the face of evil, staying strong and true to what is right even as they acknowledge they are afraid and need help, always moves me. I grew up in a religious household where morality was drilled into me, but I found moral tales easier to take in, and more relatable, when delivered in these magical children’s books.
Is there a song, person, or group that you listen to when you are feeling a bit down?
Cat Stevens' “Morning has Broken” reminds me that life is beautiful, even when it’s personally hard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmAOBosGlHY
How are you different now than you were in your teens and early 20’s?
I’m more thoughtful and strategic about how I spend my time, and who I spend it with. Because of all I’ve learned and experienced since then, I hope and believe I’m a better friend and partner. I’m less reactive, less grand in my aspirations, and more appreciative of the beauty of simple things, and peacefulness.
Linda-Marie in high school.
Is there a question no one has ever asked you that you wish they would? Something, perhaps, that people would be surprised to know about you?
I have never been asked about my prepper skills in the event of a zombie apocalypse. And that’s too bad because I have incredible homesteading and animal husbandry skills from living on a farm with no central heating and a composting toilet for over twenty years. I can start a fire from almost nothing, make wine from any fruit, root, or vegetable, and knit garments from wool I’ve spun from hairy animals. If the zombie apocalypse happens in our lifetimes and I’m still ambulatory and with it mentally, I’m your woman.
What would you say is the biggest joy and hardest challenge in your life?
You, Jon Willoughby Mayes, are the biggest joy.
Nourishing a productive, creative writing life while tending to work and home schedules, especially as I’ve grown older, is the biggest challenge outside of feeling helpless and horrified by what is going on under our country’s present leadership. But like so many, I carry on!
How do you feel about “Independent Bookstores” and their role in your success?
I’ve devoted my entire adult working life to independent bookselling. Connecting books with readers, and authors with their audiences, are my greatest pleasures. I will always identify as an independent bookseller because I was one for so long. My book is published by an independent publisher, and the key to its success, and my success as a writer, are with independent bookstores. Librarians and independent booksellers are guardians of the word, the book, and our freedom of expression. The spaces they create within our communities are sacred. We all need, if we care about these things, to give them as much support as we can muster, especially now.
AND FINALLY, IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME
to any period from before recorded history to yesterday,
be safe from harm, be rich, poor or in-between, if appropriate to your choice,
actually experience what it was like to live in that time, anywhere at all,
meet anyone, if you desire, speak with them, listen to them, be with them.
When would you go?
Where would you go?
Who would you want to meet? And most importantly, why do you think you chose this time?
As I’ve been reading your blog for years, I’ve thought about this for a long time. I once wanted to be a fly on the wall watching Shakespeare create his great works, and seeing them performed. If I only get to choose this experience once, I’m now not sure I would want to do that, as fascinating as that would be. I think, rather, I’d want to go back or sideways or forward to be in the presence of someone who is enlightened and deeply at peace, to take in their wisdom and find that within myself. Maybe it’s where I am in my timeline, or where we all are today in this strange new world, that brings this out in me.
“Harold and Maude” is one of my favorite movies for the same reason, and, of course, Cat Stevens’ music is the soundtrack. His work has soothed my spirit for decades now.
How are you different now than you were in your teens and early 20’s?
I’m more thoughtful and strategic about how I spend my time, and who I spend it with. Because of all I’ve learned and experienced since then, I hope and believe I’m a better friend and partner. I’m less reactive, less grand in my aspirations, and more appreciative of the beauty of simple things, and peacefulness.
Is there a question no one has ever asked you that you wish they would? Something, perhaps, that people would be surprised to know about you?
I have never been asked about my prepper skills in the event of a zombie apocalypse. And that’s too bad because I have incredible homesteading and animal husbandry skills from living on a farm with no central heating and a composting toilet for over twenty years. I can start a fire from almost nothing, make wine from any fruit, root, or vegetable, and knit garments from wool I’ve spun from hairy animals. If the zombie apocalypse happens in our lifetimes and I’m still ambulatory and with it mentally, I’m your woman.
We all have or can point to a certain experience that shifted our lives in a way that led to where we are today. It could be a person you encountered or you were in a certain place or you had a certain experience or all three, but it was so pivotal that you can say that because of this experience, I am where I am today as a writer or in a greater sense as the person I am now.
A positive experience that shifted my life was when my mother brought me to the bookmobile that visited our neighborhood and I befriended the librarian. She learned what I liked to read and would bring me books during her weekly stops.
