Salty Stilettos, Fluffy Chickens, and Big Hairy Dogs
One of my favorite authors has a new book out: Salt & Stilettos, and I am blessed that she stopped by my blog today. Janet Walden-West is a marvelous writer. Crisp dialog, engaging characters, great plots. Reading one of her books keeps all the bad things in the world at bay, and you can gleefully disappear into her stories. Too, Janet loves dogs, and I love writers who love dogs. Please consider picking up her latest book and adding her to your must-read author list. Click on the book cover to go to Amazon.
She agreed to a quick Q&A today.
1. What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Writing is my combo happy place and self-care, so I’m always writing, even if it’s something that will never see the light of day. My house is…busy. Aside from outside obligations, there’s also the spouse, kids, dogs, random neighborhood kids, cats, and now, fluffy chickens. The cats and chickens are engaged in a cold war as to which species is in charge. I have a huge white board over my desk to help with organization, but somehow always go off-book anyway. So, my daily writing time may be at lunch, during sports practice, or after everyone has gone to bed.
2. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk or habit?
That writing anywhere and any time I can thing I mentioned earlier? It’s usually by hand. All my first drafts are pen and paper.
Umm, maybe lets keep that to ourselves? I don’t think my agent needs to know that part.
3. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
The cats and chickens may believe they’re in charge, but this is really a dog-centric kingdom. I’ve shown dogs since I was a kid. I’m on my fifth generation of lovely furballs, and now one of the kiddo’s is also involved.
4. What did you edit out of this latest novel?
SALT+STILETTOS originally had an entirely different ending. In it, my heroine’s stalker got out on parole, and surprised her in her home. While her Irish Wolfhounds, and the hero, provided a distraction, she tasered the stalker. Ultimately, it was decided those scenes gave the story more of a suspense feel as opposed to contemporary, and required going in a new plot direction.
5. What’s the setting for your current w-i-p/next book?
I love this question! Books where the setting is another character are my catnip.
I also write urban fantasy, and I’m finishing edits on a short story set in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, at an exclusive B&B resort loosely modeled after Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN.
Janet Walden-West lives in the southeast with a pack of show dogs, a couple of kids, and a husband who didn’t read the fine print. A member of the East Tennessee Creative Writers Alliance, she is also a founding member of The Million Words craft blog. She pens diverse Urban Fantasy and inclusive Romantic Suspense and Contemporary Romance.
A 2X PitchWars alum, 2019 Pitch Wars Mentor, and Golden Heart® finalist, her debut multicultural Contemporary Romance, SALT+STILETTOS, is due out April 21st 2020 from City Owl Press. She is represented by Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.
Find her at:
Twitter: @JanetWaldenWest
Website: http://www.janetwaldenwest.weebly.com
