Interview with Libby Sternberg

Libby Sternberg was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and is still in love with the city of crabcakes, steamy summers,
and ethnic neighborhoods.

Baltimore is the setting of her debut contemporary women's fiction book, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (published as Libby Malin), her Bianca Balducci mystery series, and several as-yet-to-be-published historical novels set in the 1950s.

Libby earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from the
Peabody Conservatory of Music and also attended the summer
American School of Music in Fontainebleau, France.

During a period of self-unemployment, she took her sister's
advice and decided to pursue an unfulfilled dream--writing
fiction. Her first young adult novel, Uncovering Sadie's
Secrets, was a nominee for the prestigious Edgar Allan
Poe award from Mystery Writers of America. The second in that
mystery series was released in hardcover in November 2004. A
third mystery in the series will be released in 2008. All of
her books have received critical acclaim.

For many years, she and her family lived in Vermont, where
she worked as an education reform advocate, contributed occasional
commentaries to Vermont Public Radio and was a member of the
Vermont Commission on Women.

She is married, with three children, and now resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Tell us a little about your road to publication.

I’ve always enjoyed writing but it wasn’t until I was a mature adult that I decided to seriously pursue novel writing. My sister encouraged me to do so because she knew I loved to write. I tried my hand at romance novels but didn’t manage to get any published--although Harlequin’s Red Dress Ink imprint did publish a “chick lit” of mine!

A friend of mine, who owns a small press, suggested I write young adult. He knew my writing, loved it, and was starting to publish YA. I wrote a contemporary YA mystery for him, Uncovering Sadie's Secrets, that went on to become an Edgar nominee. He published its sequel (and will publish a third book in the series next year) and we sold paperback rights to a larger publisher. Even as I enjoyed some very modest success from these endeavors, I yearned to write more layered stories, darker stories. I was drawn to particular historical periods, mostly the 1930s-‘50s, and wrote several manuscripts (as yet unpublished) in those times. Then I had the idea for The Case Against My Brother. I already knew of the historical backdrop for it-–the anti-Catholic campaign in 1922 Oregon to outlaw Catholic schools-–and thought “hmm, this would make a good setting for a story, one that a lot of people don’t know about.” The small press that launched me picked it up.



When you first entered the publishing world, what surprised you the most? Was there any aspect of the business that caught you off guard?

I think it surprised me how much time a writer has to put into learning the business. I put almost as much time and effort into learning about the business–-who is publishing what, who represents what kinds of fiction, what constitutes a good contract, how you sell subsidiary rights, how you do book promotion, etc.-–as I do into actually writing the novels. The aspect of the business that continues to catch me off guard is how many times editors will write absolutely glowing rejection letters yet still turn down a manuscript based on their understanding of the market.

Why historical fiction?

As I mentioned, I’m drawn to the period of the 1930s-1950s. I’ve read a number of books set in that time period or written in that time period. It calls out to me, maybe because it was my parents’ and grandparents’ world.

What are you working on now that you’d like us to know about?

For several years now, I’ve been laboring on a true “book of my heart,” a novel set in 1934, in California, a story inspired by Jane Eyre. It’s been read by several editors and is still being read by some now. I feel so strongly about this story that I have posted it in its entirety on my web site, so if you’re a Jane Eyre fan, check it out and let me know what you think!

I also have a mystery series I’d like to do set in the 1950's in my native Baltimore, starting right before the great polio vaccine trials of that era. And I have another story set at the same time following the lives of two women in search of happiness, one a nun, the other her sister-in-law, that explores issues of faith and true virtue.

Do you have a favorite historical novel?

I absolutely adore Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazelet series (The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, and Casting Off). They’re set in Britain before, during and immediately after the Second World War. Rich details and amazing stories.

Is there anything or anyone that inspires your writing?

Come back tomorrow to read part two of the interview with Libby Sternberg. Leave a comment to win a copy of The Case Against My Brother.