SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Christi Barth!

Joining me today in The Loft is USA Today bestselling author Christi Barth. Christi writes contemporary romance, romantic comedies, and soon, paranormal romantic comedies. Her path to becoming an author was far from direct. After earning a Master's degree in vocal performance and embarking on a career on the stage, Christi moved on to wedding planning and then, writing romance. She is now working on her forty-first book. Christi and her husband live in Maryland.

Author Christi Barth

S: Good morning, Christi. Thanks for joining me today.

Why write romance?

C: I used to be a classically trained singer --performing in musical theatre and opera. And what I loved best about that--aside from the applause and the high notes--was knowing that I transported people for 2.5 hours. That my performance gave them a respite from whatever worries and stress and gave them an escape. When I decided to write, it felt exactly the same. My stories give people that escape. Which is really what we all seek from reading-- entertainment and escape, right?

S: I began my college career at Northwestern in musical theatre. Alas, the lure of journalism and law was too much to resist.

Do you write in other genres?

C: Yes! When I first began, I wrote a romantic suspense because it was what I read and knew. I did it for book three as well and that’s when my comedy voice oozed between the lines. I took the hint. The next 35 plus books were solidly contemporary rom-com. But that whole time, I yearned to write PNR (paranormal romance). My agent said no, PNR was dead. My publishers said the same thing. I accumulated ideas, but waited and waited until a new publisher asked if "I’d be willing" and I probably scared her with the enthusiasm of my response. It has been super fun. And I intend to keep doing both, and maybe toss another sub-genre into the mix, too.

S: Do you adhere to tropes?

C: I have a trope spreadsheet, to not only be sure I use them, but to be sure I don’t go back to the same ones too often. In consulting it, I appear to love enemies to lovers, forbidden love, ticking clock, keeping a secret, second chance, and playboy the most. I can’t stand, as a reader, secret baby or brother’s best friend, but I’ll still write them, because readers enjoy them.

S: Secret baby is the one I just can't touch. For some reason, it really offends me.

How did you meet your partner?

C: We were cast as the romantic leads in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. We became great friends, and immediately did another show together--Guys and Dolls. And then, we transitioned from being friends to lovers, cheesy but true, and continued getting to kiss both onstage and off.

S: That's such a sweet story! As a writer, did the pandemic work to your benefit?

C: More like I found a way to churn a silver lining out of it. Without taking nights off to see friends or go to the symphony or the theatre, I had no excuses but to get the words out. So I adjusted my schedule for the next year to squeeze in another entire book, "The Christmas Project." It is very fun, and the first one set in my hometown, so I’m thrilled I buckled down and made it happen.

S: Kudos to you for pushing through. Personally, the pandemic really threw me for a loop. It took me a while to regain my footing.

What is the best/worst thing that happened to you as a writer?

C: I was at the Baltimore Book Festival, and a reader asked me to sign her guitar. As an author, I was beyond honored and thrilled. And as someone who played cello for nine years, I was appalled that she wanted me to deface a beautiful instrument. Yup, I signed it.

S: If you had to do it over again, would you still write books?

C: Yes! You don’t write books for fame or fortune, there’s no guarantee of it at all. It is very hard, exhausting, and a tad soul-crushing at times. But I also adore writing the banter, putting the message out in the world over and over again that love is the best and most important thing.

S: What inspires your stories?

C: Very often, travel. My first book, "Carolina Heat," came to me when I visited Charleston, tripped over a tree root in the cobblestone street, and almost feel into the fence surrounding a graveyard. Boom, I had a story idea. The Love Lottery series crashed into my imagination as I sat at brunch in a historic manor house on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. When I was enjoying a wine-filled vacation in the Finger Lakes, the idea for "Up to Me" occurred, which I then merged with an idea I’d gotten from an NPR story. My favorite inspiration, though, was for The Sexy Misadventures of Royals series. I was at Anastasia on Broadway. I knew I had to write something similar. I spent all of intermission scribbling plot points on the back of my ticket.

S: What's the best advice you ever received?

C: Treat writing like a career before you get a contract. I heard that from a speaker at a Maryland Romance Writers meeting, and it is so important. You can meander along with your first book for literally years. If an editor wants you, chances are good she’ll then ask you to write three more in a single year. You have to already have a work schedule established. A website, a newsletter, be networking. The same is true if you are between contracts. You don’t wait for someone else to give you a deadline. This is your career. It is up to you to be responsible and treat it as such.

S: When one of my books is released, I...

C: I spend a ton of time doing promo and ad images--I am so grateful for how easy Canva makes it--interviews, and refreshing my Amazon page every hour on the hour. But that night? I’m back at my desk, writing words. Because it is always about the next book. And that won’t happen unless my fingers are on the keyboard--okay, with a celebratory cocktail next to me, of course.

S: Christi, thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like to learn more about Christi and her books, please visit--