Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.
Recently, we interviewed Barbara Avon about her writing and recently released book, The Vow – A Boxing Love Story, a bruising, heartfelt knockout (Read the review here.).
Avon is a multi-genre author. She’s written Romance, Romantic Thrillers, Time Travel, Mystery, Horror, and Paranormal Romance. Her work appears in various anthologies including Steering 23 Publications, and Beyond the Levee, and her stories have been regularly featured on the Spillwords Press website. In October of 2022, “Revived” was chosen as “Horror Book of the Year” by the “Feed My Reads” community, and in February of 2025, “Sultry Is the Night”, received the Literary Titan Gold Medal Award for Fiction. In April of 2025, Avon won the Editor’s Choice Award for Literary Excellence from Reader’s House Magazine. Her work has also appeared in Publisher’s Weekly Magazine.
When she’s not writing, she’s experimenting in the kitchen with her husband, spends her time reading, and watching 1980s movies, and always lives with her characters in her head while working on her current novel. Avon has quoted: I believe in magic. Books are magic. Love is the most remarkable magic.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
They say that we live longer when we have a purpose in life. Writing energizes me. I don’t consider opening my manuscript a chore. I consider it thrilling, and when I finally write “The End”, it’s as if I’ve lost something precious in my life. Authors can’t wait to publish their stories, but when they do, there’s a void. They miss their characters. I’ll never stop writing, not only because I want to entertain the world with my stories, but so that I can also experience the thrill of creating.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I tend to choose classic names, like Jonathan, Peter, David, etc. My protagonists are always male (save for one). Classic names appeal to me as a reader. They’re easy to pronounce, and relatable since everyone knows someone with a classic name. A lot of my characters are Italian, so that’s another factor in choosing my characters’ names, such as Mario from “Sultry Is the Night”, or Phillip, (Filippo) from my newest release, “The Vow”.
What in particular attracted you to this genre?
I’m a multi-genre author, but romance has always appealed to me. I was in my twenties when I was reading Nicholas Sparks and other romance authors, and since I’m a hopeless romantic, it only made sense to want to write romance. However, I branched out and enjoy writing in many different genres, but you’ll find love in all of my books, including horror.
If asked, what would your friends and family say about you?
I think my friends and family would say that I’m an old soul. I was listening to Frank Sintara in an era of Duran Duran. I think they’d also say that I’m a sensitive soul. I feel deeply. I’m deeply empathetic and sympathetic, and I’ve been told that it’s because of these traits that my characters seem so real to readers.
How do you begin a book?
I like to have a unique first line to draw the reader in. However, I’ve heard it said among my peers that the first sentence is the most important sentence, and I disagree. While it is important, a strong and gripping last line is essential.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I wouldn’t change anything, despite being bullied in High School. I was shy, and what we used to call the “ugly duckling”. I was often alone, sad, but I think it’s because of that experience that I began “living inside my head” and creating stories. When my Grade 9 English teacher awarded me an A + on a short story, I knew I would one day write a novel. I’m blessed to say I’ve written many.
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