Today Jena Galifany as graciously agreed to answet my questions! Its easter weekend so this is a treat for us all. Happy easter and may the bunny brings you lots of goodies (i.e chocolate creme eggs..yum!)
Dahlia: Hi Jena, you are from Sunny California. Tell us more about you and how you started your writing career?
Hey, Dahlia. Thanks for inviting me. I've lived in California all but the first six weeks of my life, mostly in small towns. We moved a lot when I was in grade school. Because we moved so much, I got to where I just didn't make friends anymore because every time I did, we'd move again. So I wrote stories so I could have friends.
My first complete story was Mystery of Cascade Castle. I wrote it in eighth grade and the teacher, Mrs. Hendrix, loved it. She wanted to keep it but someone stole it from her classroom. Because she encouraged me, I took creative writing. I put writing aside for many years. When I was divorced at the age of thirty, I took another class, writing for children, and still didn't do much with my writing. I wrote a lot of small pieces over the years but did not have enough confidence to try publication.
2: Dahlia: what gave you the ideas behind your ShadowsForge Series?
I love the 80s hair bands. I especially love one bass player from one of those bands. I've watched his career for twenty-five years now and he's wonderful. Fantasy being what it is, I used to write fan fiction for Walt Disney's Zorro and 80s bands but didn't want to continue writing and not get paid for it. So I made up my own band and wrote about them. I had an idea in my head for some time that became ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero. My bass player appeared on VH1 and said, "I wrote it." I love the way he said it. I took those three words and ran with them.
The entertainment industry has so many problems that there is a never-ending cornucopia of ideas to choose from and since I have a five-man band, they take turns dealing with some of those issues.
3: Dahlia: I know you had a release on April 1st could you tell us more about it?
ShadowsForge 3: Retaking America is the third installment in the ShadowsForge series. There is a bit of trouble deciding which woman is with which of the men in the British rock band. Geoff loves Valerie...or maybe he loves Diane. Diane is close with Brian, much to Geoff's dismay. Jordan meets Crystal and is quickly falling in love with her. Crystal is infatuated with Jon from the first night. Jon wouldn't mind a night with Alexis, Ty's wife. It looks like Ty has a go round with Crystal, too. Alexis finds herself in Geoff's sights. It all works out in the end... sort of.
4: Dahlia: Do you have any upcoming books the readers should look for?
At this time, the only contracted book not released is ShadowsForge 4: The Long Way Home that will be released in November. The fourth novel in the ShadowsForge series follows Brian Cummings as a teen and into the current situation as percussionist for ShadowsForge. Brian has been so quiet through most of the series, I felt compelled to write his back-story. It was quite a ride for me.
5: Dahlia: Jena is a married lady so I have to ask. Does your husband's personality appear in any of your leading men when you write?
Steve is the image of a character I wrote in 1979 by the name of Velcon. Tall, dark, strong, and loving. I met Steve in 1989 and was stunned by his similarities with Velcon. It was almost freaky; they are so much alike. We married in 1990 and facets of Steve are in each of my leading men. Steve also helps me when I write myself into a corner. He finds the way out for me. He Is and electrical tech and an ex-roadie so he helps with the technical things that the band deals with. He also co-wrote one of the most romantic moments in Retaking America. He really floored me when he came up with the idea.
6: Dahlia: There are many roles we play in this world. Was writing your first love and did you continuously pursue it?
I wanted to be a writer early on but was not encouraged too much in that direction during my teens and twenties. After I got into my thirties, I really had a drive to be independent and felt that I could do it as a writer. So I began writing again. That was when I wrote the beginning of Her Perfect Man. I suppose you could call writing my first love but it was a long estranged love until the last five or six years. I hope it will be a life-long affair from now on.
7: Dahlia: Are there any scenes in your books you find are difficult to write? Why?
I don't like to write graphic bedroom scenes. What I think would be romantic interlude is probably not what you would thing it is. So I prefer to leave it to the reader's imagination. I prefer to "fade to black".
I had a lot of difficulty in writing the Brighton section of Her Perfect Man because of this. That is the reason it took around fourteen years to write and another two to submit it and an additional two to get it published.. In the ShadowsForge series, I had some slow moment with ShadowsForge 4: The Long Way Home as I was not sure how a particularly violent scene would be received. I wanted it to be worded perfectly and that took time. SF4 will be released in November 2007 so we will have to wait to see if I did it right or not.
