JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Janet Throneberry, author of Waiting For Monday
(Authorhouse)

Waiting For Monday details the backward, fragmented life of an uneducated family in West Tennessee. Like the area they live in, the Holder family struggles against coming of age over several decades.

The youngest girl in the Holder family has a knack for challenging the family, stretching their patience and finding herself alone in dangerous, even life threatening battles.

Only some unlikely awakening of her family’s conscious or the reveal of their shocking secrets will give the growing child a chance to thrive live out her beliefs. But first she will have to survive…

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write Waiting For Monday?

Janet Throneberry: Keeping in mind Waiting for Monday is fictional, I was blessed or cursed, depending on how you look at it, with a keen memory of most childhood events. My closest friends can attest to that! Watching adults say one thing and do another caused my child-mind to stay on high-alert for tricks that grown ups played. For example, acting differently around different people, and talking behind someone’s back.

While that evolved, the race issues heated up in my hometown of Memphis. I wasn’t sure whom to believe. I only knew that nobody outside of my own skin color had ever hurt me. I often approached young black children in Memphis to play with me at the zoo and parks, and was turned away – with no idea as to why. This was a world that felt wrong to even a little girl.

And through crisis and upheaval, I’ve always wondered specifically what God was thinking. At some point, I created a character pure enough to be followed through a difficult life of division and scorn, so that we could take a fresh look at why people think, love and even hate the way they do. On the most grandiose scale, my book was inspired by my firm belief that “nothing is ever as it seems, except love.”

JP: What sets Waiting For Monday apart from other books in the same genre?

JT: I’m so glad you asked that question, having taken great pains to separate Waiting for Monday from others in the “southern prose” genre.
First, I left out the farmer’s-daughter-charm-effect that solves problems or provides comic relief, and went for a grittier, more complicated feel.

Most importantly, the book was created to be racially unindentifiable in its treatment of social and relationship issues. This was the intent; I hope I came close.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to Waiting For Monday getting out to the public?

JT: With only five questions I’m irked to have a bad answer; but, I haven’t begun until now to get Waiting for Monday out.
I have tweeted and facebooked the links to the book, and they have sold well one on one. My first signing is scheduled for August, next month.

The reviews I do have are both generous and humbling, as well as a great selling point. My personal key to getting my book out is letting go of the artistic mode of ” I just want the one, right person to read it….” I also plan to do some serious footwork and promote my book the old fashioned way.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish Waiting For Monday?

JT: Because Waiting for Monday was my first novel, my beginning was far too choppy. After trial and error, emphasis on error, I did find a workable process. First, I use “regular pen and paper” to brainstorm and nail down ideas for the plot and characters. Later those can be revisited and edited before making the cut to the keyboard.

Then every detail is researched–for credibility and to make the pages more visual. I frequented tutorials and really listened to advice, incidently learning from writers to be liberal with the delete key. All these efforts combined made the start to finish stretch to over two years.

JP: What’s next for Janet Throneberry?

J.T.: I am working on a novel with the hope of having it go live in time for the holidays. Again, I’m going inside the minds of people who live behind steely facades. This time, this exploration involves the rebellion of some dissatisfied housewives one very hot summer – of course, in a small southern town.

My ultimate goal: To have Waiting for Monday or my next book made into a movie – a movie that will “mess with” the belief systems of viewers.

http://facebook.com/janet.throneberry

http://twitter.com/novelsareborn

Thank you, Joey. Hit me up if you ever slum around with us down here in Memphis again. : D

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