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Zine-Thyme
by Judy Bridges
Welcome to Zine~Thyme. A column dedicated to interviewing E-zine owners, Authors, and Publishers.
Welcome back! Part two of the Janet Elaine Smith Interview.
"A paycheck is not the only form of payment. I get free ads for my books, gain a lot of devoted readers, etc."
I gather from this comment that you feel writing is not just about what the writer gets paid in cash, the value of some work for free can be enormous.
Should work you do free be as good as work you expect to get paid for?
Absolutely! Every word I write is the best I can make it. You never know who will see it. Besides, if you build a good reputation for your writing, it won’t be like what you hear about some of the "once famous" big writers. You know, Their early books were really good, but they just don't seem to put much effort into it anymore.
I don't want my writing to look like I don't care--whether it is for "free" or "pay." The people who read your "free" writing, if they like it, will pay for your other writing once it gets "out there."
"If you get a chance to do any writing at all that gets published, do it well, each credit makes it that much easier to land the next job."
Do you feel being published online is worthy of being mentioned, should one consider it as a publishing credit also?
The same is true for online writing. More and more people are reading the Internet on a daily basis. It becomes addictive. I have had a lot of readers who have told me "I found you on the net." But whenever you put anything on the Internet, make sure it links to your website, and that your website links to where they can find your books.
Who are your favorite authors and how have they inspired you?
That is probably the hardest question in the world to answer. I love Mary Higgins Clark, and we are actually "friends" that correspond. It all started because she wrote a book (Anastasia Syndrome, and other stories) that featured a Hallett—my maiden name. She was wonderful when I wrote and asked her about it.
I also love John Grisham’s books, but he keeps writing my life! I even have a page up at my website called John Grisham and Me.
There are so many new authors coming out that it is impossible to name them. I guess my favorite one is whoever I happen to be reading at the time. I love Deb Stover and Millie Criswell, Kristie Leigh Maguire and Mark Haeuser have written a hysterical new book called No Lady and Her Tramp, and I just finished reading Dream Garden by Anna Marie Fritz, that was (in my opinion) far better than Bridges of Madison County.
Just out of curiosity, how does John Grisham keep writing your life? I know this has to be good : )
Oh, the answer to that is fun! The first of his books I read was "Street Lawyer." My husband and I run a charitable Helps organization. I swear, he took the cases in that book right out of our file cabinet. Then I read "The Testament," and one of the people in the book went to South America. I knew the disease they had was "dengue fever", five pages before John Grisham figured it out! Then he wrote—not sure of the title now. I think it is "Painted House". It was all about migrants. The charity we run was started (by us) originally, about 30 years ago, to help the migrants get a "fair shake." I knew the people he wrote about like the back of my hand. Then he did "Skipping Christmas". He gave all of my parents arguments about why they shouldn't have a Christmas the year I went to Venezuela--when I was 20 years old.
For more on this, go to my website and click on the John Grisham and Me page.
How much time did you devote to learning the craft of writing? Any special classes, etc.
I started writing about 30 years ago when my husband and I returned from Venezuela. I didn’t want to forget all the experiences we had during our 9 years there. I fell in love with writing. I took some creative writing courses in college (I won’t tell you how long ago that was!), but I have learned the most from writing. The more I write, the easier it becomes. Besides, once I get started on a book, the characters take over and I feel sort of like a stenographer; I just write down what they dictate!
I see from your site, you offer help to other authors, how?
I had been doing a lot of things to help other authors, and finally decided to turn it into a business. Last Nov. I created SOS! for Authors.
I hold workshops there, have marketing aids, all kinds of things. Some things have a fee, but it is very low. I know most authors don’t have any more money than I do! All of the money that comes in from the SOS! site goes to the charitable "Helps" organization my husband and I run, so it does double duty.
What do you see happening in the future for writers with the Internet being such a boost in communication for writers?
The Internet has been a wonderful tool for marketing books. It also really helps to encourage writers by being able to discuss problems, ideas, etc. with one another. I don’t think my books would sell nearly as well if it wasn’t for the Internet. I have heard from people in Germany, Denmark, France, China, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and even Togo, West Africa who have read my books. Without the Internet, that would NEVER have happened.
Do you feel the Internet is a help or hindrance considering that writers of any calibre can get their writing “out there”?
I think it is a definite help. Writing is like anything else in life; there is good and bad. I have read books by some of the so-called "famous" authors of today and I have to say a lot of them have been far worse than some of the new writers. But, I have edited some books that frankly would never have been published if it were up to me. But then, you have something that comes along by someone that is brilliant!
What is the most important thing a writer can do for their career?
I would have to say there are two things: keep writing, no matter what anybody tells you, and believe in yourself. A writer has to have a thick skin, and sometimes that’s really hard to do. But when you hear from somebody who says "What you wrote in that book (or magazine article or whatever) made a difference in my life," that makes it all worthwhile. Letters like that are as good as a paycheck. Well, okay, almost as good!
