Welcome to Day 6 of The Crossroads Blog Tour! I hope you’re having fun following all the great author interviews on the participating blogs and answering those daily research questions for a chance to win a KINDLE – preloaded with books from all the Crossroads authors. (Details & links are at the end of this post.)
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Janet: SIRENS is told in alternating voices, between two girls; but the primary voice is that of Jo Winter, a 16-year-old whose father is a bootlegger for a New York gangster. Jo’s brother Teddy came back from World War 1 “damaged” (today we’d call it PTSD), and then disappeared mysteriously. Lou O’Keefe, the other girl in the story, is the gangster’s girlfriend, and she knows something about Teddy, who resurfaces in a way...but is he alive or not? The two girls uncover a tangle of secrets and lies – and Jo finds romance with a young jazz musician – while searching for the truth about Teddy.
Karen: Your YA historical romances Faithful and Forgiven feature two strong young women during a period of time (the 1900's) where those qualities were frowned upon. How were you able to show that strength while still staying historically accurate.
Janet: I try to stay true to my characters. I believe that a strong girl in 1904 is not going to be much different from a strong girl in 2012: she’s going to know what she wants from life and love, and she’ll stand up for herself when it counts. The historical context is a framework for a story about a character.Now, having said that, I know that many expectations were placed upon girls growing up in the early 1900’s. They were expected to behave according to a set of rules, marry a certain kind of man, dress according to station, etc. It’s important to me that I let the reader know what those expectations were and why they existed to a degree. A girl who stepped out of that mold was not considered typical. But I put myself in that situation and let my own emotions feed those of Maggie and Kula. Emotionally, we are all the same. If my historical details and context are true, and the emotions of my characters are also true, then conflict arises naturally from the clash of the individual against the constraints of society.
Karen: Do you have any upcoming writing projects that you can tell us about?
Janet: Sure! I’m working on something now that I’m quite excited about. It’s totally out of the box for me – a science fiction project told from two points of view, that of a 16 year old girl on earth and 16 year old boy on the moon. They eventually come together...
And, you know, it’s the same story that I’ve told before: if my societal rules and science constructs are true and the emotions of my characters are true, the conflict arises. Because this story is also about how we as individuals live within (or don’t live within) the constraints/rules of society.
Karen: What is your favorite quote and why?
Janet: Wow. Okay. It’s from Andrew Marvell’s poem, The Garden:
The mind, that ocean where each kind
Does straight its own resemblance find ;
Yet it creates, transcending these,
Far other worlds, and other seas ;
Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade.
And the reason it’s a favorite is because I love being in nature and find it most restful, and because I do think that our minds can transcend thought and experience and find peace in a “green thought”. Yup, weird, but I love it.
Karen: That's not weird at all. I find that being out in nature soothes the soul. Thank you Janet! Sirens releases on November 8th and is available for pre-order.
Author links: Website | Twitter | Books
Author links: Website | Twitter | Books
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Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.
Answers are to be emailed to tour host, Judith Graves by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.
The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE preloaded with 13 free titles from the participating authors!
Twitter chat hosted by Mundie Moms on Monday 1/29 from 8-9 CST/ 9-10 EST
Participating bloggers:
Late Bloomer OnlineA Simple Love of Reading
Scribing Shadows
For What It's Worth
Confessions of a Bookaholic
Mundie Moms Book Reviews
Most-Wanted Monsters
A Life Bound by Books
There are always some that do not fit the mold and those are sure the most interesting to read about
ReplyDeleteI always love Janet's heroines. They're so strong despite the restrictions society places on them
DeleteThanks for featuring her! I plan to read Sirens this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBraine
Great! I can't wait to hear what you think of it.
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