Ask the Author: Janet Roberts
Answered Questions (10)
Janet Roberts
I really like historical novels. They allow me to "time travel" with entertaining characters. I learn something while having fun. If I could travel to any fictional book world, I would probably travel back in time to the world created by Sharon Kay Penman in her many novels about Britain and Wales in 1100 or 1500 AD. As a modern woman, I wouldn't last long there, but I think it would be fascinating to take a look at that world.
Janet Roberts
This summer I'm reading The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden, The Fall of Bellwether by Chad V. Broughman, Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life by Nicholas Kristof, People Hacker by Jenny Radcliffe, Wicked Pittsburgh by Richard Gazarik, Punch me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome, Of Mud and Honey by Roxana Trabulsi, and The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok.
Janet Roberts
My life has never been interesting enough to evolve into a plot. I don't have a mystery in my life! I guess that is part of what drives me to create interesting characters and to write fiction. I like to imagine what it would be like to deal with a crazy situations or to have a secret to hide. I think every novel or story begins with a question. I'm a naturally curious person so I have a lot of questions. My most recent novel, "What Lies We Keep" asks the question: What happens when we embrace the life we think we should have, rather than the life we have?
Janet Roberts
I had to give this some thought! :) I believe it is a tie, for me, between Isabelle and Gaetan in Kristin Hannah's novel "The Nightingale" and Isabel and Tom in M.L. Stedman's "The Light Between Oceans". Perhaps there is an Isabelle theme there for me?
I tend to like historical novels, or novels with some history element, that take me to a time or place I've never been. I like love stories and fictional couples who have to go against the odds to be together or stay together and where those odds show that the couple really knows each other deeply, beyond the romance and sex, and are inextricably destined to be together....even when the ending is sad, as it was for Isabelle and Gaetan.
I tend to like historical novels, or novels with some history element, that take me to a time or place I've never been. I like love stories and fictional couples who have to go against the odds to be together or stay together and where those odds show that the couple really knows each other deeply, beyond the romance and sex, and are inextricably destined to be together....even when the ending is sad, as it was for Isabelle and Gaetan.
Janet Roberts
For years I worked in first law firms and then corporations where some people were content to do work they loved and have time for family, volunteer work, and more, while others were always singularly focused on a title, surpassing others, and validation from the corporate entity that they were special. Sometimes the latter group walked on nice people, hurt others, and often were frustrating to work with. I wondered what would happen if one of them went too far in their need for power, their need to satisfy their insecurities, and forgot what is valuable in life. Thus What Lies We Keep was born, first in my head and then on paper, and now out in the hands of readers everywhere!
Janet Roberts
Something usually triggers a question or an idea, then I see a character. I start putting the character in different situations and a plot and story start building. All in my head. Then I need to get it down on paper. After that it's more like a very fun archeological dig with more characters and voices rolling up as the plot rolls out in front of me.
Janet Roberts
I've been writing and making up stories since I was about 7 years old, so I would say it's like breathing to me. I guess the best thing is how it makes me feel. I feel happy and fulfilled, when I'm writing. Like I'm doing what I was born to do.
Janet Roberts
I'm working on another book with - like "What Lies We Keep" - a cybercrime element and lots of twisty suspense. Plus I'm throwing in a little magical realism. :) It will be set in Western PA, Western NY, and Wales, UK. Quite an odd mix, but I like that!
Janet Roberts
Don't try to write like anyone else. Never quit or give up. Learn from feedback you receive and from your mistakes, but don't let any of that change your style or voice. Take chances. Take risks and grow.
It's good to have structure, but it's not good to have rules. There is a difference. As soon as someone says "you should never", they are pushing you and your creative voice into a box or a formula. I was at a writers conference where an agent said "never have anyone waking up or worse waking up when there is a storm outside." And I thought "where would Anita Shreve who wrote The Pilot's Wife be if she'd listened to that?"
Assess feedback and incorporate what seems and feels right to you. But be your own person and defend your work!
It's good to have structure, but it's not good to have rules. There is a difference. As soon as someone says "you should never", they are pushing you and your creative voice into a box or a formula. I was at a writers conference where an agent said "never have anyone waking up or worse waking up when there is a storm outside." And I thought "where would Anita Shreve who wrote The Pilot's Wife be if she'd listened to that?"
Assess feedback and incorporate what seems and feels right to you. But be your own person and defend your work!
Janet Roberts
I have more trouble finding time to write than I do with writer's block. But, I do get writer's block, primarily when my stress level is too high. I usually take a long walk, preferably by a water, read a good book, go to a movie, or just meditate until I'm relaxed enough to let the creative thoughts flow.
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