Janet has been a lot of fun to interview so I asked for some personal background info to let us in on why she is so full of writing ideas.
I guess I was lucky. I spent the summers of my high school years teaching Vacation Bible School for the American Sunday School Union in a lot of little tiny towns in northern Minnesota. Through this, I met a lot of students from Bethany Missionary Bible College in Minneapolis. I knew I was meant to be a missionary. So, after graduation, I went to Bethany.
Many of you in the inspirational writing field know of Bethany House. That’s where I got my start—from the ground up. I did typesetting, editing, pasteup, layout, (that was before the days of computers!). I even ghost wrote a book for a famous NYC evangelist, along with an English evangelist. But, when my books were looking for a publisher, Bethany turned me down flat. Why? Because my books were too sexy!
After graduating from Bethany, I went to Venezuela, where I was a missionary for 9 years. My mother was horrified! She stood there when I left home for the last time before I went into the uncivilized world of cannibals (her take on it, not mine) and said “You can’t go! You aren’t even old enough to vote!” She was right. I was (at least at that time) the youngest missionary our mission (Worldwide Evangelization Crusade, headquartered in Ft. Washington, PA.) had ever sent to the mission field.
I spent the next 9 years in Venezuela. It was the experience of a lifetime. I loved every minute of it. It was while I was there that I met my husband, Ivan. He was from South Dakota and I was from Minnesota; sometimes we need a detour to get where we are supposed to be.
Three kids and a case of hepatitis and tropical anemia later (I had all of them; the diseases and the kids!), we were forced to return to the U.S. “Either get the first plane you can, or I will send you home in a wooden box,” the doctor said. I knew which option I preferred. When we returned, we were asked by a church group to go to the Red River Valley of MN and ND to work among the Mexican-American migrant workers. That was 31 years ago, and we are still here. What started as a very small migrant ministry has expanded into an all-around Helps charitable organization. We operate a phone Help line (775-HELP is the phone number) and I usually man the phone. A “normal” day is apt to involve a family which has been evicted and has to find housing—fast, a young girl who is pregnant and her parents have kicked her out of the family home, a suicide attempt or threat, translating for a migrant at a local hospital or a court case, taking medicine to an elderly person, and that’s on a slow day!
On one of our “furloughs,” our mission asked us to go on deputation. That is visiting the churches that had supported us in Venezuela. With two babies still in diapers (18 months and 3 months old), we started across the U.S. in a 1960 Chevy station wagon. That was in 1969. We left Grand Rapids, MN on Sept. 1, and on March 19th (Ivan’s birthday) we flew from Miami, via Colombia, to Venezuela. That was 42 states later! I was either very young, very foolish, or crazy. Perhaps a mix of all three!
All of these experiences have been wonderful to me. They have certainly been great fodder for books. I guess maybe the life I have enjoyed is what makes it hard for me to imagine writers who say they have writer’s block. Let me give you just a few examples of what I mean.
In St. Patrick’s Custody finds Patrick and Grace, my senior sleuths, involved in a homeless shelter. Working with Mission Socorro for the past 31 years has certainly taught me a lot about what these people face.
Dunnottar, Marylebone, House Call to the Past and My Dear Phebe are all based on my own (or Ivan’s) family history.
The Green Year (El Ano Verde), as yet unpublished, is an inspirational romance (no sex in this one, kids) set in the various areas of Venezuela where we worked.
Pampas, also not yet published, is set in Argentina, a land I learned to love from my roommate at Bethany, who is an Argentinean.
A Lumberjack Christmas, is set at a logging camp, which was still operational when I taught Vacation Bible School while in high school.
Basically, life is far too much fun, and too jam-packed with interesting day-to-day events, to not write about it. I just hope the people who read my books enjoy living my life as much as I do.
More of Janet’s sites;
Monday Knight (from the book "Monday Knight") has her own website at http://mondayknight0.tripod.com . A "fan" actually set it up for her as a surprise for me. It was delightful!
Grace Johnson, from my Patrick and Grace Mysteries, decided to try her hand at it, too. You can find all sorts of fun stuff at http://crumbycapers.tripod.com . Grace had a contest for a free copy of their second book, "Recipe for Murder," and had almost 100 people sign the guest book for a shot at it.
Earthly Charms
Heritage Quest Magazine
The Writers Journal
Monday Knight novel
Grace Mysteries novels
Par for the Course, a time travel that will be out in April
This interview with Janet Elaine Smith has been an experience. She is one of those people you would love to have next door and enjoy daily.
Disclaimer: Any resemblance to any fictitious character is purely coincidental and all interviewees are genuinely human and not a figment or fragment of this writers imagination.
All information is current at the time of submission to “The Stump”
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