Elena's Interview with Peggy Baranwoski - Merrimac Journal

A Woman of Many Words
By Peg Baranowski

When Chelmsford’s Elena Bowman wrote her first novel twenty-three years ago, she had no idea how her writing career would evolve. But, here she is in the year 2000 with one published novel, and one in the process of being published.

Sarah’s Landing, Elena’s first novel, is set in a village on the rocky coast of New England. In the year 2055, Astronaut/Biologist Joshua Morgan is determined to seek out the answers to the questions surrounding Earth Star-I, the first space-exploration starship, which was lost in deep space, and the unexplained disappearance of a number of Sarah’s Landing’s citizens. His quest takes him to the far reaches of space and to an alien planet that no one knew existed. Joshua’s involvement with redheaded telepath, Alexandra McKay, becomes even more entangled as she desperately searches to find him after his sudden disappearance.

Elena took it upon herself to self-publish Sarah’s Landing and then put it on the Internet’s “Books In Demand” where all could see. Soon, the publishing house, Hollis Books, saw her writing, liked it, and sent Elena a contract.

Interestingly enough, though, back when Elena began her career, it wasn’t as a writer. Upon graduation, Elena started out at Raytheon as a file clerk, moving on to become a Junior Secretary, then a Senior Secretary, and, after earning her Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Management, became a Software Engineer. At the same time, she and her husband, James, were living in Chelmsford raising their four children, Christine, Karen, Mark and David.

“When I was young, my father used to read Jules Verne to me,” Elena said in response to the question of what influenced her in her life and her writing. “I also used to come home from the theater after seeing a movie and rewrite it if I didn’t like the way it ended. I did that with books, too. But, I didn’t start writing my own stories until after I got out of college.”

Elena is now a member of the National League of American PenWomen, and is the President of the Merrimack Valley Branch. One of her short stories, What Did You Make For Supper? was published in Linda Evans Shepherd’s “Heart Stirring Stories Of Love” collection. It is the true story of Elena’s adventures surrounding her cooking of suppers for her four brothers. You can also check out Elena’s short story, “The Terminal”, by clicking on “Elena’s Short Stories Book” at her web site http://people.ne.mediaone.net/elenab/index.html.

When Elena is busy writing, she doesn’t like reading other authors’ works. “I don’t want to be influenced by anything or anyone else when I’m writing.” Her next novel, a mystery/romance titled “House on the Bluff”, is soon to be published. The sequel to this, “The Gatekeeper’s Realm”, has already been started.
Success can happen to anyone at any time in his or her life. Elena is a perfect example of that: she is certainly reaping the rewards of her hard work, tenacity, and talent.