Author Janina Grey
S: It's so nice to see you again, Janina. Thanks for visiting!
What do you think is the biggest issue facing romance authors today?
J: Writing romance is the easy part of the game, if you ask me. The most challenging aspect of becoming a successful romance author would have to be marketing and as a part of that, building your fan base. Many authors are working full-time day jobs, taking care of kiddos at home, and writing their stories in any spare moments they can find. When do we find the time to market? By that, I mean finding the time to explore the market, create the content we need to promote our work, keep up on social media, find the best avenues to promote our work, and finally, scheduling and distributing your promo materials into an already jam-packed life.
S: I agree with you. Marketing is a lot of work and very time-consuming. I hate that it takes away from writing.
J: Writing romance is the easy part of the game, if you ask me. The most challenging aspect of becoming a successful romance author would have to be marketing and as a part of that, building your fan base. Many authors are working full-time day jobs, taking care of kiddos at home, and writing their stories in any spare moments they can find. When do we find the time to market? By that, I mean finding the time to explore the market, create the content we need to promote our work, keep up on social media, find the best avenues to promote our work, and finally, scheduling and distributing your promo materials into an already jam-packed life.
S: I agree with you. Marketing is a lot of work and very time-consuming. I hate that it takes away from writing.
Have you ever attended a writer’s retreat? Did you find it helpful?
J: Writing retreats are da bomb! I belong to a group of writers who frequent a beautiful B&B in Remsen, NY called Thistle Dew. It is run by Andrea Kaczor, a romance author herself. We try to schedule a weekend-long retreat quarterly, peppering in supportive lunches here and there throughout the year. These writing retreats are where I usually get my batteries recharged, where I plot my WIP, and where I really get to know my characters.
If you’ve got a supportive writing tribe, a quiet, spacious location that has lovely views, ample writing space, romantic history, and great food, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to for your weekend getaway.
S: That sounds like a wonderful experience!
J: Writing retreats are da bomb! I belong to a group of writers who frequent a beautiful B&B in Remsen, NY called Thistle Dew. It is run by Andrea Kaczor, a romance author herself. We try to schedule a weekend-long retreat quarterly, peppering in supportive lunches here and there throughout the year. These writing retreats are where I usually get my batteries recharged, where I plot my WIP, and where I really get to know my characters.
If you’ve got a supportive writing tribe, a quiet, spacious location that has lovely views, ample writing space, romantic history, and great food, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to for your weekend getaway.
S: That sounds like a wonderful experience!
Why write romance?
J: Have you seen the state of the world? As a journalist, I wrote love stories with no intention of getting published. It was like my therapy to get my mind off my job. I’d print them all out and put them in boxes--usually boot boxes although one ended up in a box the family Bible came in--and share them around to my friends. We called them my Boot Box series. When we moved up here and I started working with domestic violence victims, I again wrote as a means to escape. I needed to reaffirm that true love is possible. Add into that mix wars, a pandemic, famine, murder, riots, a climate crisis that’s threatening our very existence, and we need a little happiness to take our minds off the chaos that’s spinning all around us. On top of all that, the market is filled with genres that do not have happy endings normally. True crime, horror, suspense, murder mysteries, and action movies blow people up every three minutes and leave the hero or heroine surviving, but oftentimes, alone. There is not enough love in this world. Not enough consensual sex. Not enough happily-ever-afters.
J: Have you seen the state of the world? As a journalist, I wrote love stories with no intention of getting published. It was like my therapy to get my mind off my job. I’d print them all out and put them in boxes--usually boot boxes although one ended up in a box the family Bible came in--and share them around to my friends. We called them my Boot Box series. When we moved up here and I started working with domestic violence victims, I again wrote as a means to escape. I needed to reaffirm that true love is possible. Add into that mix wars, a pandemic, famine, murder, riots, a climate crisis that’s threatening our very existence, and we need a little happiness to take our minds off the chaos that’s spinning all around us. On top of all that, the market is filled with genres that do not have happy endings normally. True crime, horror, suspense, murder mysteries, and action movies blow people up every three minutes and leave the hero or heroine surviving, but oftentimes, alone. There is not enough love in this world. Not enough consensual sex. Not enough happily-ever-afters.
