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Denise: You have a wide range of experience in your writing career. You’ve been involved in ghostwriting, editing, publishing, being an agent and writing novels, memoirs, and children’s books. What did you find the most rewarding? What tested your patience?

Joan: Most rewarding, of course, is working on my own projects, but of the things I’ve done to pay the bills over the years, ghostwriting was especially enjoyable. In order to do a good job and write not only a client’s story but also present it the way they would, it’s necessary to really get inside the client’s head, to think like the client—at least for the period of time you are working on their project. It’s the introverted writer’s equivalent of stage performance.

I loved publishing too. It forced me to learn new skills, and it also presented me with some major challenges—such as when my distributor went out of business owing me (and other client publishers) a lot of money. You could say that tested my patience, but it was also a growing experience.

Denise: Tell us about the novel you co-wrote? Has it been submitted to an agent or publisher?

Joan: The novel my friend/fellow author and I co-wrote was a late COVID project. I had never co-written a book before (ghostwriting is similar but not the same) and had always wanted to try it. It required us to do a lot of adrenalin-pumping brainstorming, and the “two heads are better than one” adage really came into play. We would be on Zoom shouting over each other to get out our ideas for plot points. It was really fun, mostly. We did have a few arguments, and towards the end we had to take a short time-out to recover from each other’s editing critiques. (I’m not mentioning my friend’s name or the name of the book because we’re just beginning to shop it around and we don’t want to jinx ourselves by saying too much about it.)

Denise: I’ve read your excerpt for your novel, “Under the Blue Moon.” I’ll be reading the book soon. That was probably one of the best excerpts I’ve read. It’s clearly because of your skill of truly capturing the thoughts, fears, and shock of your protagonist. How do you do that so well?

Joan: Oh dear, and now I must tell you truthfully that my publisher wrote the description. I actually wrote the first version of it, which was very similar, but she tweaked it to give it a bit more punch and pizazz, for which I am grateful. Another instance of two heads being better than one. I will pass on your compliment.

Denise: Your book begins with Lola being in a car accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We actually ride along with her and experience the chaos caused by the accident. You also let us feel the compassion the homeless extended to Lola afterward. Does this connection alter her life?

Joan: Yes, it does alter her life. Lola has been living with grief for a long time when the accident happens. She’s been functioning well enough—doing her work (she’s a dog groomer and trainer), seeing her friends, etc. But just below the surface she’s miserable. The accident is kind of a slap-in-the-face for her, a “snap out of it” moment, though she doesn’t know that at the time.

Denise: Then there’s Ben, an unemployed architect who is currently homeless and not receiving any support from his family. You know there’s a reason why his family chooses to be distant. Can you share what happened that led to him having to live on a ledge under an overpass?

Joan: Well, I don’t want to give away too much since the story of what actually happens to Ben unfolds over time in the book and works its way into the ending. But I can say that Ben was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and when criminal activity broke out, Ben got blamed and spent some time in jail. Even though he is ultimately cleared, his relationships with his co-workers and, more importantly, his wife and daughter, suffered during the long (and costly) process of proving his innocence.

Ben’s story is based loosely on something that really happened to someone I know. He too was a good guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily, he had a loved one who stood by his side and helped him get through the financial end of things as well as the emotional impact. Otherwise he could have wound up like Ben. One of the signs Lola sees outside the homeless shelter when she has her accident reads I used to be your neighbor. I wanted to make the point that every homeless person has a story. Homelessness can happen to anyone under the right circumstances.

Denise: Being on parallel paths, can Lola and Ben work together to ease the burden and grief weighing them down?

Joan: Metaphorically, I imagine a thick line of sizeable trees between Lola’s and Ben’s paths. While they may glimpse each other now and then from their respective routes, they have their own individual missions.

Denise: Will they give back to the shelter having received assistance?

Joan: Lola really has nothing to do with the shelter. When she is broadsided by another car, it just happens to be in front of a homeless shelter.

Denise: What did you learn about the human experience when writing this book?

Joan: It reminded me that compassion can be fleeting. It has to be fed so as not to be forgotten.

Denise: Are you currently writing another book?

Joan: Yes, I’m working on a historical novel. The character I am writing about is so intriguing that I can’t figure out why no one has written a fictional account of her life before. Since words have energy, I won’t divulge her name, not until I get further along in her story.

Denise: Who is your publisher and what was production of the book like?

Joan: My publisher is Five Directions Press. They have published four of my books so far. They are very professional and great to work with. I have nothing but praise for them.