Meet Janet Lane Walters

Marilyn: Janet and I are friend via the Internet and also from being together and several EPICons Despite that, there's a lot I don't know about her.

Tell me about your background.

Janet: I'm a retired nurse whit four children and five grandchildren. Living in the Hudson River Valley suits me to a tee. My writing career has been split. In the late sixties and early seventies, I sold a dozen short stories and poems as well as four novels. Then I returned to work and school, earning a BA in English and a BS in Nursing as well as seeing four children to a higher education. I then returned to writing in the nineties and began writing and selling again.

Marilyn: When did you first start writing?

Janet: I've been scribbling most of my life but in the early days for my own benefit. Rewrote the ending of Anna Karenina in third grade for a book report and was nearly expelled from school.

Marilyn: What was your first break?

Janet: It's really hard to remember back that far. It was in 1968 when I sent a short story to a magazine now long defunct with an offer to purchase my first short story. That was followed by many others.

Then one of the editors sent a rejection that said, "This sounds like the synopsis for a novel." That's when I decided to learn how to write a novel. When finally completed, "Murder and Mint Tea" received many wonderful rejections from New York. Jane Toombs, friend and co-author on a book or maybe two suggested electronic publishing and on the first try "Murder and Mint Tea" was accepted.

Marilyn: Biggest disappointment?

Janet: Disappointments are few though I felt a pang when the Katherine Miller series was dropped but they were picked up soon after by another publisher. Probably my biggest disappointment is in not having twenty-four hours a day to write.

Marilyn: What you're most proud of--publication or otherwise.

Janet: There are two. First is Obsessions, a medical suspense that is a twist since this time it's the nurses and doctors who are being killed. The ending of that book gives me the chills and the villain is one of my favorite characters.

Murder and Mint Tea is another of my favorite children of the mind. I really identify with the heroine though she's a much better cook than I am. A

s for other prides, I'd say my five grandchildren, four bi-racial and one Chinese. They're bright and each is quite an individual. I'm also proud of my son-in-law who did the covers for Murder and Mint Tea and also for Obsessions.

Marilyn: Where can my readers find your books?

Janet: Books are available from Mundania Press LLC -- Publishers of Extraordinary Books Welcome to DiskUs Publishing Zumaya Publications Hard Shell Word Factory - Electronic & Trade paperback Books New concepts publishing Fictionwise, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.


Marilyn: What else would you like my readers to know?

Janet: My blog which focuses on several aspects of writing is Eclectic writer.

Marilyn: What writing advice do you like to give to new writers?

Janet: The advice I usually give is "Finish the book." Once the book is finished there is time to go back and retune the story and make it perfect. Continuing to go over the first few chapters can cause a block, but I am a draft writer.

Marilyn: Thank you so much, Janet, now I know you even better than I did before.