Interview with Jeanette Anderson, part one

 

Jeanette Anderson may be new to novels (I reviewed her first novel here), but not new to writing. The best of her blogs share a little something about her life. Here she discusses growing up in poverty near Snake River. She expands on that with a couple of personal anecdotes here, including this description of a UFO sighting:

Unbelievable to us, our eyes took in the image of a slowly moving saucer-shaped object, with red, green and white lights blinking around the perimeter. It moved directly over our heads toward the church, and I was sure it was too low to clear the steeply pitched roof. Much to my surprise, it did not hit the building but glided over it and disappeared.  We scattered and shouted the news to the boys who meandered around in the side lot. They yelled and jumped on their motorcycles and peeled into the vacant field behind the church property to see if the saucer had landed there. They returned disappointed. There was no sign of a flying saucer.

In her bio for a book-review blog, she wrote about this experience on a mountain road:

Years ago, I was steering down the steep, windy lane from the Sundance Ski Resort when my heart began to pound. The car behind me had closed the gap between us on the mountainside. Maybe he was a psychopath who would drive me off the road, attack and stab me to death. Maybe I was being chased by my handsome lover who had begged me not to leave him, was aching to hold me in his arms and wouldn’t let me go. Maybe it was both. My hands froze on the steering wheel when at the T-junction the suspicious driver pulled up beside me. When he turned in the opposite direction, and the chase was over, I decided it was time. As an accomplished and published ghost writer with over twenty-five years of experience, my subconscious was calling me to enter the world of fiction.

These demonstrate the power of Anderson's creativity and ability to enthrall with literary thrills. Though some might suggest a measure of credulity, you'll also notice the skepticism that also governs the imagination--that it is fiction that propels us forward. Just as she navigates the Charybdis and Scylla of politics, she threads narrative creativity as a skilled pilot, testing her readers' imagination with wild aplomb.

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How did you get started writing?

My mother read literature to us as kids around the kitchen table, and I was fascinated how the words could make her cry and give me goose bumps. I picked up a pen and began journaling as a young teenager and still journal to this day. I must have a dozen volumes now.

Have you mined those journals to write new works? Or are they workshops in craft? Or just personal records?

I used journaling to hone those emotional expressions and clarify life’s experiences which as you know is a huge part of storytelling, to get all that emotion onto the page and into the heart of the reader.

 

Who were some of your favorite writers back then? now?

I loved Nancy Drew Mysteries growing up. Now I enjoy the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and the romance of Nicolas Sparks.

What was the origin of the novel?

It was quite unexpected, really. I met a Palestinian woman on Shepherds Hill just outside of Bethlehem who thanked me for being willing to write a story of her people and their struggle. I felt embarrassed as I reflected on her words because I realized I was not even close to describing the conflict of that war-zone. I traveled home and changed my story. Instead of trying to avoid the conflict I put my protagonist into the center of it.

 

On her blog, she expands:

[The Palestinian woman and I] sat together and talked about the despair she had experienced; the bus searches and beatings, the laws prohibiting her from ever seeing her birthplace, Jerusalem. How in her desire to worship on the Sabbath she’d snuck through a hole in the security fence to reach the Mount of Olives and been shot at by soldiers. It was chilling.

 

Part two of the interview is here.

Interview with Jeanette Anderson, part two

Part one of the interview began here.

A review of her romantic-suspense novel can be found here.

 

What did you do for research?

I spent six years researching and interviewing friends from Palestine and Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and of course I traveled there and did onsite interviews. I had great support from both sides of the story.

Studying Palestinian poetry was a phenomenal experience. They have a flavor so unique and powerful that I loved playing with that.

What were some of those flavors?

The poems I studied had a unique style, with carefully placed words born of suffering which might seem angry and morbid to some, blood, death, despair and ruin, but because they were so beautifully written, they fall on your heart.

An American friend who studied there said that he had Muslim and Israeli friends with whom he freely discussed and debated important issues, whereas in the US, we're afraid to talk politics, except with like-minded sorts. What was your experience?

I imagine when your life is rooted in conflict and you are living in a war-zone you are not afraid to share your opinion. They disagree with each other, for sure and will correct you when they think you’re wrong. I found the opinions of people in Palestine well informed through their personal experience.

The novel did feel like you'd worked hard to understand the culture(s). In one part the community protects a criminal of their people, but at the same time tries to help a woman find her child. People make grave mistakes and feel shame with no way to atone--and are treated as if the mistakes were purposeful.

It is a complex society and my experience is limited, but I loved being with them. I found these people extremely loving, caring and helpful on both sides of the conflict.

How many of these events are based on stories you've heard?

This story was definitely inspired by the people I interviewed. I worked hard to get as many of their stories into the work as I could. The true stories from the book Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef really touched me and informed my story.

 

Have you heard back from anyone from the area about the novel--or friends whose stories helped shape the novel?

Yes. They’ve asked for boxes of books for their friends. Some Palestinians wished I would have told more of the atrocities they had endured. Some of my Israeli friends felt I was a bit tough on the Israelis. I’d hear, “I can tell you’ve been talking with your Palestinian friends!” Then I would hear, “No. An Israeli doctor would never do that,” from the Palestinian side. Yet, I personally interviewed the Israeli director of surgery at the facility where the surgeon plugged the bullet hole in the student’s heart with his finger, and saved her, while the Palestinian shooter was in a stall down the hall. This doctor had personally flown with a Palestinian father and his child who was dying of cancer to a special facility and overseen his treatment. I wish I could have told all their marvelous stories.

What were some of the difficulties you had in writing it?

I had a hard time walking the line between being anti-Israeli or anti-Palestinian. I am neither. My goal was just to get people to think about their thinking. Open some minds to a new way to see this battlefield. Expose them to something they hadn’t thought of before. It seems to have been successful in that way.

It was also hard to figure out which genre this story fit into. It was not a good fit for romance because of the thriller aspect, but in the end, I chose to go with romantic suspense and hoped people would find it refreshingly different.

It is refreshing and different. I was constantly surprised when sections became a thoroughbred thriller. Who are some of your influences?

Everyone close to me, my husband, children, extended family and friends, all believed in me and encouraged me, and said that I could do it. What a blessing.

I definitely would have to say that my greatest mentor is David Farland. I have no idea how someone can write so stunningly. I started out careening from wall to wall trying to figure this writing process out, but he was right there with me. He has coached and edited and corrected and nudged me along this path and always with profound kindness. I couldn’t have done this without his expertise and encouragement.

What are you working on now?

This time I am taking the story to Southern Spain. I was on one of the southern beaches collecting shells when I saw my next love interest. He came out from an abandoned hotel and with a spear in his hand waded out to claim his catch. I asked myself. Who is this squatter and what is his story? I named him Marcos and he is a fascinating character in my next novel.

Good luck to your current and follow-up novels. I look forward to reading what you conjure up next. Thank you for the interview. 

My pleasure,Trent.