CASEY, Barbara (Louise) 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born July 11, 1944, in Carrollton, IL; daughter of George Dallas (a retired Marine officer) and Charlotte Louise (a homemaker; maiden name, Guildander) Woods; married Willis Robert Casey (died, June 14, 1992); married Al Ferraro (a marketing director); children: Carlotta Love Brown-Harvard, Rene Louise Matthews. Education: Attended University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University—Raleigh; North Carolina Wesleyan College, B.A. (summa cum laude). Hobbies and other interests: Reading, traveling, gardening.

ADDRESSES:

Office—11924 West Forest Hill Blvd., Ste. 22, Box 346, Wellington, FL 33414. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, editor, and literary agent. North Carolina Wesleyan College, director of alumni and public relations, 1975-77; North Carolina State University, department of athletics, 1977-79; full-time writer, 1989—. Guest author and panelist at BookFest of the Palm Beaches, 1993-2000; judge for the Pathfinder Literary Awards, 1994—; founded own editorial consulting business and literary agency; editorial consultant, Jamaican Writers Circle. Publisher of Publishers Update, a directory of children's publishers and literary agents.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (regional advisor for the State of Florida, 1992-2003), Florida Freelance Writers, Poets of the Palm Beaches Society, North Carolina Writers Network.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Award of Literary Merit, Palm Beach County Cultural Council, 2002, and Independent Publisher Book Award, 2003, both for Shyla's Initiative;American Association of University Women Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award nominee and Sir Walter Raleigh Literary Award nomination, for Leilani Zan and Grandma Jock and Christabelle; Southeastern Booksellers Association Award nominee, for The Coach's Wife; PEN Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers nominee, 2004; special recognition for her editorial work on the English translations of Albanian children's stories.

WRITINGS:

Leilani Zan, Winston-Derek Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1992.

Grandma Jock and Christabelle, Winston-Derek Publishers (Nashville, TN), 1994.

Shyla's Initiative, CrossTIME (Santa Fe, NM), 2002.

The Coach's Wife, Benoy Publishing (Wilmington, NC), 2003.

The Airs of Tillie, Benoy Publishing (Wilmington, NC), 2004.

Slightest in the House, Benoy Publishing (Wilmington, NC), 2004.

The House of Kane, Benoy Publishing (Wilmington, NC), 2004.

Just Like a Family, Benoy Publishing (Wilmington, NC), 2004.

Also writer of a thirty-minute television special for WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC. Contributor to periodicals, including North Carolina Christian Advocate, New East, Chrysalis Reader, Raleigh News and Observer, Dog Fancy, ByLine, True Story, Christian Record, and Rocky Mount Sunday Telegram. Contributor to books and anthologies, including American Poetry Anthology, Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum, The Cosmic Unicorn, and A Cup of Comfort.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer Barbara Casey has published novels for adults, middle readers, and children. A former public relations director, Casey left that job to pursue writing full time. She is also the founder and owner of her own editorial service and literary agency.

Casey once told CA: "I was born in Illinois, but because my father was a career officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, I lived in various and numerous places during my 'informative years.' As a child, no matter where I was, I always reserved a few moments before bedtime to record the day's events, what people I saw, which flowers were in bloom, what events took place, and so forth in my journal. My love for travel and seeing new places and writing about them has continued throughout my life, and I have now visited all fifty states as well as fifteen foreign countries.

"I began writing full-time in 1989, and my writing now includes novels, articles, and short stories, as well as poetry. Whenever I am not doing editorial or agent work, I guard that time in which I actually write (usually the early morning hours) as much as possible from interruptions and distractions. Once I have completed a project, I give myself a week or so off to dig in my flower garden or perhaps take a trip, and to just generally get recharged. But usually after a week I am ready to get back to what I most enjoy—writing.

"When my grandmother was ninety-two, she wrote a family history, something she had always wanted to do but never had the time. Apparently, the love for writing runs in my family. I am most proud of my two daughters, however: one is a lawyer and the other is an engineer. And now there is a new granddaughter on the scene, and I feel certain she shares my love for writing.

"Before I started my editorial service and literary agency, I would try to write every day except around holidays or big events when I have to force myself to concentrate on not burning turkeys or serving liquid Jell-O. Now, a good deal of my time is spent in helping others get published.

"I started out working as Director of Public Relations for a college in North Carolina." Casey later added. "Among other things, I was in charge of everything that was written and published at the college used for outside consumption. I also did freelance editorial work. At some point I realized that I had an overwhelming desire to write creatively. A story was forming in my mind. When that story became all I could think about, I decided to give myself a year to write it and try to get it published. That was the beginning of my writing career.… Four middle-grade/young adult novels, five adult novels, a picture book, and several award-winning poems and stories later, I continue to write. In addition to my own editorial consulting business and literary agency, I publish a bimonthly directory of children's publishers which details editorial changes and publishers' needs.

"I do editorial work and represent writers because I love it! I write because not to would make me feel incomplete."