8: Dahlia: What are the things that relax you the most or would help you through those excruciating writers’ blocks?
A bit of music: classic rock, Nightwish, or perhaps Trans Siberian Orchestra. A walk with my dog sometimes helps or just contemplating the pictures of the characters involved. That is another benefit of having made the commercials. I have visuals of my characters to look at.
9: Dahlia: Who are some of your favorite writers or what would we find you reading to relax?
I adore early Victoria Holt. I also write book reviews for Novelspot.net so I have discovered many writers that I enjoy. Reviewing is an excellent way to sample new authors and new genres. Mary Martinez is wonderful. I'm just getting into J. H. Bográn. His excerpts sound fabulous. I've bought his book, Treasure Hunt, and can't wait to get into it.
10: Dahlia: Out of all of your books which one was your favorite to write and who are your favorite characters? Tell us why?
ShadowsForge 3: Retaking America was the most fun to write because there are so many situations merging into and out of each other. I had the most fun with one particular scene involving my "first love" character, Ty Synclair. It includes Crystal and it was just so much fun to figure out just how to word it. One of my beta readers was totally upset about it. I struck a nerve and that's what I try to do. Ty Synclair is the most real to me. I've lived with him for about six years now, and he is all the best of my leading men. I can talk to him. He hangs out at chats with me, too. He has his own email addy and joins the chat groups so he can help me out when the conversation slows down. He's based on my favorite bass player, not the real man's life but how I perceive him to be.
11: Dahlia: Where do you see yourself and your writing career in the next few years?
I am hoping that in a short time, I will be able to give up the night job, become a full time writer/editor, and be home with my family like a real wife and mom again. If I can get enough sales, maybe I can be at home for my daughter before she runs off to college in about three more years. I want to have more time with my husband, too.
ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero was a #1 Best Seller. I'm hoping that ShadowsForge 3: Retaking America can be my second #1 Best Seller, with many more to follow.
12: Dahlia: If you could have one hot guy for a day to do your bidding who would it be and what will he be doing?
The only hot guy I want is Steve. He knows what I like and he's great. We'd be just spending time together, which is something that doesn't happen very often any more due to opposing work schedules.
13: Dahlia: Is there any genre that you want to try your hand at writing?
I want to move into inspirational and young adult books. I've been reading a lot of both to get the feel for them. It is so important for there to be good reading material for the 13 to 18 year old crowd. If not, they become illiterate from lack of interest.
14: Dahlia. I see that you are an editor as well. Is it hard to divide your time between editing and writing?
I try to spend Saturday nights doing the editing and Sunday night working on my writing. It's hard to work during the week on either one with the night job. I had a lot of work with getting two books out at the same time so my editing work fell behind. I'm getting it caught up now, though. I would like to acquire a few editing jobs doing manuscripts or websites. A few paid jobs would be appreciated. That would be another step toward getting out of the night job.
15: Dahlia: Tell us where we can find out more about you, any contest or anything else we should know Jena?
My website is http://jenagalifany.bravehost.com and my newsletter group is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JenaGalifany/ . I'm having a drawing this month in celebration of Ty Synclair's birthday on April 1st and Geoff Richards's birthday on April 27th. Two winners will be drawn from my newsletter group. One will receive a dog tag from Ty and the other from Geoff that they have personally worn. The dog tag says, "Believe in Dreams. ShadowsForge." And the performer's name is beneath the tag line. So jump on over to join my newsletter group before I draw at the end of the month. You will be signing up to receive my newsletter once a month and any special announcements that come in between. Not a discussion group, I will not be flooding your mailbox.
I want to thank everyone who has bought one of my books. Without you, I'd be nothing. You give my life purpose. Hugs to you all.
Dahlia, thank you again for having me here. This was fun.
Guys and dolls that was the author of the Shadow Forge series Jena Galifany! Let her bring you into her imagination through the pages of her books!
Happy Easter everyone! And save one of those chocolate eggs for me!
Smooches ~*~Dahlia Rose
