Writers and Readers discussion

Please welcome Jeanne Bannon to our group Q&A. Jeanne has worked in the publishing industry for over twenty years and started her career as a freelance journalist. She then worked as an in-house editor for LexisNexis Canada and currently work as a freelance editor and writer.

She's had several short stories published and won first place in the Writes of Caledon Short Story Contest. Her novels, The Barely Boy and Dark Angel were finalists in the 2010 and 2011 Strongest Start Contests. One of her short stories “Thom’s Journey” is part of an Anthology entitled A Visitor to Sandahl and is available at Amazon.com.

Invisible, her debut novel, is about a teenage girl who isn’t happy with herself and wishes she could disappear. And one day she does. Invisible is available on Amazon, Smashwords, and the Solstice Publishing website.

When not reading or writing, she enjoys being with her daughters, Nina and Sara and her husband, David. She's also the proud mother of two fur babies, a sweet Miniature Schnauzer named Emily and Spencer, a rambunctious tabby.

Jeanne's Goodreads Profile:
Jeanne Bannon

Hi! Thanks so much for having me. I'm very much looking forward to answering everyone's questions :D

Jeanne,
Thanks for being featured for us to ask questions. Do have suggestions on where to see author's successful query letters that one does not need to pay money for. I know a query letter doesn't guarantee a book being published, but it means my book would be getting into the hands of agents/publishers which is a step I need.
Do you find it hard carving out time for writing with a busy family and full time work?

Hi Ali - Query writing has got to be the hardest part about writing! A good resource for feedback on qeury letters is Nathan Bransford's forum on his website - http://forums.nathanbransford.com/. Simply post your query letter in the forum and others will give you feedback. There will also be several examples of other queries posted there.

Another good resource is Query Shark - http://queryshark.blogspot.ca/

As far as carving out time for writing, yes, I do find it difficult. I usually write in the evenings when things are a little quieter around the house. I don`t put too much pressure on myself but do try for at least one hour of writing a day.

Thanks, Ali. I appeciate you stopping by. I hope I`ve done a good job answering your questions. Good luck with that query :D

Jeanne

Thanks and yes very helpful. I work full time, married, two kids (youngest 6) so carving my time for writing, well, I try to write no less than 1,000 words a day. It's better than nothing.
One a side note - I saw your book over at amazon before we knew you'd be here. I put it on my wishlist :)

Hi Ali, your life sounds a lot like mine, lol. Got two kids as well; my youngest is 8 and sometimes she dances around me or continually talks while I'm trying to write.

Thanks so very much for adding my book to your wishlist. I appreciate it very much :)

Hi Jeanne,
My first memoir was published in 2002 by a small independent publisher. Now I'm seeking publication for a second memoir. I'm struggling between continuing the agent/editor quest, going the tiny independent route again or self-publishing through CreateSpace. I'm not familiar with Smashwords. What are your thoughts and what informed your final decision?
Thanks,
Arleen Williams

Hi Arleen, after I finished writing Invisible, I tried to land an agent. As a matter of fact, I was going back and forth with an agent - she`d suggested changes and asked me to rewrite in a few places then resubmit. After doing so, I hadn`t heard back for some time and on a whim, decided to send the manuscript to a publisher. I was shocked when, in three weeks, they send a contract and wanted to publish it. Suffice it to say, I signed on the dotted line.

In hindsight though, I think it would have been best to find an agent. The publisher, though growing rapidly is still not one of the big guys and is also a POD publisher. I think that fact alone handicaps a writer as it is near impossible to get your book on shelves in bookstores.

I know with any publisher, the author has to do an awful lot of promotion but with a smaller publisher, it`s all on you and it can be costly.

So, with all that said, I would try my absolute hardest to land an agent and if that doesn`t pan out, then go with a smaller publisher again. I would put self-publishing last on my list (for now) only because you`ll gain more credibility with a publisher. That will help in the future when you go looking for that agent with your next book.

Hope I was of some help and best of luck to you :D

Hi Jeanne,
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
On another note, when I'm not writing I teach ESL to adult immigrants and refugees. I often use YA fiction for reading development. I'm wondering if you know where Invisible falls on the grade level readability scale and whether you think it might be of interest to adult readers. My apologies for not having already read it!
Arleen

Hi Arleen, no need for apologies :)

I wouldn`t know what grade level Invisible is in terms of readability but I always say it`s for 13 plus. It is easy to read.

