I’ve never really interviewed anyone before, not even via email, but Ms. Cheaney (the J stands for Janie) kindly agreed to be my guinea pig. Here’s a little bit of biographical information from her website:
“Some time after my daughter was born, I thought it might be fun to try writing a novel. I guess it was so much fun I went on over the years to write three more, but couldn’t find a publisher for any of them (that’s why they’re still packed away in boxes). But I did write three creative writing workbooks, called the Wordsmith series, which are still being sold, mostly to homeschoolers. Some time after my son graduated from high school in 1996. I started writing my first book intended for young-adult readers, based on an idea I had been thinking about for at least eight years. It became The Playmaker, published in the fall of 2000. The True Prince followed in 2002.
When not writing, or thinking about it, I like to travel, read, sing, sew, do needlework and sleep–though not necessarily in that order.”
Sherry: Eldest Daughter says every good interview begins with the question: what did you have for breakfast? (I think she’s crazy, but I like to humor her.)
Janie: Well, why not? I’m not a big breakfast eater, which is why I make myself whip up a smoothie every morning. Yogurt, frozen fruit, protein powder, juice and a banana–yum!
Sherry: This next question is probably only of interest to me, but since I graduated from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and I saw at your website that you also went to school in Abilene, I have to ask: where?
Janie: ACU. Back then it was Abilene Christian College, rather than University. I didn’t actually attend school for long: I transferred there from a Junior college in Dallas, then dropped out after I got married during the semester break. (It was what you’d call a whirlwind courtship.) I audited some classes after that, but never finished a degree.
Sherry: I think I first read your writing in essays you’ve written for WORLD magazine. How did you come to write for WORLD?
Janie: WORLD was actually my first publisher. Back in 1990, I wrote an essay for their “Soul Food” column, which at that time was open to anybody who wished to submit. For the next few years I wrote some book reviews for them, then lapsed for a year or two while the editorial staff reorganized and the Olaskys came on board. I Submitted a Soul Food column about Dr. Laura Schlesinger to Susan Olasky in 1996, and have been a contributor ever since.
Sherry: One of my favorite authors, Madeleine L’Engle, once said something to the effect that she wrote for children because they were more open to understanding what she had to say than were adults. Why did you decide to write books for children rather than adults?
Janie: That was probably a result of homeschooling for twelve years and reading lots of children’s literature. I used to read aloud to my kids every morning, even after they were well able to read for themselves, and I was always scouting for good material at the library. In the process I discovered (or rediscovered) that children’s books are definitely better than adult fiction for story value, because kids aren’t impressed with literary flourishes or authorial showing-off. The only way to impress them is to tell a rousing tale, and an essay by C. S. Lewis (“On Stories”) helped me re-think just how important the story is. So it made sense to go to the audience that appreciated stories most.
Sherry: I think I liked The Middle of Somewhere partly because the setting in Kansas reminded me of West Texas where I grew up, and partly because the grandfather in the story reminded me of my own grandfather, who used to sell insurance and horses and who-knows-what-else. Did you know someone like Pop in the story?
Janie: The novel is dedicated to my husband, “who hates loud noises, sudden moves, and surprises.” He served as the model for Pop, having some of those same eccentricities (though he’s never been on a motorcycle and would never stand 3 1/2 days in a hard body contest).
Sherry: Another great character in the story is, of course, Gee, Ronnie’s ADHD little brother. Was it difficult to make him a sympathetic character and at the same time really annoying and worrisome? Again, do you have personal knowledge of a kid with ADHD, or did you just do a lot of research?
Janie: More than one reader has told me that my characterization of Gee is spot-on–which is gratifying, because I don’t know any kid like Gee. To capture his character, I relied somewhat on research (I didn’t do that much about ADHD specifically), plus a childhood memory of a distant cousin (slightly younger than I) whom I met only one time and who impressed me with his climbing ability. He would attempt to climb anything, including a sheer brick wall at a shopping mall we went to.
Sherry: Who are your favorite authors? What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Janie: Best adult novel I’ve read recently (and I don’t read too many): Atonement, by Ian McEwan.
