Interview Jeannine D. Van Eperen

by

Judith K Ivie

Jeannine D. VanEperen’s October release is her sixteenth published book, eight of which have been published by Wings ePress.  Recently, we talked with Jeannine about her prolific writing career.

1) Jeannine, do you write under a pen name? If so, how did you choose it?

I write my books under my own name, but I do use a pen name for some reviews that I do for a review site, and that name is my first two initials plus my maiden name.

2) Do you have a "day job," or is writing your full-time occupation?

I don't have a day job now, but I used to work full-time. I think I found more time to write when I worked than I do now. I even wrote after work with my son's rock band practicing in my living room. Currently, I find computer games like Bookworm are too much of a temptation.

3) Did you always want to be a writer?

Probably not, but I think I always have been one. After I finished one book, I found I couldn't stop and started another, then another and so forth.

4) Did someone encourage you to write? If so, please tell me about that.

All through high school my teachers encouraged me. I think they knew I'd be a writer before I thought of it as a career myself. Also, I'd like to mention Dr. Edward Lueders and Dr. Willis Jacobs, who instructed English at the University of New Mexico for their support. Dr. Jacobs was kind enough way back when to read my first novel before revisions and after them. My family has always showed interest, especially my sister. When I’d say I was giving up after a hundred or so rejections, she'd say, "Keep writing. It's better than stealing hubcaps."

5) For this book, which came first, the story line or the characters?

For Willow Spring I think it was a tie. I wanted to write about a woman who goes back to her home town after she'd been hurt due to a divorce or widowhood and finds happiness. That thought just came at once with both the heroine and the basic idea.

6) Where do you write… in an office, on a computer, longhand on a lined pad, dictate into a recording device?

I now have an office in my home and I do almost all my writing on the computer. Much easier than in the old days when I wrote longhand and then painfully typed it into manuscript form. I know I'm letting my age show but that's how I wrote for years until I got my first computer. I used to write on a legal pad, and sometimes, if I'm not near a computer, I still do. One never knows when a story just has to get out of one's brain. Children of St. Yves was a story that hit me while riding in the car on a trip, and I had to get the words down at once. I also have an AlphaSmart that I type into and then zap it into my computer; however, I usually forget to keep the battery active. By that I mean I forget to plug it in to recharge so it's not ready when I am. I don't think I could dictate a book. 

7) How do you go about plotting?

I don't plot. I just write.

8) Do you have more books under contract, or are any others currently available?

I have several books contracted and I have many books available. I write for several publishers, but the majority of my books are with Wings ePress. Wings is a pleasure to work with, and I just can't end that remark without a preposition so have continued the sentence.

9) Are you working on a new book now?

I am, two, in fact, but I've had so many books coming out this year, and I moved to a new location from New Mexico to Wisconsin, that truthfully, I haven't gotten much done on them. I also have two completed books that I'm revising and getting ready for submission. So I've got four stories running around in my brain and sometimes, I think my friends think I'm out in lala land instead of paying attention to what's going on around me. You know, they may be right. Playing cards, I sometimes find my mind out in left field. No one in their right mind wants to play bridge with me, but euchre I can do better.

10) Tell your fans something about yourself that they would never guess.

I can't imagine what that would be. My life's an open book. Perhaps, it might be I didn't win the Miss Albuquerque contest way back when.

11) How has being published changed your life--or has it?

I can't say that it has changed my life in any way, except that it made me happy I'm published. Writing is a lot of work. I know many people have the wrong assumption that if one writes a book and it is published, they will become wealthy, and that just isn't true, except for a lucky few.