S: How do you develop your characters? Do you use photos or a vision board?
J: Tarot is my go-to when it comes to fleshing out my characters. I have a general idea of what their personality may be like, so I give them a birthdate and an astrological sign and moon sign that backs up their personality. Then I do a Tarot spread--usually the Celtic Cross--to find out what their conflicts past and present are, what their hopes and dreams are, and all that fun stuff. I do a second spread called The Bridge that tells me what they need to do to get where they have to go. I tweak the plot and backstory a bit based on what the characters tell me, but the general story starts with Tarot.
S: What a fascinating way to develop characters!
What would you like to people know about you as a person or as a writer?
J: Sometimes romance authors are viewed as dreamers who aren’t very logical, or who have soap opera mentalities. I’m tough. I’m a fighter. I’ve beaten three different types of cancer in my lifetime. I work with domestic violence survivors. I wrote a program and teach it to convicted domestic violence offenders that helps them relearn what healthy relationships look like. I’m not a person who lives in a fantasy world. In addition, I’m a practicing third-degree high priestess and witch running a six-coven tradition for the last nearly 20 years. I may be an advocate for true love, but I’m not a pushover. All of this is reflected in my characters, especially my heroines.
S: What is the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you as a writer?
J: The worst thing that happened to me as a writer was losing my first, and only agent. She was an editor from a prestigious publishing house just starting her literary agency business and I won a chance to talk to her at a RWA conference I attended. She liked what she heard, and I thought her connections would prove to be really beneficial. She was having a lot of family issues. I was having a lot of family issues. For more than a year, she said she was submitting my work and it was getting rejected. Finally, she said she was closing her business due to her family situation. I asked for the list of publishing houses she’d submitted my work to, so I could continue submitting and not duplicate the ones who’d already rejected me. She never gave me the names, so part of me thinks she’d never submitted my work. By the time all was said and done two years had passed. I think that’s why I haven’t approached any agents since then.
J: Sometimes romance authors are viewed as dreamers who aren’t very logical, or who have soap opera mentalities. I’m tough. I’m a fighter. I’ve beaten three different types of cancer in my lifetime. I work with domestic violence survivors. I wrote a program and teach it to convicted domestic violence offenders that helps them relearn what healthy relationships look like. I’m not a person who lives in a fantasy world. In addition, I’m a practicing third-degree high priestess and witch running a six-coven tradition for the last nearly 20 years. I may be an advocate for true love, but I’m not a pushover. All of this is reflected in my characters, especially my heroines.
S: What is the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you as a writer?
J: The worst thing that happened to me as a writer was losing my first, and only agent. She was an editor from a prestigious publishing house just starting her literary agency business and I won a chance to talk to her at a RWA conference I attended. She liked what she heard, and I thought her connections would prove to be really beneficial. She was having a lot of family issues. I was having a lot of family issues. For more than a year, she said she was submitting my work and it was getting rejected. Finally, she said she was closing her business due to her family situation. I asked for the list of publishing houses she’d submitted my work to, so I could continue submitting and not duplicate the ones who’d already rejected me. She never gave me the names, so part of me thinks she’d never submitted my work. By the time all was said and done two years had passed. I think that’s why I haven’t approached any agents since then.
S: I have to admit, when I began publishing books, I was told that I had to have an agent. I decided to put that decision on hold and 25 books later, I've never regretted that decision.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?
J: The thing is, I never chose to write books. It just happened. I’ve always written stories, from the time I was in elementary school, to my time as a journalist, until now as a romance author. I don’t think I could ever stop writing books. As it is, I have three first drafts completed, two first drafts half-done, and two books roughly outlined. I’m midway through my current WIP, and there are not enough hours in a day to get these all written. So, yeah. I think I’ll always be writing books.
J: The thing is, I never chose to write books. It just happened. I’ve always written stories, from the time I was in elementary school, to my time as a journalist, until now as a romance author. I don’t think I could ever stop writing books. As it is, I have three first drafts completed, two first drafts half-done, and two books roughly outlined. I’m midway through my current WIP, and there are not enough hours in a day to get these all written. So, yeah. I think I’ll always be writing books.