Best nonfiction book: Welcome to Lizard Motel, by Barbara Feinstein (it’s a memoir with some profound things to say about children’s literature)
Best children’s novel (argh, this is a tough choice): I’m going to take a chance and say Skin Hunger, by Kathleen Duey. It was nominated for this year’s National Book Award, which is why I checked it out. I’m taking a chance because I’m only halfway through and can’t make a final judgment. But it’s very promising.
Favorite children’s authors: Kenneth Oppel, Rick Riordan, Katherine Paterson, Leon Garfield, Daniel Pinkwater, Donna Jo Napoli, David Harrison, Joan Bauer . . . and others.
Sherry: I read your review of last year’s Newbery Award winner The Higher Power of Lucky, and I thought your criticisms were on target. However, I’m curious about how you maintain objectivity when reviewing an award winning book. I tend to think, when a book that I didn’t like very much receives a lot of praise, that I must have missed something. Does being a published author yourself give you confidence, or have you always been self-assured in your opinions on books?
Janie: I don’t think it has so much to do with self-confidence as it does with being passionate about literature. Which doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong about certain judgment calls, and much of what appeals to me is purely a matter of taste. A book can still be a good book, even though it doesn’t appeal to me personally. But a story must be true to itself–to its own internal logic–and The Higher Power of Lucky lacked that kind of integrity in some respects.
Sherry: I also noticed in one of your reviews that you criticized someone’s similes (don’t remember whose). As a writer of sometimes cliched and sometimes cringe-inducing metaphors and similes myself, how do I improve that aspect of my writing? How does a writer come up with fresh and expressive ways to use language?
Janie: Exercise your imagination by dreaming up lots of figures of speech. Some will work, and some won’t, but as you practice you’ll develop more of a sense of the effective simile or metaphor. The best figures of speech appear effortless (though of course they aren’t).
Sherry: I also read The Playmaker, and I’m planning to read the sequel to that book. Both books are set in Shakepeare’s England. Where and when were you introduced to Shakespeare, and what’s your favorite play?
Janie: I was introduced to Shakespeare in my backyard, age 10. The best way to meet him is NOT by reading him, which can be deadly–the plays were meant to be performed. My sister and I used to put on a play for our birthday party every year (we’re four years apart, but born in the same month), and that year she decided we’d do a version of Julius Caesar. We wrote our own, relying heavily on Richard Armour’s Twisted Tales From Shakespeare (Armor was a humorist popular at the time), but also using a lot of lines directly from the play. The experience gave me a certain chumminess with Shakespeare I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
My favorite play–actually plays–is Henry IV, parts one and two. The True Prince draws heavily on the Henry cycle.
Sherry: I liked your Shakespeare Goes to the Movies page, too. What’s your favorite movie adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s plays? (I love Branagh’s Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing.)
Janie: I like those too, but the one I keep going back to is Twelfth Night, directed by Trevor Nunn. It’s lovely.
Sherry: I have to ask: are you writing another book?
Janie: Not at the moment. I took 2007 “off,” in a sense, in order to promote The Middle of Somewhere. I do have a manuscript with my editor right now, but I think it’s going to need some work before they make me an offer on it.
Sherry: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
Janie: Thanks for the opportunity!
See above or click for my Semicolon review of The Middle of Somewhere, and try this WORLD magazine interview by Susan Olasky for more information about Ms. Cheaney and her writing.
Another free verse novel. I liked the story, again, and this time I was able to get used to the line breaks much more quickly. (See my review of Home of the Brave for thoughts on my preference for prose in a novel.) Reaching for Sun is sort of one long metaphor in whch the main character, Josie, is a flower (a wisteria vine?) that’s been trapped in darkness, but is now reaching for the sun. Josie’s “darkness” is a set of rather formidable challenges: cerebral palsy, a mom who’s too busy with school and work, absent-tee dad who deserted the family long ago, total rejection from the kids at school who think she’s stupid, too much therapy and not enough downtime. Then there are Josie’s mom’s expections; she wants Josie to become a lawyer or an astronaut, but Josie’s not really interested in any of the high-powered careers that her mom has picked out for her.
