Today,  Ginnie Siena Bivona  is  visiting.  How shall I describe her – unusual, talented, versatile, entertaining,  witty, …  I give up.  I’ll let you decide.

JRC: I know you are an author, an editor, a former acquisition editor, conference speaker, and a publisher. Tell us little about how you got into so many phases of publishing.

Ginnie:  Oh my goodness … through a convoluted path I could never have imagined. I started at the age of forty-three with a little collection of petulant poetry. I was not happy.  I’d done everything a woman was expected to do: married an educated man, stayed pretty much pregnant for ten years (five children), learned to play bridge, and keep a nice house. But my mind began to ask, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? So I wrote about those feelings.

At fifty, I bought a small business which led to my buying a small printing press. I learned everything it takes to produce a printed page.  And then I printed the first version of Notes From a Chameleon, Sort of a Memoir.  Since I loved to cook (had done some catering and taught some cooking classes) and had a press, I began writing a sixteen page monthly newsletter called Dallas Cooks, which I wrote under the by-line the Invisible Chef.

I sold the business in 1990, but kept on writing because I had to.  I’ve learned if you are a writer, you can’t not write. I joined the Dallas Fort Worth Writers Workshop.  That’s where I really learned about publishing.

There were a dozen lurches in various other directions, including acquisition editor for the Republic of Texas Press.  But they all ended up in front of a computer, writing about writing. And nobody is more amazed that I am.

JRC:  Which part of all this do you like best?  I mean, other than cashing checks.

Ginnie:  I think the most surprising thing is when I read something I’ve just written and I like it. I wonder where in the heck did that come from? And I get a real high when a finished book I’ve helped publish is laid in my hands.

JRC:  And you like to cook.  Which led to another successful book, Dirty Dining.  Describe it (and remember, we have a family audience here), and what is happening with it now.

Ginnie:  “Dirty Dining, A Cookbook and More for Lovers” is my oldest daughter’s fault.  I told her I had a huge collection of recipes I’d used when I was teaching young couples cooking, and now I wanted to use them for a book.  She said, “Well, mum, why don’t you write a fun, romantic cookbook, you know … Whips on the wall, that sort of thing.”  So, I did.  Whips on the Wall is chapter two.  The book came out in 1993.  The publisher let me design the cover.  My youngest daughter and her husband posed for it, and my oldest son was the photographer. Millions of people write books, but how many actually give birth to the cover art and artist? I got to be on the Joan Rivers show and Rolonda show, and hundreds of radio shows for about nine years.  Last year, I got the publishing rights back and now it’s on Amazon as a e-book.  It will be back in print this month.

JRC:  I guess all of us guys will buy a copy to give to our wives.

Ginnie:  Yes, you do.  And to your friends as well. Just make sure they are over the age of 24.

JRC:  I know you had a book that was made into a movie.  Describe the process, and a little about how the name changed in the process.

Ginnie:  Ida Mae Tutweiler and the Traveling Tea Party has been the biggest adventure of my life, outside my amazing children and grandchildren.  The book almost wrote itself. Each morning, I just put down what I’d imagined the night before.  After it came out, a friend of mine gave it to a screenwriter in Hollywood who loved it.  Of course, she rewrote it. It took her nine years of unending persistence to get it to the right desk at Hallmark.  And of course, they rewrote some more. But one bites one’s tongue, smiles and accepts the very large check graciously.

It went through several name changes, ending up as Bound by a Secret, starring Meredith Baxter, Lesley Ann Warron and Timothy Bottoms. And, very important, Ginnie Bivona – for about 2.5 seconds.

JRC:  Is it true that the cast and production people gave you a birthday party?

Ginnie:  Yep. Totally true. I was flown out to attend the filming and I happened to be there for my 78^th birthday.  It took place on the set of Little House on the Prairie, deep in the hills of Simi Valley.  I was (briefly) in one shot and spent time chatting with Timothy Bottoms. One afternoon, the director called me back into the living room of the house on the set. There was a huge sheet cake with a picture of my novel created in the frosting, and “Happy Birthday Ginnie” underneath. The whole cast and crew then sang Happy Birthday to me. I don’t know how many noticed, but I levitated.

JRC: I understand you got a note from Hallmark after the movie first aired. 

Ginnie:  That’s true.  It said, “Your movie was #1 for Saturday night out of all 73 ad-supported cable TV networks! Congratulations woman!”

JRC:  Ah, what most of us can only dream about.  Of all the books you have acquired and/or produced (other than your own, of course) what is your favorite and why?

Ginnie:   Oh, that’s impossible.  I love ‘em all.  I’m very proud of the acquisitions I did for Republic of Texas Press.  At one point, the Texas Library Association called ROTP the “premier publisher” of Texas non-fiction.  And the director of the Alamo Historical Association called The Alamo Story by Jack Edmondson, the definitive history of the Alamo.

Now, I acquire for Atriad Press, and I hope someday TLA will bestow that title on Atriad. I also love the self-publishing end of the business as well. Turning someone’s dream and effort into a book I can put in their hands is a joy.  I feel like a mid-wife, delivering a baby into the arms of a happy parent.

JRC:  So, what are you working on now?

Ginnie:  I’m working with a very bright young, fresh out of college grad, Emily Jasper, on a book of women’s history.  The working title is For My Daughters, A History of Women History Forgot.  It’s demanding and fabulous.  Women are beginning to discover what great things we have accomplished for as long as history has been recorded.  Often, the woman was left out of the accounts.  For instance, the daughter of King Sargon Enheduanna is the first known, named author. Enheduanna wrote “The Sumerian Temple Hymns,” and hymns to the goddess Inanna, “nin-me-sara,” in which she incorporated details of her own life. Enheduanna lived around 2300 – 2225 B.C..  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

JRC:  And what does the future hold for Ginnie Siena Bivona?

Ginnie:  Who knows?  Stay tuned.  I hope to live to be 104 and like Grandma Moses, I need at least that much time.  Maybe more, if it can be arranged.

JRC:  As busy as you are, I’d say you have the momentum to just keep going.  Thanks for visiting.  It is always a pleasure to spend time with you.  You can see pictures and read about Ginnie Siena Bivona on her web site:  www.ginniebivona.com