Author Spotligh - Q&A with Janis Lane

STEPH: I don’t know much about “Sandpiper Affair.” What’s it about?

JANIS: It’s a modern day romance which should appeal to young married who balance a home and career. Also people who love nature will enjoy. It has suspense and mystery elements, but Abby Naycomb’s internal conflict over her deep attraction to Adam Rawlings is the core of the story. There are tongue-in-cheek peeks at the behaviors of birds and their similarities to humans. There’s only a brief glimpse of a beach so don’t think this is a sand/surf story. Put that bikini away; get on your jeans and don’t forget your camera, sun screen and bug spray.

STEPH: Where did the inspiration for the story come from?

JANIS: Oh, I confess I invented Abby so I could follow her around on her “shoots.” Central Florida teems with creatures of all sorts, including but not limited to chiggers, gnats and handsome state park rangers.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

JANIS: I write a novel in around a month to six weeks. That’s a rough draft. It might be a year until I’m satisfied with revision after revision. I spend time plotting before ever touching the keyboard. Once I sit down to write I pretty much know the story.

STEPH: Did you have to do a lot of research?

JANIS: Umm, not sure how to answer that. I have spent a lot of time researching nature, but that’s my hobby, my avocation. For “Sandpiper Affair” I think most of the facts were already inside my head just waiting to plug into a pair of characters, Abby and Adam.

STEPH: Are you a plotter or a pantster?

JANIS: Both. I plot, but I allow my characters to take the lead if they decide to do so. I only create them. Once they have their personalities, they have their own minds. You know how it is; I keep a pretty loose rein.

STEPH: Any tips for aspiring authors?


JANIS: Write what you love. Enjoy every single minute of the task, but learn the trade.

STEPH: What was the last book you read?

JANIS: You mean besides Nancy Kay’s “Deadly Reflection?” I recommend it btw. I have open a G. Heyer, J.D. Robb, Evanovich, Jane Austen, an Anne George, Lee Childs. Love the character, Reacher. Who reads just one book at a time? Gloria Clover is on my TBR list. I won “Washed Under the Waves” and “Deadly Reflection!”

STEPH: Tell us a little about the state/country you live in.

JANIS: I live in small town America located in Western NY. We enjoy velvet days until ten at night with leaves in the Fall so colorful and beautiful it brings tears to your eyes. Geographic anomalies here are enough for the most curious traveler. When parts of the country have tornadoes, we feel bad for them. When hurricanes come, we pray for the victims. Drought hardly ever happens here. And summers mostly are comfortable. What’s a little snow a couple of months a year?