Interview with Jena Galifany

 

Hello Jena and welcome to Manic Readers. Grab a warm drink and let the readers get to know more about Jena Galifany.

It's so nice to just kick back and relax with you for a while.

 

I was browsing your website and noticed you’re happily married. It seems your husband has played a big role in the creation of your heroes. How does he feel about that?

Steve is such a multi-faceted person, but he doesn't see it. He has mixed emotions about being my inspiration, especially since the way our lives run for now he claims I spend more time with the band than I do with him. Being an electrical tech and an ex-roadie, he gives me a lot of inside information, too. He also gets the credit for the most romantic scene in the ShadowsForge series, although he is not a romantic person. He gets me out of corners.

You started writing in the eighth grade but waited quite a while before pursuing publication. Why?

I didn't think I was good enough although it was a long time dream of mine. When I finally allowed a few people to read my writing at work, they pushed me to pursue publication. Otherwise, I would probably still be hiding in the shadows. No one since eighth grade (Thank you, Mrs. Hendrix) has given me the confidence in my writing to think it was good enough for publication. Until now, that is.

How long does it normally take you to finish a book?

It really depends on the Muse. The first draft of ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero was written in about a month while I was off work with an injury. ShadowsForge 4: The Long Way Home took two years. Her Perfect Man took eighteen years from start to finish all because of one small scene I couldn't bring myself to write.

I'm hoping that I can get in the habit of writing a bit faster. The story I am working on now is moving along so fast that I've had to tell the Muse to slow down, I can't keep up.

Do you have any bad writing habits?

Yes, I get lost in the research and don't get the writing done. I have a limited amount of time to write. I'll be working along and a question comes up about something. I go to the Internet to check it out and it takes me an hour or more to get back to the writing. Sometimes I've not found what I wanted to know and had to change the story because of it. Most frustrating! Lol

Can you tell us something about you that makes you different?

I try to make sure that what I write will be pleasing to Jesus. I'm responsible for every word I say and don't want to disappoint Him. I've gotten away from that a time or two in writing about a rock band but it is too late to change it now. I'm working on bettering myself in that area.

While writing, how does the story develop for you? title and characters first, or do you use some other method?

Sometimes the title shows up early on, sometimes not. Now the character I have to live with for a while, study him, let him study me, and find out if we can work together. I write backward so I know where he's going to end up before I know how he got there. So he has to show me that he can survive the journey.

I know what the ending will be so I begin there. I start making an outline of what would have to happen to create that ending and work backward through the story. When I have the outline, I start from the beginning and write through, taking little rabbit trails the characters lead me on now and then, but always staying on course to the original ending.

I've only adjusted one ending drastically but that was because when Steve found out where it ended, he told me I couldn't do that. I changed it and Three Times a Hero ended up the first of a six book series. It could have ended there, but Steve said no. He has since decided that he'll never tell me how to end a book again! lol

Is there one particular book or series of yours that you enjoy more than any other?

If I had to pick a favorite it would be The Long Way Home. Brian and I spent two years working on it and it has more emotion, feeling, and depth to it then anything else I've written. We cried a few times before it was over but I think I brought him through it.

How do you keep your ideas fresh and imaginative?

I try not to put any limits on them. I want my imagination to have full reign, run wild. I have to tame down some things once I begin to write, but initially, I let it go crazy.

I take a lot of my ideas from a phrase in a song or a scene from a movie that wasn't, in my opinion, just right. Three Times a Hero came from three words that my favorite bass player said on television, "I wrote it". Of course, Ty Synclair didn't get around to saying it until almost the end of the book.

Besides writing, what is your favorite thing to do every day?

Sleep? Lol I have a night job so I sleep during the day while my daughter is in school. That's only from 8am to 2:30pm so it's not much. I usually pass out on Saturday to make up for it.

I wish I had time to cook everyday. During the summer months, I have an organic garden I tend as soon as the sun comes up so I can get to bed as soon as family is out the door.

My hours are such that I don't get time to do much "each day" other than writing in my head when I get to work at night. But that is still writing.

I know you put a lot of your husband’s characteristics into your heroes, do you put any of yourself into the heroines?

In Her Perfect Man, Anna Scott Trent is a lot of me. It took me eighteen years to write it as I said before, but I learned a lot about myself while I worked on it. Alexis Rivers-Synclair in the ShadowsForge series has a bit of me in her, but she's much more bold than I am.

Why do you write the genre you write?

I love sweet romance. I believe that the bedroom door should be closed because what I think is romantic isn't necessarily what you think is romantic. The best books I've read have been diminished for me when I get to the bedroom scene and it just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather allow my readers to make their own "magic" for the characters. Then it will always be perfect in the reader's mind.

I also like suspense. I like to use "willful misdirection" in my stories so that at the end the reader will go, "But I thought…?" It tickles me to do that!

Who has been the greatest support for you throughout your writing career?

Several people—other than Steve. Joyce and Brandi, who ganged up on me and forced me to publish Three Times a Hero. Then there is Teresa, who is ShadowsForge's "number one groupie". She supports me at every chat I'm on and she loves the boys implicitly. Brandi's mother, Diana has been very supportive and has been one of my Beta Readers, along with Joyce and Brandi. Brandi also stars in my commercials.

Do you find it difficult with three kids to get uninterrupted writing time? If so, how do you deal with that? 

I have three kids but they are all older. Nick is 24 and lives with his father. Amanda is 23, a widow and mother of a 4 year old girl and is in college to become a private investigator. Jen is the only one at home, is 15 and she writes, too.

I do my writing from around midnight to 6am so no one is around except Puppy Dog and she only comes in for that midnight cookie snack or to see what I'm eating.

Do you have a website other than http://jenagalifany.bravehost.com that you would like to share with your readers? 

If you like inspirational thoughts, I have a blog called "Passing Moments of Inspiration". So many people send me those nice emails that you are supposed to pass on to others. I don't have time to do that and don't know that many others well enough to pass things to. I started the blog to have a place to put them. I've also written a couple of the pieces on there.

http://passingmomentsofinspiration.blogspot.com/

I also have a MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jenagalifany

And an Editing and Proofreading Service for ebook authors: http://www.myspace.com/giftedeyesedits

You’re invited on a cruise that takes you away from all your troubles. What six items (can be people and pets) would you absolutely have to have with you?

Oh, wow. Steve would be first, of course. Can’t live without him. A laptop with Internet access, my KJV Bible, Decaf Earl Grey tea, an Ipod of 80s rock music, and notepads with pencils to scribble in when I'm away from the laptop. How's that? Lol Of course, I'm terrified of ships so you'll never see me on one in the first place. =) But that was a fun question.

Thank you so much for sharing time with us today, Jena. Please check out Jena’s website to read more about her releases. While there, be sure to check out the page where you can purchase a signed copy of her book.  

Interviewed by: Manic Readers.