Janet McCoy Howle

I grew up in Michigan in a middle-class neighborhood that was the home of 8 girls, all within three years of each other and where we ran around, roller skated, and played kick- the-can in the evenings until our mothers’ called us in. I didn’t realize until I was an adult that the freedom I had in my childhood was idealistic in so many ways.

Boredom and imagination. Our family rarely took more than a week’s summer vacation. I read a lot. Other than playing make-believe, reading and writing was my escape. We had a huge willow tree in our backyard with low branches making climbing easy. It was great place for a girl to read and imagine a different life and time.

We always had books in our home and had a “kids” bookcase my mom made from wooden orange crates and painted various colors. The books changed as we aged but it was always full even though we had a library on our corner and borrowed books every week.

I always have a book nearby if not in my hands. Currently, I read both for enjoyment as any reader but also read to learn as a writer. When I am reading as a writer, I admit, I underline sentences or phrases in books that inspire me or give me ideas for my own writing. My mother would turn over in her grave is she knew I defaced books.

My first novel, which I co-authored with my husband, was self-published. At the time, this was in 2011, this seemed the best option as we had a deadline to make the book available. The novel is set in an around-the-world vintage car rally, and we were about to embark on that adventure. We thought it would be a good promotion for the book to sell it along the way. We knew very little about publishing and marketing. While things have changed, the majority of marketing still falls on a self-published author. Brick and mortar stores don’t want self-published books unless you can convince them that you have a large and an active following producing sales for them. There are many more ways to connect with potential readers now through social media, but it is still a difficult sell. I wouldn’t do this again. I find it hard to keep up the enthusiasm and energy it takes, and I have never been comfortable with self-promotion. I would rather write than sell.

My current novel was published by a small, niche press. I had great editorial input and I think the writing reflects this. Marketing is still a chore and no matter how a book is published, the author must be willing to put time into marketing. But this time I have a publishing partner who is also involved. I think books published by reputable publishers stand a better chance of recognition and access to brick and mortar stores.

Anyplace where phones don’t ring, a good internet connection, and few distractions, including preparing meals, grocery shopping, or laundry! Unfortunately, life goes on. I like to have a block of two or three hours without anything that needs my immediate attention. That said, I usually write at my desk in my “office” at home. I have written successfully on our boat, but there are generally too many distractions there.

This was a difficult decision because, in reality, my husband and I co-authored this book. We did consider a pen name rather than my name. I guess you can consider this a pen name for the writing team of Janet and Ed Howle, but Sistership Press was interested in publishing novels focused on women engaging in nautical endeavors, particularly works by emerging women writers. Ed and I discussed this at length, and we were eager to be represented by an established publisher who knew the market for sailing adventure/suspense. (Aside: The book has proven to have a broader appeal than just the sailing world, but this seemed an excellent place to start.) I still feel guilty about doing this as I feel Ed has forfeited well-deserved recognition.

There are two areas that I really rely on Ed. He taught me everything I know about bluewater sailing and is my go-to when verifying correct nautical terms and sailing facts. In our sailing partnership, he is the chief mechanic and engineer as well as captain. I rely on him to keep technical descriptions accurate and handled in a way that doesn’t slow the plot down. Finally, he is really good at keeping the details of the timeline straight and making sure things happen in the proper sequence to move the story forward. I say he is the bones of the plot while I manage the descriptions and dialog. It takes all of this to keep the reader engaged.

The working title of this book was Night Watch. The publisher wasn’t keen on that, and in searching, I found other books with this title. I suggested Uncharted. It seemed to fit several aspects of the novel; the uncharted sailing journey, the uncharted relationship, and the uncharted discovery. Unfortunately, this title was also used by another author who wrote a sailing adventure memoir. It is difficult to come up with a creative title, but I feel this title suits this novel.

My husband. Carter is a thoughtful, honest, competent problem-solver who feels deeply and is slow to anger. And only then when he feels he has been lied to or manipulated. These are all qualities I admire. In addition, neither Ed nor Carter panic in challenging situations. A necessary trait for a sailor.

This is a difficult question. There are many authors I admire. Right now, my favorite is Abraham Verghese. He writes the sentences I wish I could. I also like the way William Kent Krueger fits in on-spot descriptions so seamlessly, and I admire the more unorthodox style of Amor Towles and Fredrik Backman. At the same time, I can’t imagine writing with any of them. They have their own style, and I have mine. I wouldn’t want the pressure I would feel to adjust my writing to meet their styles. I have collaborated with my husband and I plan to do so again. We think so much alike and he offers thoughtful changes in a supportive way.

I’m not a night person. Any night is dinner, watching the news followed by a movie or reading. I don’t write in the evenings. My energy is spent by that time. I am up every morning at 6:00.

I think every writer has their own method. I don’t use either of these. I write when I have the next scene in mind and am prepared to put, at least, a draft on paper. Often my writing is in my mind, and until it is ready to be put on paper, there is no point setting a words-written goal. That would just be frustrating. I sometimes go days without committing anything to paper. I want recognition as a writer but don’t rely on writing for income and I don’t have a contract that requires me to produce a book on a schedule so this can work for me.

This actually makes me recall a funny story. When my husband and I first began writing, we signed up for a fiction writing course. At each session, different students read aloud from what they were working on. The backstory here is, both of us came from an academic background and had written a great deal of non-fiction, articles for professional publications, book chapters, and even textbooks. We were confident that we could sequence a plot logically. What we didn’t know was how to write dialog that was compelling and realistic. The evening I read, the instructor stopped me after the first 20 seconds and proclaimed, “All your characters sound like academicians. You need to listen to how people talk, not just to what they say. People don’t talk in complete sentences.” Needless to say, the solution was obvious.

In UNCHARTED, many of the characters are Bahamian, and I wanted to represent their language, dialect, and accent without slowing the reader down while making these characters sound authentic. It was a challenge, and I decided to limit my Bahamian dialect to substituting “d” for words that start with “th”. It’s amazing how many words start with “th” so I limited my substitution to a few. This is typical of the way many Bahamians pronounce these words. I felt this would remind the reader the character was an islander without interrupting the flow of a dialog.

The next book is a sequel to UNCHARTED, but it will also be a stand-alone book. I’ve never written a sequel, and that presents its own challenges. How to pull in information from the first book in a way that if a reader has not read the first one, they will not feel as though they are missing something. This book will also be set in the Bahamas and like UNCHARTED, will pull in some of the history. The backdrop for this one will be the 1940s when the Duke of Windsor, with his colorful American wife, Wallis Simpson, was Governor. There was suspicion that they were in the pocket of the Nazis and I intend to pick up this thread.

I’m not sure when I joined AllAuthor, but it had to be either December 2020 or January 2021. I was seeking outlets to promote my novel. I joined as a pro-author member because I wanted the benefits this group offered. I submitted the cover to the cover contest in February and came in 10 th in the final round. I don’t know how to determine what actually influences sales, but this website is very professional and has thousands of followers.