Author Interview—Marlene Bumgarner

As I’m writing this it’s the Fourth of July, and American flags, parades, and fireworks are all over the Bay Area. I’m reminded of what others have done to ensure that I get to live in a free country. But this holiday also gets me thinking about the independence and freedom many people crave when they decide to become writers. Many of us hope to someday make a living with our writing so that we’re not dependent on an employer’s rules and whims for how we earn our income. We want the freedom to create something unique and satisfying, set our own schedules, and run our writing businesses however we choose. That’s what I imagined the life of a fulltime writer would be like, anyway.

This week I’m interviewing Marlene Bumgarner, author of multiple books including Back to the Land in Silicon Valley, which looks like a unique and interesting story about living off the land in 1970s Silicon Valley. Enjoy the interview!

About the Author

After teaching at Gavilan Community College in Gilroy for 30 years, Marlene Bumgarner moved to the California coast when her first grandchild was born. There she volunteers in the Young Writers program in local schools, leads writing workshops, and enjoys walking along the coast with her border collie, Kismet. The author of The Book of Whole Grains, Organic Cooking for (not-so-organic) Mothers, and Working with School Age Children, she is now writing a historical novel set in 19th century industrial England. She blogs about family life, cooking and gardening at http://www.marlenebumgarner.com./

Interview

Who or what inspires you to write?

I think writing must be in my blood—when I was a child I wrote camp newsletters and stories that I sent to my friends and cousins overseas.

It sounds like you started writing at a very young age. What is the best thing that has happened because of your writing?

Shortly after publishing my first book with St. Martin’s Press, the food editor of the San Jose Mercury News asked me to write a food column, which we called “Naturally Speaking.” That led to questions from readers and to natural foods classes that I taught at the YMCA and the local adult education program.

What a great compliment, and I love how one thing led to another in your career. What is the most difficult thing you have experienced about writing or publishing?

Marketing is difficult for me—I want to write and let someone else do all that—except, of course, it doesn’t work that way.

Ah yes, the book marketing monster—such a challenge for so many, including yours truly. Was there anything you didn’t do during your writing or publishing journey that you wish you had?

Until Covid I didn’t make friends with other writers, or establish a regular critiquing relationship. Thanks to Zoom and Shut Up & Write, I now have a large writing community, which I find both helpful and satisfying.

Zoom was really a lifesaver during Covid. I don’t know what we would have done without it. Do you have a publisher and/or agent, or are you an indie (self-published) or hybrid author?

All of the above. I have published traditionally (St. Martin’s Press and Pearson), indie (Organic Cooking for [not-so-organic] Mothers), and small press (Paper Angel).

How wonderful! I’m sure you could offer a lot of helpful advice to writers wondering which way to publish. Which genre(s) do you like to write in, and why?

Nonfiction, memoir, and cozy mystery. After writing nonfiction for many years, mostly to share information with my readers, I have shifted to fiction. I like writing fiction for the same reason I like reading it—because it transports me to another place and time.

I’m sure each genre provided satisfaction in different ways. Do you outline your books before you write them?

Yes, but I don’t always stick to the outline. An outline does give me a sense of direction, however.

It sounds like outlining has been very successful for you, even if you don’t always stick to it. How do you define success as a writer?

When people read one of my books and find something in it that is useful, enjoyable or interesting to them.

That positive feedback from readers is the best, and what keeps many authors going in what can be a difficult business. If you could have lunch with any author, who would it be?

Rosamunde Pilcher. Her book The Shell Seekers transported me to Cornwall, which she revisited in her many books and stories. I’d love to tell her how much enjoyment she brought to my life.

I remember enjoying reading The Shell Seekers many years ago, and it was a fun adventure. Tell us about a great adventure you’ve had.

The most satisfying adventure I have had is the subject of my most recent book, Back to the Land in Silicon Valley. In 1973 my husband and I and our baby daughter moved to a rural plot of land with no electricity or running water, and continued to live on the land for a decade, joined by a number of friends and many animals. It was a true adventure, with good and bad times, great memories and lots of laughter.

That does sound like an interesting adventure! Marlene, thank you for sharing some of your writing and living experience with us.

Readers, you can find out more about Marlene and her books at her website, http://www.marlenebumgarner.com./

When Marlene Bumgarner and her husband moved to a rural plot of land in 1973, she thought of herself as simply a young mother seeking an affordable and safe place in which to raise their child.By the time she left the land a decade later, she had written two books and a weekly newspaper column, and served as contributing editor for a national magazine, a college instructor and a sought-after public speaker. Her natural food store, The Morgan Hill Trading Post, was the first of its kind in her community.Follow Marlene and her friends as they live on the land, coping with the challenges of rural life as Silicon Valley evolves into the high-tech center it is today, and the world in which they live transforms itself culturally, economically, and politically.