Promotional Interview with Jean Hackensmith

1. Where you are from and where are you now?

I was born in Superior, Wisconsin and am still there! The city is right on the western tip of Lake Superior. It’s hard to leave a place so beautiful. In fact, one of my favorite places to write is sitting on a park bench overlooking the lake. Of course, when the wind picks up and blows directly off the lake, it’s not so fun. Then I’m in my office glued to a computer screen.

2. How did you get started writing?

I actually started writing nearly 30 years ago. I was talking to my mother on the phone one day and, always being a doodler, this…line just kind of came out on the page. Hmmm…I thought. That would make a great first line for a book! I still remember the line…it was “Jenny McCall awoke with a scream on her lips.” Since I had always been an avid romance reader, it was natural that that’s what I chose to write. The manuscript—a whopping 900 pages—was done about a year later, and it was awful! I realize that now. I didn’t then, of course. It was never published, and didn’t deserve to be, but it served its purpose. It infected me with the writing bug. After that, I got my hands on every “How To” book on writing I could find and began polishing my work. I joined writer’s groups and had them critique my stories. I had an agent who worked with me one on one to improve my writing. All of that combined led to the professionalism that I hope readers see in my work today.

3. What do you do when you are not writing?

I am very involved in our local community theatre. In fact, I founded the group back in 1992. We do mostly musicals, and I still direct 3-4 shows a year. I have even stepped on stage a few times, portraying Anna Leowens in “The King and I” and Miss Hannigan in “Annie.” I also played the part of Laurie in “Oklahoma!” back in high school. I’ve also written three plays which were performed locally to rave reviews. I’m currently working on a play revolving around the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald back in 1975. I’m hoping my unique approach to the tragedy will be well received by area theater goers.

4. What would readers like to know about you?

That I absolutely LOVE what I do and that I’m very open to reader comments about my books—even the not so good ones. My readers are my best critics, after all, and they are also my bread and butter. I have to please them. They don’t necessarily have to agree with the subject matter in a book, or the way the story unfolds, but they do have to enjoy the story and get caught up in the characters’ experiences. They also have to be able to identify with the characters—at least the main one. A book should also be able to pluck a reader out of their sometimes stressful lives and take them to a place where they can eavesdrop on someone else’s problems for a time and forget about their own. A good book should make the reader laugh, cry and get mad. If my books fail to do all the above, then I have failed as a writer.

5. What inspired your first book?

Kathleen Woodiwiss, hands down. She was and always will be my idol. I will miss her and her books dearly. Her books did for me what I hope mine do for my readers. I absolutely loved her characters and the exotic places she took me to. I fell in love with the hero, and envied the heroine. I wanted to do that for people, too. And I knew I could do it, if given the chance. The fact that I was in an abusive marriage at the time didn’t hurt, either. For me, writing was an escape. Heck, I fell in love with my own heroes! They were every woman’s dream man; kind and considerate, yet stubborn and willful at times, too. And, of course, they were always fantastic lovers—the man I finally met and married fifteen years later.

6. How many books have you written?

Twelve published. Fifteen if you count the three that never saw the eyes of anyone but myself and my family. I’ve kind of started to stray from the romance genre, though. My new book, “Checkmate,” is classified as a romantic thriller, but truthfully it’s more thriller than romance. People actually laugh when I say there isn’t even one love scene in the book. “Checkmate” is a frightening look into the life of a stalker and his victim and this stalker wants her dead.

      What are the titles of your books and what genres are they?

“The Passage Saga” – time travel romance

“The Gitche Gumee Saga” – historical romance

7. How do you decide on that topic or genre?

As I said earlier, I was an avid romance reader, so it was only natural that I chose that genre when I started writing. Both The “Passage” Saga and The Gitche Gumee Saga are co-authored by Kathe Birch, so we decided together on topics, storylines, and settings. I still do all the writing, however; Kathe helps with research and plotting. I love writing time travel romance. It is so much fun to pluck a heroine, or hero, out of our modern world and stick them back in an antiquated time period so far removed from our own. The mere concept creates a plot in and of itself. It also allows the readers, and our characters, to be a part of important historical events—events that they know they can’t change. Even with straying away from romance for a time, I’m sure I’ll write another time travel someday. I have too many readers out there who would be upset if I didn’t.

The impetus behind “Checkmate” was, in fact, an episode of Forensic Files on Court TV. There actually was a guy who tied up his wife and children, locked them in the pantry (he puts them in a bathroom in the book) and set the house on fire. They all died. I got to thinking, though, about what might have happened if the family had lived, and the abusive husband went to prison for the crime—and then eventually got out. Consequently, “Checkmate” was born.

8. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track?

In a nutshell, I’m a night owl. Always have been. It started when my kids were small. I used to write at night, after they were in bed, and it kind of stuck. That is the only way I can stay focused. Even the sound of a TV or radio can be distracting for me. I have to have total silence when I’m writing. Hence, my normal writing time is from about 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Everyone knows not to call Jean before noon! Granted, life can sometimes throw a wrench into my writing schedule, but I usually manage to write something every day—unless I’m in the editing process. Then I’m chopping, rewriting, and polishing. My writing also supplements our family income, so that’s a motivator right there. If I’m not writing or selling, there are bills that aren’t getting paid.

9. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?

Both. As I said, my writing helps pay the bills. I can confidently say, though, that even if I never made another dime off a book, I’d continue to write. It’s in my blood.

10. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used?

11. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used?

I consider these Virtual Book Tours to be a unique marketing experience, at least for me. Number one, they’re fun. I totally enjoy visiting the blogs and corresponding with readers – though I have to admit that prior to my first tour last December, I didn’t even know what a blog was! I have also marketed NEW books to used book stores, just to get my name out there. Whether it helped or not, I really can’t say…though they couldn’t keep them in stock.

12. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not? Yes. www.jeanhackensmith.com. I sell autographed copies of my book through my website.
13. Where can people order your books?

14. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc?

All of my books are available in soft cover, print version. They are also available as Kindle books on Amazon.com, which is an electronic version.

15. Will you write more books?

16. What do you have in the works now?

My current manuscript, “We The People” takes me completely out of the romance genre. It will more than likely be classified as literary fiction. The book tells the story of a common “Joe Blow” who becomes fed up with the bureaucracy in Washington D.C. and decides to run for President. He runs a grass roots campaign, traveling the country in an old R.V. and doing his rallies in “AmeriMart” parking lots. I’m about 200 pages into the manuscript right now and hope to have a rough draft finished by the end of the summer.

17. What does the future hold for you and your books?

One never knows what the future holds, of course, but I would hope that someday in the not too distant future, my writing will be able to support our family SO my husband can retire. Right now, he works as a merchant marine and is gone for 2-3 months at a time. He hates it, and so do I. I figure he has supported our family for 15 years. Now it’s my turn.

18. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books?

19. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books?

This interview was done in conjunction with Nikki Leigh, author of the Book Promo 101 series. For more information, visit – www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm.