M. P. Barker
Being enemies is hard... Being friends is even harder.  To get an autographed copy, contact one of these booksellers: --Chandler & Reed Books --Broadside Bookshop of Northampton, MA --Amherst Books of Amherst, MA --Pam's Paperbacks of Wilbraham, MA (413-596-3612) --Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Worcester, MA --Or stop by Acoustic Java 932A Main Street Worcester, MA and have a great cup of coffee and a snack with your book! August 2008 What's new this month? Updated Events Calendar. New video trailers for Class of 2k8 books. Check out the Class of 2k8 scavenger hunt. It's a mid-term you'll want to take! Class of 2k7, Class of 2k8, and Class of 2k9 are trademarks of Greg R. Fishbone, used with permission. The Class of 2k7 logo was designed by Ruth McNally Barshaw, used with permission. The Class of 2k8 logo was designed by Ruth McNally Barshaw and Kristin Tubb, used with permission. All web and print materials are copyright by their individual authors, where identifiable, or by the Class of 2k8 as a collective. |
HomeWelcome to the home page of M.P. Barker, the author of A Difficult Boy, a historical novel about two indentured servants who must overcome their differences to outwit their abusive master in 19th-century New England. "Inisheer," the absolutely gorgeous background music on this video, is played by multi-talented Irish musician Sharon Hussey, who graciously gave me permission to use her recording of this lovely Thomas Walsh compostion. See this Folk World article for the story behind the tune. The video was created by Madison Meyer of M2 Productions and Joseph M. Barker, the love of my life (with a little teeny bit of input from yours truly). The images of the indenture document, Mr. Lyman, the man on the hay cart, and the 19th-century town common are used courtesy of the local history archives of the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum. All other images are from istockphoto.  Photo by Francine Baggetta Writing A Difficult Boy allowed me to combine my childhood dreams of becoming a novelist and owning a horse with my grown-up jobs as an archivist and historian. Although I never did get that dream horse, I got to invent one in Ivy, the mare that the boys in the story take care of. In the 1990s, I did a stint as a costumed historical interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village, where I got to time-travel on a daily basis to 1830s New England. You can do all the research you want, but there’s nothing like sitting with your face against a muddy cow’s belly and getting slapped upside the head with a manure-soaked tail to give your story that “been-there-done-that” feeling, and to add a new and pungent dimension to the words "in your face." After Sturbridge, I became an archivist at the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, where I get paid to snoop through old diaries, letters and personal papers. There’s a weird kind of visceral enjoyment in finding out people’s dirty little secrets--their prejudices, their hidden love-affairs, what they really think about the world... Turning that information into historical fiction was an adventure and a challenge. I wanted to create characters that readers could identify with, while allowing them to see that those characters aren’t merely modern people wearing funny clothes and living without indoor plumbing. Daniel’s and Ethan’s thoughts and beliefs are very different from ours, yet they grapple with familiar problems: prejudice, abuse, poverty, grief, and loneliness. And they cherish the same things that matter to kids and adults today: loyalty, kindness, trust and most of all, friendship. Guest blogs and online interviews Check out the following links to archived online interviews and guest blogs featuring A Difficult Boy: 20 May 2008: Online interview about hair, nails, and killer sparkly red shoes to die for Shop Talk with Laura Bowers 3 May 2008: Online interview Trainspotting Reads Teen Book Reviews 25 Apr 2008: Online interview Author Jessica Burkhart's Blog 23 Apr 2008: Guest blog on writing and horses The Page Flipper 22 Apr 2008: Guest blog on indentured servitude in the 19th century Nineteenteens 18 Apr 2008: Online interview Nineteenteens 14-19 Apr 2008: Virtual book launch party for A Difficult Boy at the Class of 2k8 web site Day One: About the Book Day Two: About Writing Day Three: Character Portraits Day Four: The Face that Got Me My Agent Day Five: Adventures in Living History at Old Sturbridge Village 14 Apr 2008: Guest blog on cutting a manuscript from 700 pages to 300 Darcy Pattison's Revision Notes What I do when I'm not writing... Besides being a novelist, I'm also an archivist and historical consultant, and just started a new job as a Circuit Rider for Preservation Massachusetts. My other projects have included exhibits, nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, planning studies, local history publications, and more! Earlier this year, my co-workers at CVHM put together an exhibit on blues great Taj Mahal and his family, who hale from Springfield, Mass. The exhibit, titled "Blues in Our Blood", highlights Taj Mahal and his sister, Carole Fredericks, who was an amazing singer and a big star in France. The exhibit also acknowledges the incredible accomplishments of their parents, step-parents, and siblings. This was one incredibly talented family, which included musicians, artists, writers, teachers--everyone had some special gift. What was even cooler was that Taj Mahal himself paid us a visit for the exhibit opening. It was such an honor to meet him and his family and to hear them talk about growing up in Springfield. If you happen to be in Springfield during 2008, definitely check out the exhibit! Here we are with Taj.  |
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