About Janet Martinez:
Janet Martinez was born in Indiana and raised in Illinois. She retired from teaching in Memphis, TN in 2014 and is currently teaching in Ft. Myers, FL. She lives in Lehigh Acres, FL with 3 dogs and a cat. Her students enjoy being characters in her novels, especially when they can be the “bad guy.” She is happy to oblige.

In 2015, Janet won a Writers Digest award for her short story “Amy’s Shoes.” The story will be featured in an upcoming collection of short stories.

Janet enjoys reading, crocheting, walking the dogs, and, of course, writing.

What inspires you to write?
I’ve always been a writer. In grade school, I wrote short stories for my mother. Later, I kept journals. I am inspired by every writer I read, some more than others. I learn something from all of them.

Tell us about your writing process.
I sometimes do outlines, but they are very general. Just an overview of where I think the story is going. Sometimes I do them on paper, sometimes on yWriter and sometimes on Padlet. I usually create a character sketch of my main characters, but not usually for secondary or minor characters. I want to know about my main characters: where he/she lives; what job he/she has; family members; habits (good and bad).

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
For The Last Cowboy, I talked to the main character, Cal Fisher. He is based on my great grandfather of the same name. If I got stuck on a scene, I’d ask him where we needed to go next. In a day or two I’d have an answer. I sometimes talk to main characters in my other books, but I’m usually asking them why on earth they’re doing something.

What advice would you give other writers?
The only advice I can give other writers is to write, write, write, and then write some more. The more you do it, the easier it gets. For me anyway. Read books in the genre you are interested in writing. I read Lee Child, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Sue Grafton, and Catherine Coulter to name but a few.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I decided to self-publish my books when I got a rejection notice from an agent less than half an hour after I submitted my query. I figured there was no way that agent read the query and responded that quickly. So instead of wasting my time on agents who really aren’t interested in reading queries, I decided to self-publish.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think self-publishing is a growing market and there are some really good books out there by indy authors. On the other hand, some of the self-published books are in dire need of editing. If a reader happens to get one of those, it hurts all self-published authors. I also think agents and houses like Random House are going to have to keep up or they’re going to be left behind.

What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers

What genres do you write?: I write thrillers/mysteries, historical fiction and short stories.

What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Janet Martinez Home Page Link

All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.