18Q Jeanne Howard

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?

I’m not confident enough to say that writing is my profession. It is an avocation that demands a chunk of my time and to which I return eagerly whenever I can. My two novels, being based on my own life experiences, compelled me to write them so there was little choice in the matter.

2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.)

I earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from then Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois. I worked as a guidance counselor for two years and then, after the birth of my second child, I joined a group of residents of my community to found a town newsletter which quickly grew into a weekly newspaper group that I published and edited until 1994 when I lost the business to debt. For the past 12 years, I have held the position of Public Information Officer for school districts here in New Jersey.

3. When did you know you were a writer?

I have always known how to write. Sounds odd, but even as a child, I wrote poetry, short stories and fantasized about being a novelist. The rules of the craft came easily to me. While other students in my class were passing notes or waiting for recess, I was diagramming sentences for the sheer joy of seeing how neatly they fit into that format. Writing is a gift, I believe, much like painting, composing, creative cooking and other talents are gifts. My father was a gifted writer as are my half-siblings and both of my daughters. I suppose I knew I had actually become a writer when I saw someone I didn’t know reading my first book. What a thrill!

4. How would you describe your style of writing?

My readers tell me they feel they are right in the middle of my stories. I am very strong on description and my dialogue reveals a lot about the characters. I tell the story in detail, trying all the while to stick to the flow of the tale rather than being sidetracked by external events. Because the first book, Seasons of Forgetting, is a fictionalized memoir, it reads like someone’s diary, very personal and revealing.

5. What is your writing process?

With the first book, I just sat down and wrote. The story followed a relationship from its inception to a time nearly 40 years later; letters existed to help with authenticity and I was able to write the novel without outlining. For Jared’s Promise, the sequel, I found an outline to be very helpful just to keep the timelines consistent (ages of the characters, places they lived etc.) and move the story forward smoothly. Once the outline was complete, the story was easy to write. For future books, I will definitely use an outline to plot the direction of the book.

6. What was your path to publication?

Cluttered with obstacles, like so many other authors. I self-published Seasons in 2001 using iUniverse and was very pleased with their service. The book sold very modestly (okay, sales were less than I had hoped). When I completed Jared’s Promise, I set out again to find an agent, with no success. Smarting from the shoebox filled with rejection letters from agents too busy to read more than a synopsis, I began reading about e-publishing and companies which do both e-pubs and PODs and eventually sent my query letter and synopsis for Jared’s Promise to Wings ePress where I was promptly offered a contract. At that point, the rights to Seasons were available so I secured them and sent that query and synopsis to Wings where another contract was extended. Because of the nature of the stories, we flipped the publication schedule to bring Seasons back out to the marketplace first. The book had undergone some major revisions by that time so I felt it was ready to be re-released. The biggest hurdle in actually getting Seasons published at all was obtaining the rights to use phrases from the poetry of the late Walter Benton. After nearly nine months, I was able to do that, but the path to securing the permission was sheer frustration.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?

Anything that results in a sale and a new reader! My background in newspaper work taught me how to write and get a press released picked up so I use that avenue often. I also have a few friends on the staffs of large regional newspapers in our area who have given me interviews and press space. I also use online sources of interviews and author showcases whenever I can. I am not an inventive marketer, however, since there is so little time in my life to devote to it right now.

8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?

I suppose the biggest surprise is that my readers consider me a writer! I am very critical of my work; my readers love the books and the stories. Other than that, I have to admit that I was surprised (my naivete shows here) at the difficulty of getting a book into local bookstores and how proprietary the large publishing houses are when it comes to display space. I incorrectly assumed I would be able to market my books in the local Barnes & Noble until I learned about distribution networks and fees charged by distributors. I am wiser but more cynical now.

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?

I gain motivation to write and tell stories by reading great storytellers. Nothing makes me want to crank up the computer and start working on something more than reaching the last page of a really well-written novel and feeling like I could that, too! Reading about how famous authors got where they are is very inspirational to me as well. If they did it …

10. What is your proudest writer moment?

I haven’t won any awards or wowed big audiences with my books, but I wouldn’t trade any of that for the look on the faces of my two daughters when they held my first novel in their hands. Many years from now, my daughters and any grandchildren I might have had will be able to point to my books on their shelves and say their mother or grandmother was a writer.

11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing?

I have a tendency to ramble when I tell a story. I like to include scenes that don’t necessarily advance the story but in my own mind serve to make it more interesting. That’s not always the case, however, and many times I’ve been advised to cut, cut, cut. It is true that the final product is sharper and tighter when the extraneous “stuff” comes out and the storyline is still moving forward. I value that piece of advice the most.

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?

Nothing memorable, I suppose, except one cute incident: Right after Seasons of Forgetting was released by Wings, one of my co-workers ordered the book and spent a leisurely weekend reading. When I encountered her in the hallway on Monday morning, I asked how she was enjoying the story. She said she loved the book but wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to look at me in the same way after reading some of the love scenes. We still joke about my “straight-laced image” versus the scenes in the book.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?

Only those related to distribution. I am frustrated at the inability of POD authors to be listed on such marketing sites as amazon.com where I believe it to be in everyone’s interest to catalogue books from all publishing sources. While there are many online sources of promotion for e-books, POD is still suffering from the “vanity publishing” stigma that applies to some such companies but certainly not to all of them. Not being a best-selling (or even high volume selling) author, I am not troubled by business difficulties. One of these days, perhaps.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?

Interesting question and one I’ve never considered. I love to write because I want to share stories with others. I believe in using the power of the written word to inspire and enrich the lives of my readers rather than solely for entertainment. I want my readers to put down my book after the last page and have a smile on their faces, rewarded for having read it through and eager for the next one. I think it is the duty of a writer to portray life experiences in ways that advance understanding of why people react as they do and how they work through life’s crises.

15. When you’re not writing, what do you do for fun?

I e-mail friends constantly. My husband and I have an every-Friday date night at our favorite casino in Atlantic City where we often come home with the dawn after having had a great dinner and fun at the video poker machines. I love to sit on the beach in summer, travel, visit friends, spend time with my children and grandchildren and take in the occasional worthwhile movie (still waiting for another full-length Star Trek to resurface!).

16. What do you like to read?

Right now, I am going through the backlist of Jodi Picoult. Having read My Sister’s Keeper over the summer, I am enthralled with her style and am enjoying her work immensely. I am also a huge Anita Shreve fan and thoroughly enjoy the work of Dean Koontz, Stephen King and the older stuff from authors like James Clavell and James Michener. Colleen McCullough is a favorite and I believe I could probably recite some of the chapters from The Thornbirds from memory so often have I read that book. The poetry of Walter Benton (This is My Beloved and Never a Greater Need) as well as collections of e.e. cummings remain on my night table for regular reading.

17. What’s your advice for new writers?

I feel presumptuous offering advice since I still consider myself a new writer. However, I think even the greatest writing talent needs mentoring and advice from those who are masters of the craft. I would suggest reading or critique groups, membership in a writers’ guild or chapter of a national organization and a wide circle of brutally honest friends who will tell you whether the story you are working on is being told well. Reading Stephen King’s On Writing is a wonderfully useful tool for aspiring authors.

18. What are you currently working on?

At present, I am working on moving into a new house. My husband and I just sold the condo in which we’ve lived for 17 years and are moving back to a single family house so I will be sorting, discarding and packing for the next few weeks. As for writing, I have two or three projects on the computer that are waiting for me and my Muse to find time to develop them. One is a work of non-fiction dealing with the everyday experiences encountered by educators which I believe will find a niche with teachers and parents everywhere.

Jeanne’s 18Q