An interview with Janet Lane Walters and Forgotten Dreams

Please welcome Janet Lane Walters and her book, Forgotten Dreams!

Forgotten Dreams by Janet Lane Walters

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
JLW: The idea for Forgotten Dreams was an interesting journey. Since all the heroines in the series have a Cancer birthday and the heroes are of different times. The time had arrived for a Leo hero. After reading a bit about the Leo man in a variety of astrology books I own, I decided since he is fire, he needed action and since he was a Leo, he would like the spotlight. Thus the hero was born. The heroine and he were friends and had spun dreams of forever when they were teens. My question became what would happen if he’d forgotten those dreams and came to a time when he wanted them back.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write this book?
JLW: Much of the research was in my astrology books and also my background as a nurse. Had some fun looking up how bone fractures could be treated and also thought of patients I’d known and their treatment. I looked at a lot about action figures and happen to be a fan of that kind of movies.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?
JLW: That love lost can be regained but it takes work and understanding.

NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
JLW: Years ago, I was a nurse and worked on an orthopedic unit. I’ve been retired for thirty years and have been writing steadily since then.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
JLW: Years ago, I had pneumonia and had to take two weeks from work. Being bored, I read. My sister-in-law sent me a bag of books. Most were medical romances. There were only a few good ones. Most of the writers knew little about hospitals and medicine. I wondered if I could write a better book. That brought back memories of my teenage scribblings on books I never finished writing. I began with short stories since they seemed easier. One day an editor told me my short story sounded like the synopsis for a book and I began the process of learning how to tell stories in my imagination into books.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
JLW: My father was my biggest fan and he pushed my books to everyone he met. My first books where hardback and ones sold mostly to libraries. His pushing his daughter’s writing I believe was responsible for receiving money beyond the initial payment. My husband thinks of my writing as an obsession he doesn’t want to cure. He’s a psychiatrist. My children and grandchildren are proud but only one granddaughter is a real fan. As for friends, these days most of my friends are fellow writers. They are a great bunch and we encourage each other and even buy each other’s books.

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
JLW: Absolutely plan my books ahead of time. Now I don’t have a written outline, just a sketch of what I want to be in the book and then I divide into chapters. Usually two people chapters with viewpoints from hero and heroine. Once this is done, I start to write and here it’s where the plan takes me. I’m a plotter.

NA: Do you have quirky writing habits?
JLW: Not really quirky to me but I write my rough draft and usually two more with pen and paper and type them into the computer adding notes as I type. I write faster than I type.

NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
JLW: When I’m not writing, I spend time critiquing other people’s writings, watching crime shows and the Cooking Channel and reading. I also care for a semi-invalid husband and sometimes do a bit of housework.

NA: Why did you choose the shirt you have on?
JLW: I pulled the first thing from the drawer and put it on.

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
JLW: Time to get moving. Will be a busy day.

NA: What errand/chore do you despise the most?
JLW: Grocery shopping. Not so much the shopping as the putting things away when I arrive home. Folding laundry comes in as a close second.

NA: What are you working on now?
JLW: Lines of Fire Challenged – the second book in a romance fantasy trilogy.

NA: What advice would you give to beginning writers?
JLW: Keep writing. The more you write the easier it becomes.

Forgotten Dreams

Blurb:

Chad Morgan is tired of his Hollywood life and his role as action hero, Storm. He’s ignoring the contracts for two more movies in the franchise. He wants to take a different direction and make a movie of his friend’s book. He has bought the rights. But his agent and the studio want more Storm. His personal life is also bouncing from one woman to another. His thoughts have turned to Emma Grassi, the woman he left behind in his quest for fame. He decides to return to Fern Lake and speak to his friend and renew his friendship with Emma.

Emma is now a nurse practitioner sharing an office with her doctor friend. She has waited for Chad to return and has decided this isn’t going to happen. She’s decided to confront him and put an end to the dream she has remembered and he has forgotten. Life takes a twist when Chad ‘s auto accident on the outskirts of Fern Lake bring them together. She wants out. He wants in.

BUY Link:
Books We Love

Bio:

Janet Lane WaltersJanet Lane Walters has been published for fifty years. Not in a continuous stream as she returned to work as a nurse to help when children reached college age. She lives in the scenic Hudson River valley. She writes romances, contemporary, historical, paranormal and fantasy. She also has a cluster of cozy mysteries, and a suspense. Among her writings are also poetry and short stories and non-fiction. She worked as a ghost writer for a few years. She is an award winning author and her non-fiction book Becoming Your Own Critique Partner written with Jane Toombs won an EPIC Award.

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History, mystery, love, intrigue: Jan Selbourne!

This month my friend and partner in crime shares a view into her real world in Oz and her writing world in the mists of history. Welcome to Nomad Authors, Jan!

NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book, The Proposition?
JS: In 2015 I visited the WW1 battlefields in Belgium and France where The Propositionmillions of young men perished in that awful war. Thousands of those war graves bear the inscription Known Only to God. That made me wonder if it was possible for a soldier to swap identity discs with another whose body was unrecognizable. London’s Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial told me it was indeed possible although very risky. If caught, the soldier could face the death penalty. That was enough for me to begin The Proposition.

NA: What sort of research did you do to write The Proposition?
JS: First, emails to London’s Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial. I researched the huge Battle of Amiens which helped turn the tide of the war. I researched the military demobilizing process, post war London and the value of money at that time. I walked London’s streets, visited the pubs and inns and train stations featured in the book to ensure the background was as authentic as possible.

NA: What is the main thing you want readers to take away from The Proposition?
JS: I want readers to feel they are there with the characters.

NA: Do you have a day job? What was your job before you started writing full time?
JS: I’m retired now. My working years were in the dry world of accounting.

NA: What started you on the path to writing?
JS: I’ve always had the urge to write but career and family came first until a change of direction in life five years ago. I had stories to tell and the time to tell them.

NA: What do your friends and family think about your being a writer?
JS: I think most of them were very surprised I actually published a book!

NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?
JS: My books start with an idea and I am a seat-of-my-pants writer.

NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
JS: Definitely the lovely, positive reviews, they make it all worthwhile. And, I must say the biggest thrill I had was holding a copy of my first book, Behind the Clouds, [that became] Perilous Love.Perilous Love

NA: Do you have quirky writing habits?
JS: Not that I know of. Perhaps what I think is normal might be very quirky to others!

NA: Which kind of scenes are the hardest for you to write? Action, dialogue, sex?
JS: Sex scenes are the hardest.

Jan Selbourne books

NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
JS: Travel, if I can afford it.

NA: What are your top three favorite books of all time?
JS: Heck, I have dozens of favorite books but three that come to mind now are: Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, the biography of Sir Edward (Weary) Dunlop.

Perilous Love

NA: A pet peeve.
JS: Someone sniffling.

NA: Why did you choose the shirt you have on?
JS: It was at the top of the pile this morning.

NA: First thought when the alarm goes off in the in the morning?
JS: I’ll lie here for one more minute.

NA: What errand/chore do you despise the most?
JS: Ironing, although I avoid that like the plague. Coming home from shopping and realizing I must go back because I’d forgotten the main item.

NA: What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
JS: Sir David Attenborough.

NA: What are you working on now?
JS: This interview. Oh, other than that I am working on a story set in Boston and England during the late 18th century.

Lies of Gold

Thank you for this interview, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jan

Author bio:

Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales

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Buy links:

The Proposition
Perilous Love
Lies of Gold