I can still recall the thrill of seeing “Barrett” on a slip of paper sticking out of books on the hold shelf, set aside just for me, a kid! Because of this truly heroic priestess of reading (aka “librarian”), I read up to 7 books weekly (the maximum you could check out) and was inspired to write poetry, short stories, plays, and later novels. I had discovered my life’s purpose and from a very young age identified as a writer.
How did you and your husband Jon first meet?
We met when I was a buyer at Malaprop’s Bookstore and he was a publisher rep visiting the store for our buying appointments. We were friends first and then fell in love after we bonded in the aftermath of our divorces. All of the best things in my life center books and relationships formed around books.
A positive experience that shifted my life was when my mother brought me to the bookmobile that visited our neighborhood and I befriended the librarian. She learned what I liked to read and would bring me books during her weekly stops.
I can still recall the thrill of seeing “Barrett” on a slip of paper sticking out of books on the hold shelf, set aside just for me, a kid! Because of this truly heroic priestess of reading (aka “librarian”), I read up to 7 books weekly (the maximum you could check out) and was inspired to write poetry, short stories, plays, and later novels. I had discovered my life’s purpose and from a very young age identified as a writer.
How did you and your husband Jon first meet?
We met when I was a buyer at Malaprop’s Bookstore and he was a publisher rep visiting the store for our buying appointments. We were friends first and then fell in love after we bonded in the aftermath of our divorces. All of the best things in my life center books and relationships formed around books.
Linda-Marie and Jon at their wedding.
Can you remember a particular random act of kindness from a stranger?
You know who is a deeply kind person? Elizabeth Gilbert.
We were once closer, but drifted apart in the years following Eat Pray Love to the point that contact is now minimal. Yet over the years she has surprised me with random acts of kindness that truly lift me up, the latest being a beautiful blurb for Creating a Salon. I first met her when I was the author event coordinator at Malaprop’s and she came to present for Last American Man (such a great read)!
Little did I know then, when she was indeed a stranger, that she would continue to be a part of my life in such generous, meaningful ways. I admire her so much as a writer and as a person.
Can you remember a particular random act of kindness from a stranger?
You know who is a deeply kind person? Elizabeth Gilbert.
We were once closer, but drifted apart in the years following Eat Pray Love to the point that contact is now minimal. Yet over the years she has surprised me with random acts of kindness that truly lift me up, the latest being a beautiful blurb for Creating a Salon. I first met her when I was the author event coordinator at Malaprop’s and she came to present for Last American Man (such a great read)!
Little did I know then, when she was indeed a stranger, that she would continue to be a part of my life in such generous, meaningful ways. I admire her so much as a writer and as a person.
What would you say is the biggest joy and hardest challenge in your life?
You, Jon Willoughby Mayes, are the biggest joy.
Nourishing a productive, creative writing life while tending to work and home schedules, especially as I’ve grown older, is the biggest challenge outside of feeling helpless and horrified by what is going on under our country’s present leadership. But like so many, I carry on!
How do you feel about “Independent Bookstores” and their role in your success?
I’ve devoted my entire adult working life to independent bookselling. Connecting books with readers, and authors with their audiences, are my greatest pleasures. I will always identify as an independent bookseller because I was one for so long. My book is published by an independent publisher, and the key to its success, and my success as a writer, are with independent bookstores. Librarians and independent booksellers are guardians of the word, the book, and our freedom of expression. The spaces they create within our communities are sacred. We all need, if we care about these things, to give them as much support as we can muster, especially now.
AND FINALLY, IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME
to any period from before recorded history to yesterday,
be safe from harm, be rich, poor or in-between, if appropriate to your choice,
actually experience what it was like to live in that time, anywhere at all,
meet anyone, if you desire, speak with them, listen to them, be with them.
When would you go?
Where would you go?
Who would you want to meet? And most importantly, why do you think you chose this time?
As I’ve been reading your blog for years, I’ve thought about this for a long time. I once wanted to be a fly on the wall watching Shakespeare create his great works, and seeing them performed. If I only get to choose this experience once, I’m now not sure I would want to do that, as fascinating as that would be. I think, rather, I’d want to go back or sideways or forward to be in the presence of someone who is enlightened and deeply at peace, to take in their wisdom and find that within myself. Maybe it’s where I am in my timeline, or where we all are today in this strange new world, that brings this out in me.
Thank you Linda-Marie, your answers to my questions were brilliant. Readers, pick up a copy of this magical book at your local indie bookstore.
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