Interview with Janet Gurtler

It is my pleasure to introduce YA fiction author, Janet Gurtler to my blog today. Janet is the author of I'm Not Her which I reviewed last week and If I Tell which I will review and post later today. Help me welcome Janet today.

 

1-Tell us a little bit about your newest release, If I Tell.

If I Tell is a story about a girl forced to keep a terrible secret or risk ruining her mom’s life. Ultimately it’s a journey of self- discovery, finding out who you are and looking beyond the surface of who others appear to be. Me. I’m just Janet. J I like to write stuff.

2-What was the inspiration for this book?

This book started with the idea of a rather repressed biracial girl struggling with who she is. And then her world blows up when she sees something she shouldn’t and her relationships alter and shift.  Jaz is kind of the child I never had and things just rolled from there.

3-Do you plan to concentrate on writing for teens or do you write in other genres?

For now my focus is on Young Adult fiction. I just love writing and reading it so much that I don’t really have a desire to write for adults. But never say never. I am interested in writing in other genres, I’ve actually written some paranormal stories and we’ll see what happens with them.

4-I know you are being compared to Jodi Picoult. Did she have any influence on your writing?

I love Jodi Picoult’s intense characters and amazing plotting and wouldn’t dare compare myself to her caliber of writing. What I do think is that I like to write gritty stories and Jodi Picoult does this so incredibly well that I think she has influenced what I choose to write…contemporary stories that take things from real life and twist them around. 

5-Do you strictly write for a living or are you like many authors who have a day job and write whenever they can?

Depends on the year. Lol!  I usually work part time these days. Right now I’m not working but I’m looking for a part time sales or merchandising job. I like having a flexible schedule so I can work, write and get my son to and from school and swimming. 

6-Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Yes. I don’t think it was a conscious desire for many years when I was supporting myself and working in the corporate culture, but it was always there, waiting for me to return to it.

7-Who is your biggest supporter?

Hmmm. My family. It’s hard sometimes for my husband to understand my compulsion to write and the huge cut in pay that went with it, since he is a businessperson. I was in a different career when we met and it’s kind of a new side to me. But he is very proud of me and my son is too and they mostly put up with me having a laptop attached to me most hours of the day and night.