Debut Author Interviews

Jeannine Garsee is the author of Before After and Somebody In Between (Bloomsbury US, Summer 2007)

• Jeannine Garsee on...Why Kids?
• Jeannine Garsee on...Ideas
• Jeannine Garsee on...Setting
• Jeannine Garsee on...Query Letters
• Jeannine Garsee on...Writing Process
• Jeannine Garsee on...Dream Editors
• Jeannine Garsee on...Influential Books
• Jeannine Garsee on...Ideal Reader
• Jeannine Garsee on...Outlines
• Jeannine Garsee on...Impact on Readers
• Jeannine Garsee on...Favorite Teacher
• Jeannine Garsee on...Book Memory
• Jeannine Garsee on...Self-Help Books
• Jeannine Garsee on...First Novels
• Jeannine Garsee on...Character's Conflict
• Jeannine Garsee on...Taste in Books
• Jeannine Garsee on...Completion

Why write for children and teens?

Secretly I’m very envious of teens: they have their whole lives ahead of them, with so many possibilities. There will never be another time when the decisions they make will affect their whole future, and this “power” they hold, often unknowingly, is mind-boggling to me. They have amazing, sometimes seemingly unreachable dreams, and often find little encouragement from their families and peers. If I can write something that’ll help them take their own dreams more seriously, then maybe what I write will make a difference in their lives—and, hopefully, in their future.

Where did you get the idea for your book?

Years ago, I knew a black woman named Judith whose best friend was white. When her friend died, her infant daughter was then adopted by Judith. I know black children are often adopted by white couples, but you rarely see it the other way around. As I watched her daughter grow, I often wondered what it would be like to be white, growing up in an all-black environment. This planted the original seeds for my story—my main character is white, yet lives in a black neighborhood and attends a primarily black school. I’ve worked in an inner-city hospital for many years, and what I’ve always loved about it is the melding of two cultures.

Where is your novel set, and why there?

Cleveland, Ohio, because I live here, I love the city, and I can’t imagine my characters living anywhere else!

Describe the query letter that got you published.

Mine was an absolutely straightfoward query. I began with an introduction to my MC and her immediate circumstances—a “hook” I had worked on for weeks before I felt it was ready. I then moved on to a couple of lines about the mounting crises in her life, and ended that paragraph with what I felt was another strong hook. Because I am (literally!) bio-less, i.e. nothing I ‘ve done in my life even remotely pertains to my story, I had never been published before, and my college major was pretty irrevelant, I simply named several authors whose work I felt was similar to mine, added the word count of the novel, and thanked my agent for her time. And trust me—I ‘m STILL thanking her! :)

What is your writing process?

Because I have a full-time job outside of the home, I can’t afford to depend on my “muse” (who actually loves to play hide-and-seek with me, anyway). I set aside a couple of days a week, pack up my laptop, and head out to a coffee shop where I have NO internet access, NO phone calls or other distractions, and unlimited espresso. I’m a stick-your-butt-in-the-chair-and-don’t-move-till-you’re-finished kind of writer. The girls at the coffee shop all know me by name, and when they see me approach the counter, they simply ask, “The usual?”

I do find that my most successful writing comes from spur-of-the-moment ideas. If I sit down and actually plot something out, I end up going nowhere, or stalling somewhere in the middle. When I wrote Before/After the idea was unexpectedly triggered by something I saw on TV. The next day, I simply sat down and started to write. My current WIP began the same way—I experienced a “trigger” and the next thing I knew, I had several thousand words written and I’m still going strong. Neither were stories I gave a lot of advance thought to; they pretty much hit me straight out of the blue.

How did you choose your editor and was he or she the “dream editor” you wanted?

I found my editor through my agent—or, rather, I should say she found me. :-)

What makes her a dream agent is the fact that, no matter how much we might disagree on a point, she always takes the time to present her side, to listen to my own—and if she’s right, she doesn’t gloat (and I try not to pout), and if I’m right, she concedes. Not only do we have a wonderful working relationship, but I feel we’ve also developed a friendship as well. We dash off emails to one another every now and then that really have nothing to do with writing at all. She’s brilliant, she knows the business, and I know how hard she worked to help me make my novel the best it can possibly be. In fact, some of the best scenes in the book are scenes she insisted I add!

What books had an impact on you when you were growing up?

