The Best Reader:
janet fox

1. What is one if your favorite lines from Sirens?

I have to give you two lines, two sentences, just because they go together (kind of like my two voices, Josephine and Louise): “We were mirrors, reflections, like in a Coney Island funhouse. One of us would levitate, and one of us would disappear, if you get my drift, and the twist was which of us would do what.”

2. What is the hardest part of writing a historical novel?

The hardest part of writing any novel for me is the first draft. That’s because I’m a “seat of the pants” writer. I don’t outline or plan – I just get it out on paper the best way I can. Now, historical novels require a lot of research, and that actually helps, because I feel the time period and the voice so clearly as I research.

But if I had to say what is the hardest thing about writing historicals? It would have to be making sure that I get it right. I hope I never have to apologize for making an historical mistake – getting a fact wrong.

3. Do you ever have certain “playlists” you listen to while writing?

Actually, not while writing. I need pretty much complete silence while I write. That’s not to say I need to close my doors and windows or anything; but I can’t listen even to music while I’m at the computer. Otherwise I just end up sitting back and singing along. Or standing up and dancing.

However, I often have songs in my head and listen to stuff between stints of writing. Sometimes it’s music of the period and sometimes it’s contemporary stuff that just fits the mood. And I love making up playlists to go with the story as I’m puzzling out pieces while I’m walking.

4. Do you have any strange writing habits?

I alluded to the walking thing – I take a walk every day. If I’m trying to sort out a part of a novel that’s giving me fits I take it with me on the walk. And I find that at about the same place on the walk, each and every day, the answer comes to me, or at least I have a new clue. It’s quite rewarding.

Plus, I get my exercise.

Forgiven by Janet Fox
Published: Speak (June 2nd, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Series: Faithful, #2
Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco, alone but for a letter of introduction. Though she has come to the city to save her father from a cruel fate, Kula soon finds herself swept up in a world of art and elegance — a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana, where she was no more than the daughter of an outlaw. And then there is the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula's carefully crafted reserve. Yet when disaster strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.

Siren s by Janet Fox Published: Speak (November 8th) Reading Level: Young Adult Series: Faithful, #3 When Jo Winter’s parents send her off to live with her rich cousin on the glittering island of Manhattan, it’s to find a husband and forget about her brother Teddy’s death. But all that glitters is not gold,. Caught up in the swirl of her cousin’s bobbed-hair set—and the men that court them—Jo soon realizes that the talk of marriage never stops, and behind the seemingly boundless gains are illicit business endeavors, gangsters, and their molls. Jo would much rather spend time the handsome but quiet Charles, a waiter at the Algonquin Hotel, than drape herself
over a bootlegger. But when she befriends a moll to one of the most powerful men in town, Jo begins to uncover secrets—secrets that threaten an empire and could secure Jo’s freedom from her family. Can her newfound power buy her love? Or will it to ruin Jo, and everyone around her?

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HOW THE TOUR WORKS Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ 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 judithgraves @ ymail dot com 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 and 13 free EBOOKS!

Janet Fox is here today to talk about her newest book, Forgiven. It was released earlier this month.

Janet has answered some questions for me and one lucky winner will receive a copy of her book.

1. You have accomplished so many amazing things already. Including diving to the bottom of the ocean! Do you like to bring in any of those experiences into your writing?

Thank you! All of my experiences feed my writing, even when I haven’t used or shown the specific experiences. My ocean diving experience, for example – and I should let readers know that I was in the submersible ALVIN and working on my MS, diving to the bottom of the Cayman Trough – does not yet appear in any of my stories. But my geology experience and knowledge of geology certainly do, in both Faithful and Forgiven. In Faithful, my knowledge of the geology of the Yellowstone region informs my descriptions. And in Forgiven, I focus in part on the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco, and I had lots of geologic material to examine as I wrote.

I should also add that, in the case of diving in the ALVIN, there’s a certain emotional factor involved: fear of the deep, of the darkness, of enclosed spaces; excitement at exploring the unknown, at seeing what no one else has ever seen. Those emotions do indeed feed my work.

2. You've written a variety of stories and poetry that include a wide range of topics. Can you tell us a little about what other types of stories you would love to tackle?

What a wonderful question! I’m working on a story right now that is my dream story. It’s a middle grade fantasy that involves angels and demons, talking animals, death and what happens in death, love and desperation – in short, I’m hoping to tackle subjects that enthrall me through the lens of fantasy. Can I succeed? I can only hope. I feel that as a writer my job is to challenge myself to write what I think is impossible to express. Art is all about expressing the otherwise inexpressible. I’ll let you know how it goes.

3. Can you tell us how Faithful and Forgiven are connected?

Faithful is the story of Maggie Bennet, a society girl who longs to fulfill her dream of a society debut, a society marriage, a predictable life. Forgiven is the story of Kula Baker, a girl raised in poverty who desires to raise herself up to be a respectable lady. Maggie’s dream is withdrawn, and she’s forced to face the false promise of her expectations and to recognize who she really is inside and to recognize her abilities aside from those expectations. Kula’s dream is thwarted, and she’s forced to face her fears and the true desires of her heart. If I say too much more I might add spoilers.

4. If you had to describe Kula in 3 words, how would you describe her?

Stubborn, feisty, courageous.

5. What are you currently working on that you can share with us?

I’m working on the third book in what I hope will become a quartet. This third novel is titled Moll and takes place in 1925 in New York City. It features a girl trying to save her family, her brother’s ghostly presence, a gangster and his moll (who becomes my protagonist’s friend), lies, secrets, illegal doings, flappers, romance, and a noir mystery. I’m planting seeds so that characters from Faithful, Forgiven and Moll can meet in book 4, tentatively titled Paradise. I’m excited to be able to give these stories resonance in what I’m thinking of as an American saga. Fingers crossed.

Janet Fox will donate a portion of the proceeds from FORGIVEN to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. To learn more about what you can do to help agencies that actively fight the exploitation and trafficking of children, visit the following websites:
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Unicef

Stop Child Trafficking

Forgiven by Janet Fox
Publisher: Speak (June 2nd, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 288 pages
Series: Faithful #2
Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco, alone but for a letter of introduction. Though she has come to the city to save her father from a cruel fate, Kula soon finds herself swept up in a world of art and elegance — a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana, where she was no more than the daughter of an outlaw. And then there is the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula's carefully crafted reserve. Yet when disaster strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.

Prize:

• 1 winner will receive a copy of Forgiven by Janet Fox.

• You must be at least 13 to enter.
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is US Only and ends June 30th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

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