Barbara Elliott Carpenter

Born to a woman who loved to read, I was named after a character in Harold Bell Wright’s novel, The Winning of Barbara Worth. “Making up stories” came easily to the daughter of Janie Lee Elliott, a drama queen in her own right. Some of my earliest memories include hearing my mother ask, “Are you story-ing to me?” and “Lord, Child! What an imagination you have!” (At eighty-six, my mother still says the same thing!) Nine times out of ten, I was, indeed, telling stories. The discovery that letters of the alphabet could actually form words led to written stories by the time I was in the third grade.

So many interests have made it difficult for me to settle on any particular one. I loved art—coloring books, drawing, painting, chalk—all forms of making pictures; and for a time, I considered a career in that endeavor. Music has always been important to me, as well; and for a time I had visions of one day singing for thousands. That has actually happened, but only congregations at a time. My daughter, Rebecca, and I sing at the church we have attended most of my married life. Several of my oil and acrylic canvasses, still life and landscape, can be found not only in my house, but also in the homes of my children and friends and relatives from California to Florida.

Writing was a gratifying pastime for me for many years before I became a member of the Cedarhurst Writer’s Roundtable in 1987. At that time I found kindred spirits who loved to write as much as I did, and my manuscripts and notebooks began to fill shelves and drawers. It was at the Roundtable that several chapters for my first book, Starlight, Starbright…, were created; but it would be another fourteen years before my dream of holding that book in my hands became a reality.

Two years later, the sequel, Wish I May, Wish I Might…, was released; and I continue to work on the third and final book of the trilogy, The Wish I Wish Tonight, which is slated for release in late 2006. Besides the last book, three other novels are in the works, two of them written during my years at Cedarhurst. One is a family saga based on the timber/veneer industry and another tells a tale of wildcatting oil wells in the 1980’s. Yet another is a mystery.

During these last few years, I contributed to newspapers, magazines and many online publications. Some of my poems and short stories have won prizes and awards and have been used in honors English classes in Southern California and on a high school web site in Canada. A special highlight of my writing career was granted by Brigadier General Chuck Yeager, USAF, Retired, when he gave me permission to use recollections of him by a former airman who was under the general’s command during the Viet Nam war. Those memories are related in Wish I May, Wish I Might…. Another honor was granted to me recently when well-known writer James Loewen, author of bestseller Lies My Teachers Told Me, included a footnote about my work in his latest book, Sundown Towns. That footnote refers to a fictionalized true story that appears in Starlight, Starbright….

My husband, Glenn, and I will celebrate our forty-seventh anniversary in June of this year. (I was a child bride, of course!) We have a daughter, Rebecca, a son, Michael and four grandchildren, Nicholas, Jessica, Scott and Stephanie, all of whom live within a five-mile radius of each other. I am passionate about my family and our home. My other loves include reading, from classics to the newest contemporary authors; writing, obviously; painting with oils, as mentioned; quilting (a heritage from my Great-grandmother Chinn); flower-gardening; music and visiting with friends, some of whom have been in my life since first grade.

We live in South-central Illinois, where we recently built a house beside a small lake in a wooded area. My office overlooks an inlet of the lake that wraps around the south end of the house; and sometimes, gazing at the scenic view interferes with writing. Deer often come to drink at the inlet, offering either inspiration or distraction, depending upon my mindset at the time. While we love spending time at our new home, we also enjoy traveling. The Northwest, including Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Washington are favorite haunts, along with the entire scenic Pacific coastal highways.

I am always happy to hear from those who have read anything I have written, whether to compliment or criticize, preferring, of course, the former. Readers can reach me through my email at bjlogger2@aol.com and my web site at www.barbaraelliottcarpenter.com, which has been accessed by viewers from all over the world. Clicking onto the small red icon of the first book will allow access to pictures that inspired some of the stories in the book. Reviews are posted on amazon.com and barnes&noble.com, as well as htt://heartswithsoul.com/book_starlight.htm.

Story ID:	388
Written by:	OurEcho Admin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	In The Spotlight
Location:	Salem Illinois USA
Year:	2006
Person:	Barbara Elliott Carpenter