Interviews

Donna’s Book Pub – October 31, 2017

Interview with Lonnie Whitaker and Dr. Barri Bumgarner

Here is the second installment of interviews with contributors who have stories in Mysteries of the Ozarks, Volume V, from Ozark Writers, Inc.

Lonnie Whitaker attended a two-room school in the Ozarks and Missouri University Law School. He retired as district counsel for a federal agency and now works as a writer and an editor. His novel, Geese to a Poor Market, won the Ozark Writers’ League Best Book of the Year Award. His stories have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, regional magazines, and anthologies. His children’s book, Mulligan Meets the Poodlums, will be published in 2017.

Dr. Barri L. Bumgarner is the author of a sci-fi thriller (8 Days), a psychological thriller (Slipping) and a YA novel, Dregs. Barri, an Assistant Professor at Westminster College, has also published seventeen short stories and hundreds of articles, both academic and teacher-education focused.

Other publications include “Why Not Me,” now being completed as a full nonfiction manuscript. She has just completed a contemporary fiction manuscript, Fifty Cents for a Dr Pepper.

1. What sparked your writing bug?

Lonnie: Since I was a child I had the notion that I could write, but I was “officially” bitten when I submitted a short story to Missouri Life Magazine in 1999 . . . and they bought it. A beginner’s luck, perhaps, but it put me in the game.

Barri: To quote Strickland Gillilan, “I had a mother who read to me.” While most kids listened to Dr. Seuss, I was hearing The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. When I was 7, I created a chapbook called The Works of Bumgarner. I’ve been writing ever since I can remember.

Click HERE to read the complete interview on Donna’s Book Pub.

Book ‘Em Book Club Interview – March 8, 2018

Book ‘Em: Tell us about you and your life outside of writing.

Lonnie Whitaker: I retired as the district counsel for a federal agency about two years ago, and now I manage the household of two standard poodles, while my wife, a registered nurse, goes to work. Now, that must sound like a writer’s dream gig, and it is, but the role of house husband (a term my wife prefers) is time-consuming. Grocery shopping. Cooking. Dogs to the veterinarian. And the never ending maintenance of a house and barn on 5 acres of rocky top Jefferson County real estate. I need a cook and a maid . . . my wife says she has one. On the positive side, my wife and I play golf. In truth, my wife plays (she’s good); I am a high-handicap hacker.

Click HERE to read the complete Book ‘Em interview.

Dr. Paul’s Family Talk Radio – March 9, 2018

Click HERE to listen to the podcast of Lonnie’s interview with Dr. Paul Reeves on ImpactUSARadio.com.