Surprisingly, most of my readers have been adults, lol, so I suppose it would be of interest to grown ups as well. Perhaps reading a few of the reviews for Invisible will give you a better idea.

Jeanne :)

Thanks, Jeanne. I'll just read your book! All the best to you.
Arleen

Thank you, Arleen. I appreciate you stopping by :) All the best to you as well!

Hi Jeanne,

In seeing what the subject matter of Invisible is about I'm wondering how much being a parent influenced you in the writing of your novel?

Also, you mentioned that you would use self-publishing as a last resort as going with an agent or a small publisher would provide more credibility with a larger publisher. While I can certainly see the logic in that do you think that going the self-pub route can also hurt your credibility with a larger publisher for later works?

Hi Jason, I`ve never been asked the question whether being a parent influenced the writing of Invisible...good question! I`d have to say no. I think my own life experiences more than anything influenced my writing of the book. For a short time (in grades 7 and 8) I was the victim of a bully. But, that said, I certainly wrote it to help kids (teens in particular) deal with issues such as bullying and body image.

As for self-publishing hurting ones credibility with larger publishers...hmmm, that`s a tricky question because if your self-published book does very well, then that would help to gain the interest of an agent of large publisher, however, IMHO most self-pubbed books (or even books published by small presses) don`t turn out to be huge successes (thinking Amanda Hocking, here).

IMO if you want to make a living as a writer, then, at least for the time being, traditional publishing would be the way to go. However, the publishing landscape is changing dramatically and this may not be the case in just a few short years from now.

Hope I answered your questions :)

Hi Jeanne,

Your approach to bullying in Invisible looks really interesting. Were you motivated to write on this topic from personal experience, maybe even through your daughters? Also, it sounds like Invisible would be a perfect fit for any school library. Have you gone that route?

Jeanne wrote: "Hi Jason, I`ve never been asked the question whether being a parent influenced the writing of Invisible...good question! I`d have to say no. I think my own life experiences more than anything influ..."

Thank you, Jeanne.

Erma wrote: "Hi Jeanne,

Your approach to bullying in Invisible looks really interesting. Were you motivated to write on this topic from personal experience, maybe even through your daughters? Also, it sounds l..."

Hi Erma, yes, I was motivated to write about bullying because of personal experience. For a while in grades 7 and 8 I was bullied (after moving to a new neighbourhood). This did stay with me throughout my life. Fortunately neither of my daughters have been bullied.

Invisible is in a few high schools in the United States but here in Canada, because there is a little bit of swearing in the book, it`s harder to get the book into schools.

Thanks for your questions and for dropping in, Erma :D

Hi Ken, sorry for the delay in answering. Thank you for your interest in Invisible and for your very kind words :D

As for your questions, I'll do my best.

1. When I was a victim of bullying, it was at the hands of a few boys. The girls were generally sympathetic and even stood up for me. The boys were threatening in a physical sense and even threatened to hurt my little brother. However, I have witnessed girls bully by exclusion. Not allowing someone into their clique and making the girl feel unwanted. Girls can be very mean and verbally abusive, but I think both boys and girls can, and often do, get physical.

2. My training as a journalist has not helped me in the least when it comes to writing fiction, lol. I used to write a lot of non-fiction articles and there really are no similarities between writing a novel and an article for a magazine, unless you consider that both require an excellent command of language. Journalists deal with facts...just the facts. There is no room for embelishment while fiction is so much broader. Fiction is art while journalism has strict parameters.

3. My definition of hope - wow, that's a tough question. I don't think I can so much define it as explain what it means to me. At times, life is tough, as it is for everyone and sometimes hope is all we have left. For me, hope is the notion that all things are possible and without it, there is only despair. Hope is everthing.

Thank you, Ken for challenging me. I hope I've answered your questions to your satisfaction. I'm curious to know your definition of hope.

Jeanne :D

Hi Jeanne~

I just started reading Invisible for the purpose of attending this Q&A; thank you for answering our questions. I see from your previous answers that the main character is based on you and your experiences; I'm curious to know how you decided to use the first person voice when you were writing the book? And was it emotionally affecting for you to do that?

Mari

Hi Mari, thanks so much for reading Invisible. I hope you're enjoying my little story.

