Q & A for JANET S. FOX: FAITHFUL, May 2010 YA novel debut author
Today’s blog is a visit with Janet S. Fox. www.janetsfox.com
I hope you enjoy your meeting with her, as much as I have.
Please look for her debut novel in your store & library.
Q Hi Janet.
You’re here because of FAITHFUL, your new YA novel which debuts later this month.
But you are already a successful, published non-fiction author. SO…
Q How would you introduce yourself to a standing room only crowd of
librarians? And then, please, to an SRO room of students?
A
What a great question! To the librarians, I’d say, “Hi – I’m a former teacher, mom to a son with learning differences, and writer. I love teens – working with them and writing for them – and I’ve got one book out for middle graders to help them with schoolwork, and a literary young adult novel out this spring that will appeal to teen girls.”
To the kids I’d say, “Read! Pick out whatever you want from the bookshelves in this library. I won’t look. I won’t ask. Just read, and have a good time with it.”
Q What are your quirky writer habits/processes in which you trust?
A
I write every day. I need a bit of warm-up. Right now that involves email (love/hate necessity); I’m looking forward to the time when it means some writing exercises, like it used to. But by ten AM I’m writing full out for at least 5 hours, every day. I write on the computer. I print out and revise. In my late stage revisions I read everything out loud; then I re-type the entire manuscript, right from page 1.
Q What non-fiction book about literature, reading, writing, or about
language, do you want new & experienced writers to read?
A
Wow. If I had to pick one, it would be John Gardner, The Art of Fiction. If I could pick two, the second would be Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction.
Q What is it about history & writing about historical times, that
speaks to you?
A
I love research. I love the fact that I can use a voice that feels less modern, more lyrical. I love the settings and historical details. But, you know, I fall in love with characters first, and sometimes they just live in the past.
Q What are the origins of your inventive idea for FAITHFUL?
A
Inventive – thanks for the compliment! My family has a cabin in the mountains of Montana. We’ve been to Yellowstone many times. I find the Park fascinating and a bit frightening – all that edge of life/edge of death stuff jammed together – wolves and bears, hot springs and geysers, gorgeous vistas and sheer cliffs that fall into raging rivers. Everything I treasure about this wild planet is right there. So it seemed a natural thing to set a story about a young girl dealing with death and her future in Yellowstone.
Q Tell us something that happens in FAITHFUL to Maggie Bennet
your protagonist, that no other book has in it.
A
Maggie comes face to face with a bear. And I’ll say no more so the mystery remains…
Q How do you want readers to feel when they are finished
reading FAITHFUL?
I’d love it if readers feel moved. If they feel that they’ve been on a journey. If they feel that their lives have been changed and they’ve made discoveries about themselves.
Thank you Janet. We look forward to seeing FAITHFUL on our bookstore shelves! And a fantabulous MOTHER’s DAY to you this year.
A
Thank you, Jan, so much!
Bookseedstudio 