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Author Rosalind Barden just released the fourth book in the Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery series. This one is called The South Seas Shenanigans and is different from previous Sparky books, in that it doesn’t occur in downtown Los Angeles, where the author resides.
“It takes place during one night, out at sea, on a stranded ship full of vengeful movie stars,” Barden said, adding that the plucky Sparky picked the boat to stow away in across the Pacific Ocean.
Things turn deadly, as they tend to do in these amateur-sleuth books masterfully written by Barden, and Sparky must figure out the mystery on the boat or face walking the ship’s plank.
A prolific and ambitious writer, Barden has a tentative release date for the fifth Sparky book in the series and hopes to release two more sometime in 2025. Fans of these books could see ten total Sparky tales, with the final three editions being published in 2026.
“That mean I have to get cracking on writing,” said Barden. “Fingers crossed!”
Here’s more from Barden, who graduated from Miami University and has been retired from her job as an auditor at the Los Angeles Police Department for more than a year now.
How has living in Los Angeles affected your storytelling and how you promote your work?
Los Angeles has a huge influence on my writing. LA is an amazing, fascinating town. It’s been my adopted city for decades, but I continue to be surprised to discover more history, people, and places that have made LA what it is. That’s a wonderful background for creating stories.
As far as marketing, Los Angeles is a great place to be for book festivals. I used to attend the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which is a huge one, and any other event I could. I’m a member of various writers groups that often rent a table at events and arrange time slots for members to sign books. For a couple of years, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators rented a table at the LA Comic Con downtown. One year, they also organized an author event where I had the chance to speak about my books. It was a blast having a vendor badge and being able to stroll in before Comic Con opened. Lately, because of health issues, I haven’t been able to do events. I’d love to get back to that someday. There’s nothing like meeting readers in person.
How did you get into writing and eventually creating fiction books?
I studied accounting but have always been drawn to creative pursuits. My first published book was TV Monster, a children’s picture book I wrote and illustrated. I tried my hand at screenwriting and did well in competitions, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to script sales. I got into short stories because that fit best with working full time, at least for me. I’ve lost count of the number of short stories I’ve had published in anthologies and webzines, so I always tell people more than 30, though it might be over 40. My plan always was to become a full-time writer and/or illustrator someday. It would have been wonderful if that day had come when I was much younger, but you never know what life will throw your way. I am grateful to be able to finally devote myself to writing full time now, which allows me to write books.
What do you like about writing fiction?
Escapism. Just like reading a book, writing a book allows me to travel somewhere else, to a different time if I want, meet new and interesting people, both good and bad, and go on adventures. The best part is that I can change the adventures around any way I like. I can also change the past. In one book, I brought back to life someone I knew who had died too young during the AIDS epidemic. I gave him a long, contented life with some nice real estate. It’s wonderful to be able to do that.
In one book, I brought back to life someone I knew who had died too young during the AIDS epidemic. I gave him a long, contented life.
How did the Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery series start?
The history of Bunker Hill, which is in downtown Los Angeles, intrigues me. Bunker Hill used to be a thriving world unto itself, perched atop a steep hill in sight of City Hall. Unfortunately, in the frenzy of post-WWII redevelopment, the city decided to get rid of those annoying old Victorian houses and the people in them, shorten Bunker Hill, and put something better there. Bunker Hill is still there, albeit shorter, and now houses the beautiful Music Center, Watercourt Plaza, Museum of Contemporary Art, Broad Museum, and more. But I would have loved living there before it changed, during Sparky’s time in 1932. When I’m on Bunker Hill, I can almost feel the ghost of what used to be. Even before I learned its history, I was drawn to Bunker Hill. It’s an interesting place.
I first wrote about Bunker Hill in my historical short mystery story “The Monkey’s Ghost,” which appeared in the anthology History and Mystery, Oh My! I felt I was not quite done with the story, so I went on to write The Cold Kid Case, the first Sparky mystery. Sparky wasn’t in the original short story and is a later addition. The anthology publisher, Mystery and Horror LLC, also published the first version of The Cold Kid Case. Gwen Mayo and Sarah Glenn, the two women who run Mystery and Horror, were a great help in shaping the book, probably because they are also authors. They suggested I make the characters older than in the original short story, which was the right call. After retiring I wanted to turn out more Sparky books than they could produce as a small indie press, and they were cool about giving me the rights back to Sparky. Last October I republished the original with changes, along with a new cover. I’ve gone on to publish the next three books and have plans for more!
I still have a great relationship with Mystery and Horror and submit stories to their annual anthology called Strangely Funny, which is a mix of horror and humor. Their next book will include what I think is one of my best short stories, “The Aluminum Foil Hat War.” In this story I live out my fantasy of working at a tourist trap near Area 51. I don’t have the release date yet, but I can’t wait for it!
You’re known for helping support fellow authors. Why is that and how do you assist them?
Being an author, or any other type of creator, is tough. There’s plenty of negativity and discouragement out there, so I figure why not help each other? I don’t see other authors as competition but as team members. If we work together, we can pull everyone up. Especially as indie authors, we need an extra boost. We’re competing against the major publishers who have been masters of marketing for a hundred years. They have sales people, graphic designers, and social media professionals – it’s daunting. And here we are, the little indie authors. But we have a chance if we stick together.
The main way I support other authors is through writing book reviews. It’s incredibly difficult to get reviews, but they are so important in persuading a reader to take a chance on a book or an author who is new to them. So, I like to help out by posting reviews for books I’ve enjoyed. Through the author platform BookRoar, I’ve discovered many incredible indie authors and their books that I might not have found otherwise. I read a huge amount of books anyway, so why not check out interesting indie titles?
Also, in each of my Readers Club newsletters, I recommend a book. I hope that generates sales for authors. I also do my best to follow and support other authors on social media, though I admit I often fall behind in that realm. That’s another full-time job in itself.
Visit Rosalind’s website and sign up to receive her Readers Club e-newsletter.
Image provided by Rosalind Barden.