Yes, Lola is based loosely on me but I purposefully made her look nothing like me. I'm petite (in other words, short, lol) whereas Lola is a large girl. I didn't want it to read like an autobiography so I tried to distance myself a little. As well, fortunately, I didn't experience the same amount or extremes of bullying that Lola did.

I used first person because it takes readers directly into Lola's head. I wanted them to go along for the ride with her as if it were happening to them. I felt readers could better connect with Lola that way. And yes, I did get emotional while writing. There were a few scenes where I actually cried as I wrote - I've never done that before. All in all, writing Invisible was cathartic and healing.

Thanks so much for your questions, Mari. Let me know what you think of Invisible when you're done. :)

Jeanne

Hi Jeanne,

I have been reading the questions and answers and I am so inspired. I can not wait to read "Invisible."
Thank you

Hi Ann, thank you so much for your very kind words :D

NYKen wrote: "Jeanne wrote: "Thank you, Ken for challenging me. I hope I've answered your questions to your satisfaction. I'm curious to know your definition of hope.

Jeanne :D ..."

Good evening Jeanne. Thanks..."

Hi Ken, you're a great interviewer. Wonderful questions. I will answer them all, but I'm afraid the answers will have to wait until tomorrow. I've promised my daughter we'd watch a movie before her bedtime and I want to put the proper time and consideration into my answers.

Have a wonderful evening and we shall chat again tomorrow :D

NYKen wrote: "Jeanne wrote: "Thank you, Ken for challenging me. I hope I've answered your questions to your satisfaction. I'm curious to know your definition of hope.

Jeanne :D ..."

Good evening Jeanne. Thanks..."

Good morning, Ken,

Okay, let's get to those questions. In response to your first question about whether I think people are born with the ability to write well. In my opinion, I do think people are born with a certain amount of talent. I think that because I believe we come to this world with inborn interests and abilities. Not everyone will be interested in reading and/or writing and I don't think it matters how hard our parents try to instil the love of reading and writing in us, it's either there or it isn't. However, if the interest is there, then of course we can learn to become better writers - especially if we read a lot. I think that's the key to becoming a good writer...read, read, read.

So, to be more concise, I believe that some are born with the interest and desire to write and can hone their abilities through practice (and reading).

Your second question asks whether my protagonist reflects my worldview. I'd have to say 'yes'. This has sometimes been a problem for me as I've written characters who weren't 'nice' and I find that as the story fleshes out, my 'evil' character begins to change. I know every character is a combination of both good and bad but I do have to constantly remind myself that the character is, for instance, a murderer and would see the world in a different way than I do, lol

Your third question sounds like a pretty good plot to a book :) Since I tend to give my protagonist my world view, then nothing would happen, since I'm happily married, lol ;) They would simply become friends on FaceBook :D

I love your definition of hope, BTW.

Wishing you a lovely Sunday and thank you so much for your fabulous questions.

Jeanne

I'm not sure when this Q&A ends, but I do want to ask about future endeavors. Are you working on something new?

NYKen wrote: "Thanks for answering the questions Jeanne. Reading them was both fun and informative. Good luck to your future endeavors."

My pleasure, Ken. Thanks so much for your challenging and very interesting questions.

Arleen wrote: "I'm not sure when this Q&A ends, but I do want to ask about future endeavors. Are you working on something new?"

Hi Arleen, yes, thank you for asking. I am working on a novel titled Dark Angel (for now). I've been working on it for three years and hope to have it finished in a few months. It's a paranormal thriller about a woman vigiliant who's also psychic.

kind regards :)
Jeanne

All the best to you, Jeanne.

I got so caught up in reading all the interesting questions and answers, that I forgot to ask one myself this weekend. So I'd like to thank Jeanne for joining us and fire off one more, slightly late, question: What was the hardest aspect of writing from a teenage point of view?

Hi A.F. - first, I want to thank you for hosting the Q & A for me this weekend. It was a lot of fun!

As for your question - I have a teenage daughter. She was 17 when I started the book (Lola's age). So it really wasn't difficult to write from a teenage girl's perspective since I live with one and am surrounded by her friends, lol I read a lot of the dialogue to my daughter to make sure I was getting the lingo and tone right. I got lucky...my daughter was a great resource.

Jeanne

Hi, Jeanne. I'm so sorry I missed this! I'm not myself these days, as you know.
Glad you got a good turnout and lots of questions. Invisible is a great read.
Best,
Sheila

No worries, Sheila. I completely understand. Thank you for your kind words. :) Hope to chat soon.