Feeling the Fiction: SPECIAL Thursday Edition of TUESDAY TALKS

SPOTLIGHT AUTHOR: J A N E T W A L T E R S

Before we get started talking about your books, tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What is your occupation outside of writing?

I'm Janet Lane Walters married for fifty years to my psychiatrist husband who contends writing is my obsession and he doesn't want to cure it. I'm the mother of four. My youngest is an adopted biracial girl. Actually all my children are over their teenage years. I have five and soon to have six grandchildren. Four are biracial and the two will be Chinese. We have an eclectic household and that fits since I bill myself as an eclectic writer. I was born outside of Pittsburgh, Pa and have lived in Pa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and now New York. Here I'm in the scenic Hudson River Valley and can see the river from my upstairs windows. At one time I was a nurse but have been retired for many years.

Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and tell us their names.

Had Robspierre, a twenty-three pound Maine Coon cat died have no desire for another pet. He is featured in some of my books.

What are your favorite books to read?

Reading favorites are many and varied. I generally read a book every two or three days. Some are re-reads and some are new. Love mysteries, fantasy, romance, science fiction, action adventure and almost anything. I do not like or read horror. No Stephen King or Dean Koontz, except for his early science fiction stories.

Where is the most unique place you have traveled?

I believe Northern Ireland was the most unique. This was back in the days of the "troubles" We did a tour of the island in five days and then went to the Giant's Causeway with a group of Irish teenagers. Now that was an experience not to be repeated. Loved the scenery and enjoyed the accents. Went swimming in Galway Bay and the natives thought my friend and I were touched in the head.

Aside from your successes in the writing industry, what in your life has given you the greatest sense of accomplishment?

Watching my children grow and becoming human. All have careers and seem to be doing well.

How many books have you written and how many of those are published?

I will say all the books I've written have been or are about to be published. I'm not sure exactly how many but somewhere around forty. There are some novellas, poems and short stories floating about on paper and in electronic form. Several, maybe four of my books are non-fiction, the rest are fiction.

Do you have one particular genre that all your books fall under (i.e. suspense, romance, etc.) or do you write in many different genres?

Once again, we have the eclectic writer. There are mysteries, suspense, fantasy for the young and for adults, romance from sweet to spicy. I tend to go on binges of writing in one genre and then drift to another to give myself a break.

How much character and plot detailing do you plan out before you begin writing a novel, or are you a “pantser” (fly by the seat of your pants) ?

I tend to do both. While I have my characters developed, my settings known and a general idea of the story. The end is always known. Then I sit down to do a rough draft. This is the one only a mother can love. It tends to ramble and also to be a lot of dialogue and things written like must look up a or b or must do a love scene here but I do not take time to do more than mention them before I get to the end. Often there are turns I never expected in the road but always I have the end goal in mind.

Prior to becoming a published author, how many rejections did you receive? How did you handle the rejections?

I began writing short stories and had many rejections before I sold one. I think somewhere there is a box that contains these. Some have short notes. When I turned to novels, my first one received 17 rejections and was re-written that many times since in those days editors often gave ideas for making the book better. Things like what is your heroine's motivation? Your setting needs work. People do not exist in a vacuum.

How and when do you write? Do you keep yourself on a schedule or do you work while the muse is with you?

I write every day from four to eight hours depending on what's happening in other areas of my life. I do not have a muse, what I have is applying my seat to the chair, my fingers to the pen or my hands to the keys.

If you have a new release coming out, tell us about it.

I believe the next release I have is the third book of a YA fantasy Series called Quests. The four young adults plus five friends set off on three different quests. They are looking for certain talismans, other young people with affinities for the elements, air, water, earth and fire. They also seek the four missing heirs of the four princedoms of their world. While doing this they face natural disasters, the evil dom and his underlings and their own internal problems.

Out of all the books you’ve written and the characters you’ve created, which is your favorite character and why?

Actually maybe I have one favorite character and that's the serial killer in Obsessions, a man who operates in the shadows.

If you could give one piece of advice to writers trying to get published, what would that advice be?

Persistence pays and be true to your own vision.

What's up next for you and your writing?

Finishing the fourth of the Henge Betrayed YA fantasy series -- Confrontations. Then a novella, contemporary, spicy A Sudden Seduction and then on to the second of the Egypt series. I think this is the Pharaoh of Horu.

Where can we read more about you and your work?

http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com/

This is my blog where I do a lot about writing, not necessarily my own.

I do not have a web page as such but there is a great one up on http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/jewels10.html