INTERVIEW WITH GUEST AUTHOR
JANET MARTINEZ
JANET MARTINEZ
Q: Tell us a little something about yourself, Janet.
A: I was born in Indiana and raised in Illinois. I’ve lived in Missouri, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Germany, and now Florida. Several of those moves were because I was married to someone in the military, but I just can’t seem to find the place to settle permanently.
Q: How long have you been writing and how long have you been publishing?
A: I’ve been writing since I was a child. I used to write short stories for my mother. I’ve been publishing for about four years.
Q: Did you start with short stories, a novella, or a novel? And what made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
A: I started with short stories as a child. I worked for lawyers for over 20 years and would come home and write scenes killing them off when I had a bad day. This was the basis for Drop Dead Killers. I finally got to kill off all the lawyers I didn’t like without going to jail for it.
Q: Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
A: I love Michael Connelly and Lee Child and have read all of their books. I also like John Grisham’s legal thrillers. I just decided one day that if they can do it, so can I. I haven’t reached the point yet where I’m as good as they are, but I’m working on it.
Q: What’s the hardest part of writing for you? What’s the easiest part?
A: The hardest part of writing is just sitting down and doing it, especially if I have no idea where the story is going. The easiest part is sitting down to do it when I’m on a roll and know exactly where the story is going.
Q: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
A: Both. I don’t outline a book before I start writing. I’ll take an idea and outline the beginning and see if I like it. Then I start writing. Sometimes the story will take me where it wants to go. Sometimes I get stuck and outline a little more to decide what should come next.
Q: Tell us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.
A: There is a wonderful man in Europe (Bill Wilkinson) who does my covers for me in exchange for my editing some of his books. I usually send him a summary of the book, and sometimes the complete book, so he knows what the story is about. Usually his ideas are perfect.
Q: Do you read your reviews and how do you feel about good/bad ones?
A: I do read the reviews. I’ve had a few bad ones that I thought were unjustified and one I felt was a personal attack, but mostly they’re the readers’ honest opinions. I’m always delighted to get good reviews, but the bad ones help me make my writing better.
Q: How do you find or make time to write?
A: Because I’m teaching, I write mostly on the weekends and during the summer. I do a little in the morning before I go to work, but I hate it when I’m on a roll and have to stop to get ready for work.
Q: How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books?
A: I like both. Ebooks are great when you’re sitting around someplace like a doctor’s office and don’t want to carry a real book around. But there’s something about print books that just feels good in your hands. Not to mention the fact that you can sneak a peek at the ending. That’s a little more difficult with ebooks.
Q: How do you feel about alternative vs. conventional publishing? Which one do you do?
A: I tried to do conventional publishing. I submitted work to several agents, but was rejected by all of them. One agency took so long to respond that I forgot I’d submitted to them. One responded about 5 minutes after I submitted it, which told me the agent hadn’t bothered to even read the submission. After that I moved to self-publishing. Since readers seem to like the books for the most part, I think I made the right decision.
Q: What do you like to read in your free time, and do you prefer print or ebooks?
A: I read everything. Michael Connelly and Lee Child, of course, but I also like the occasional cozy (Agatha Christie type books) and histories about people I find interesting (Henry VIII). And Stephen King usually has a book that will keep my attention. Sometimes I read ebooks and sometimes print books. Depends on the book.
Q: What project(s) are you working on at the present time?
A: I’m working on the fourth Graham book, which is tentatively called “The Consortium.” It’s a continuation of “The Jewelry Store Murders”. David’s life is about to become very complicated. Not only is he going to be involved with something that may not be directly related to a murder, but he’s about to have women problems. I hope it’ll be interesting and readers will love it.
Q: What are your ambitions for your writing career?
A: My secret fantasy is to see my books on the “new releases” shelf at Barnes & Noble. Since B&N doesn’t carry print-on-demand books, my goal is to increase my readership and make a little extra money on sales. A movie deal would be nice, too, as would hitting a best seller list.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
A: Write, write some more, keep writing. And find a good editor. There’s nothing worse than getting a book that has a good story, but horrible spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. That’s the biggest reason I have for not finishing a book I start reading.