S: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
J: I have so many achievements that I would consider great. My two kids, Anthony who is now 32 years old and Allie Rose who is 26 years old, top the list. Surviving thyroid, kidney, and uterine cancers over the course of 30 years definitely deserves the #2 spot. But one particular experienced I aced that brought me out of my comfort zone would have to be the trip to Australia I took alone. This was huge because I’d never gone anywhere without my husband. It meant leaving my young babies with my husband and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. That trip changed my life. I feel like it was my awakening, a rebirthing of sorts. I found myself. It made me realize what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And when I returned my world was different, and it’s never been the same. Looking back now, I believe that trip down under, where I got to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the sun set and a full moon rose, saved my life and is the reason why I am still here to this day. So, aside from birthing my two babies, and kicking cancer’s butt, my solo trip to Oz was my greatest achievement in my life so far. But who knows what tomorrow holds?
J: I have so many achievements that I would consider great. My two kids, Anthony who is now 32 years old and Allie Rose who is 26 years old, top the list. Surviving thyroid, kidney, and uterine cancers over the course of 30 years definitely deserves the #2 spot. But one particular experienced I aced that brought me out of my comfort zone would have to be the trip to Australia I took alone. This was huge because I’d never gone anywhere without my husband. It meant leaving my young babies with my husband and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. That trip changed my life. I feel like it was my awakening, a rebirthing of sorts. I found myself. It made me realize what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And when I returned my world was different, and it’s never been the same. Looking back now, I believe that trip down under, where I got to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the sun set and a full moon rose, saved my life and is the reason why I am still here to this day. So, aside from birthing my two babies, and kicking cancer’s butt, my solo trip to Oz was my greatest achievement in my life so far. But who knows what tomorrow holds?
S: What inspired "Lost in Your Rhythm?"
J: I had a dream about a guy and a girl who had tattoos that sort of matched, even though they were privately designed and the two did not know one another. I don’t have any tattoos, but I love the artwork and stories behind some of the ink I’ve seen. The tattoo the woman in my dream had flowed over her whole upper body like a sleeveless tank top, and covered scars from a radical double mastectomy she’d undergone as the result of breast cancer. I was just recovering from uterine cancer and a full hysterectomy and I felt this dream was telling me that it was time to tell the story of a survivor. I have numerous friends—beautiful, strong, courageous, resilient women— who have battled all sorts of cancers and won. I wanted Liza Minelli Purkypile and "Lost in Your Rhythm?" to be a tribute to them/us.
J: I had a dream about a guy and a girl who had tattoos that sort of matched, even though they were privately designed and the two did not know one another. I don’t have any tattoos, but I love the artwork and stories behind some of the ink I’ve seen. The tattoo the woman in my dream had flowed over her whole upper body like a sleeveless tank top, and covered scars from a radical double mastectomy she’d undergone as the result of breast cancer. I was just recovering from uterine cancer and a full hysterectomy and I felt this dream was telling me that it was time to tell the story of a survivor. I have numerous friends—beautiful, strong, courageous, resilient women— who have battled all sorts of cancers and won. I wanted Liza Minelli Purkypile and "Lost in Your Rhythm?" to be a tribute to them/us.
S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Lost in Your Rhythm?"
J: This third book of the Earth and Sky series. published by soulmatepublishing.com. It also takes place in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, just like Books 1 and 2, "Love in the Forest" and "Life is for Living." It touches upon small-town life and big-city life, both of which I’ve lived. It takes things from my life and expands on them, like the Ancestors Supper that Brooke hosts, and the seasonal celebrations mentioned throughout the series that are actually Pagan holy days, equinoxes and solstices. Finally, Purkypile is a real last name. I’ve been researching my family genealogy and discovered that name a few hundred years back in my lineage. I thought it was a cool name so I decided to use it.
Website: www.janinagrey.com
Amazon: amazon.com/author/janinagrey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janinagreyauthor
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/18967836.Janina_Grey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janinagrey_author/
Bookbub.com: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/janina-grey
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