I first read “Harriet the Spy” by Louise Fitzhugh back in the seventh grade, followed by the sequel, “The Long Secret.” Harriet was a character unlike any other character I’d ever met; very mouthy, very realistic, and funny as hell. She made fun of everyone, including her parents—something that was practically unheard in children’s literature at the time. Nobody could understand why Harriet felt compelled to write down every excruciating detail of her life in her journal, any more that my own family and friends could understand how I could spend hours and hours writing stories about imaginary people. Harriet and I shared such a passion for the written word, I thought of her as close friend rather than as a character in a novel. I still love reading these books, and I’ve passed them along to my own kids, and other children in my family. Warts and all, Harriet ROCKS!

If you had an ideal reader, who would that be and why?

My Ideal Reader will be a teen with a seemingly unreachable dream, who will hopefully be inspired by a main character with a dream of her own. Self-identity, and finding/acknowledging it, is a large part of the story, so my Ideal Reader may be struggling with this same issue. And because this novel deals with substance abuse, I’d like to see it read by kids who face similar problems, particularly children whose family members are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Do you outline before writing?

I have to admit, I’m not a very organized writer. I’ve tried to outline, but I always veer away from it—and then I feel as if I’m doing something wrong. So no, I don’t outline. I start with a character, then a premise…and then simply start to write. The most fun part of writing, for me, is to see where the characters take me…how they find themselves in situations and how they manage to (or fail) to get out of these situations. Writing dialogue is the absolute highlight of the process—what comes out of my characters’ mouths sometimes shocks even me!

What should readers get from your book?

If your parent, or another family member, is suffering from alcohol and/or drug addiction, this is NOT YOUR FAULT. Period. I can’t stress this enough. And in order to keep their sickness from destroying your own life, sometimes you have to make very difficult decisions. It’s never easy, but it’s a way to survive. Never give up your dreams to save someone who refuses to save themself.

Describe your favorite teacher when you were your protagonist’s age.

In high school it was Mr. Peebles who taught Stagecraft and Motion Picture Study, among other things. He was the first teacher I ever had who really seemed like a “normal” person, and he was so passionate about his love for the stage and cinema, it was impossible not to be caught up in that enthusiasm. In my novel, I tried to convey this same passion through Martha’s music teacher, Mr. Hopewell.

What is your earliest book memory?

“Little Ducky Takes a Bath.” It was the first book I learned how to read, although my grandmother insisted I had merely memorized the text. Later, I discovered “real” books in the second grade, and then there was no stopping me: I’d walk, at age 7, probably close to a mile to our neighborhood library, and then back again, lugging Laura Ingalls Wilder and Beverly Cleary…sometimes reading them along the way.

What are some of your current favorite writing or author-help books?

The Forest for the Trees: an Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner—I LOVE this book because it’s soo on the mark. And of course, King’s On Writing which I’ve probably read two or three times.

Was this the first full-length novel you wrote, or rather the first that you sold?

Before/After is actually the fifth novel I’ve written. I wrote a YA trilogy while still in high school (and my parents wondered why I made such lousy grades?) and several years later wrote kind of a gothicky murder mystery. But this is the first novel I even tried to get published. In elementary and junior high school, I’d also do lengthy novelizations of my favorite movies and pass them around to my friends, undoubtedly violating a multitude of copyright laws. :)

What drew you to the conflict you created for your main character?

Well, this is difficult. As far as the substance issues are concerned, I grew up around alcoholics, and I was never really shown a way to deal with it back then. Resources, such as Alateen, were available, but I was discouraged from participating. My best friend dealt with the same problem which, in the end, effectively destroyed her life. Kids need to know that they are not alone, that there are people who can help them understand that what goes on in their families is not their fault at all.

Do you have different taste in kids’ books as an adult writer than as a kid?

I don’t think my taste has changed, precisely. The books have changed. What I read back in the sixties and seventies were all that were really available to me, and very few of them had any serious “grit.” I used to read teen romances (though I didn’t enjoy them that much) because they seemed to be the most readily available; now I’d probably never pick one up unless there was a serious “catch” to the story, something to blow me away. By age twleve or so, I was reading adult books, anyway. Now I prefer YA books about real kids with problems more serious than the old “I can’t get a date for the prom” storyline. I like quirky characters in dangerous situations, or simply a “normal” character trying to survive very abnormal circumstances—or the “abnormal” characters trying to survive “normal.”

How did you know you were “done” with your book and ready to submit it?

When I can read it, and say: “WOW!”—then I know it’s done.