A: I was born in Indiana and raised in Illinois. I’ve lived in Missouri, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Germany, and now Florida. Several of those moves were because I was married to someone in the military, but I just can’t seem to find the place to settle permanently.
Q: How long have you been writing and how long have you been publishing?
A: I’ve been writing since I was a child. I used to write short stories for my mother. I’ve been publishing for about four years.
Q: Did you start with short stories, a novella, or a novel? And what made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
A: I started with short stories as a child. I worked for lawyers for over 20 years and would come home and write scenes killing them off when I had a bad day. This was the basis for Drop Dead Killers. I finally got to kill off all the lawyers I didn’t like without going to jail for it.
Q: Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
A: I love Michael Connelly and Lee Child and have read all of their books. I also like John Grisham’s legal thrillers. I just decided one day that if they can do it, so can I. I haven’t reached the point yet where I’m as good as they are, but I’m working on it.
Q: What’s the hardest part of writing for you? What’s the easiest part?
A: The hardest part of writing is just sitting down and doing it, especially if I have no idea where the story is going. The easiest part is sitting down to do it when I’m on a roll and know exactly where the story is going.
Q: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
A: Both. I don’t outline a book before I start writing. I’ll take an idea and outline the beginning and see if I like it. Then I start writing. Sometimes the story will take me where it wants to go. Sometimes I get stuck and outline a little more to decide what should come next.
Q: Tell us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.
A: There is a wonderful man in Europe (Bill Wilkinson) who does my covers for me in exchange for my editing some of his books. I usually send him a summary of the book, and sometimes the complete book, so he knows what the story is about. Usually his ideas are perfect.
Q: Do you read your reviews and how do you feel about good/bad ones?
A: I do read the reviews. I’ve had a few bad ones that I thought were unjustified and one I felt was a personal attack, but mostly they’re the readers’ honest opinions. I’m always delighted to get good reviews, but the bad ones help me make my writing better.
Q: How do you find or make time to write?
A: Because I’m teaching, I write mostly on the weekends and during the summer. I do a little in the morning before I go to work, but I hate it when I’m on a roll and have to stop to get ready for work.
Q: How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books?
A: I like both. Ebooks are great when you’re sitting around someplace like a doctor’s office and don’t want to carry a real book around. But there’s something about print books that just feels good in your hands. Not to mention the fact that you can sneak a peek at the ending. That’s a little more difficult with ebooks.
Q: How do you feel about alternative vs. conventional publishing? Which one do you do?
A: I tried to do conventional publishing. I submitted work to several agents, but was rejected by all of them. One agency took so long to respond that I forgot I’d submitted to them. One responded about 5 minutes after I submitted it, which told me the agent hadn’t bothered to even read the submission. After that I moved to self-publishing. Since readers seem to like the books for the most part, I think I made the right decision.
Q: What do you like to read in your free time, and do you prefer print or ebooks?
A: I read everything. Michael Connelly and Lee Child, of course, but I also like the occasional cozy (Agatha Christie type books) and histories about people I find interesting (Henry VIII). And Stephen King usually has a book that will keep my attention. Sometimes I read ebooks and sometimes print books. Depends on the book.
Q: What project(s) are you working on at the present time?
A: I’m working on the fourth Graham book, which is tentatively called “The Consortium.” It’s a continuation of “The Jewelry Store Murders”. David’s life is about to become very complicated. Not only is he going to be involved with something that may not be directly related to a murder, but he’s about to have women problems. I hope it’ll be interesting and readers will love it.
Q: What are your ambitions for your writing career?
A: My secret fantasy is to see my books on the “new releases” shelf at Barnes & Noble. Since B&N doesn’t carry print-on-demand books, my goal is to increase my readership and make a little extra money on sales. A movie deal would be nice, too, as would hitting a best seller list.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
A: Write, write some more, keep writing. And find a good editor. There’s nothing worse than getting a book that has a good story, but horrible spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. That’s the biggest reason I have for not finishing a book I start reading.
