An avid reader all her life, Jeanine Berry turned writing into her profession as she grew up. She studied English and journalism at the University of Wisconsin--Platteville and then went on to work as an English teacher and as a journalist. After a 10-year career with a newspaper, writing both hard news and features, she switched to editing and began working for a magazine. She now has 20 years of experience as an editor and still enjoys the challenge of working with writers to improve their articles. She is presently employed as a copy editor with a major agricultural publication. Meanwhile, Jeanine pursued her dream of creative writing. This year her science fiction novel, The Sex Gates, was a best-selling e-book and also came out in paperback. She has two fantasy novels coming out this fall and is busy writing a third. Jeanine lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two very spoiled Australian Silky Terriers. Questions and Answers What are you currently working on? Right now, I spend most of my time living on the Dayspring world. That's an alternate Earth where the island continent of Atlaua still exists and where two races of demigods battle to win the trust of those rare humans gifted with the khi power. My first two fantasy novels -- Dayspring Dawning and Dayspring Destiny -- tell the story of Elinna Serru, and adept of the House of Lohenrin who studies the khi power under the alien demiurges known as the S'hazons. In the novel I'm working on now, I go back in time a thousand years to tell the story of the founder of the House of Lohenrin. This will be the third book of my Dayspring series, and is a prequel to the other two. Hey, if George Lucas can tell his stories backwards, so can I! If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be author, what would it be? Writing is hard work. You're going to run into a lot of obstacles along the way, some from other people and some that you create yourself. Just keep on writing and never stop believing in your dream! When did you first decide that you wanted to be an author? My eighth grade English teacher assigned us the task of writing a short story. Mine was a science fiction tale entitled "A Stitch in Time" and I enjoyed writing it so much that I was hooked. Making up a story in my head, putting it down on paper. and watching other people enjoy it is a wonderful experience. When did you first feel that you were an author? The first time I saw my byline in print ... By Jeanine Berry. And after all these years, it's still a thrill. Every writer has to be a bit of a ham, I think, to want to parade their fantasies out in front of other people. So we also enjoy seeing our name in lights, like any ham! Are you for or against e-books? I love e-books. I think they are the wave of the future. I have a handheld and I read e-books on it over my lunch hour at work (about the only time I have for personal reading. When I get home at night, I write). I love the convenience of e-books. I can carry up to 10 books around with me on this little computer, and read a few pages while waiting in the doctor's office, or whatever. Plus, the computer remembers exactly where I left off, I can make the type as large or small as I want, and I can set the screen to scroll so I never have to turn a page. But that's just the technical side of why e-books are so neat. From a writer's viewpoint, e-books are wonderful because e-publishing is where true creativity can flourish. Print books are too locked in to their costs -- it's expensive to chop down all those trees -- and as a result, you must write to a certain proven formula. With e-books, you can still write from your heart. If you are looking from something different, try e-books! Do you have a favourite place to write? Actually, my favorite place to write is in my head. I've got a ton of wonderful stories stored up there. I have a long drive to work everyday and I wile away the miles playing out my latest scenes and imagining what my characters are saying to each other. By the time I get home at night, it's just a matter of writing it down. Do you enjoy book signings/conventions? I had my first book signing about two weeks ago as part of an author's panel. It was great fun talking about writing and answering reader's questions. When I write, I always picture someone in my head, enjoying the story. But at the signing, I actually got to meet some of them! I'm looking forward to doing it again. Why do you like Fantasy? One of my favorite slogans is: Just visiting planet Earth. I remember as a child staring up at the stars and wishing I could travel there. Unfortunately, NASA has been hard hit by cost-cutting, but there is still a way to travel "out there" and that is via the imagination. I love books that take me to new and wonderful worlds, and now I have the privilege of writing some of them myself and providing that same fabulous escape for my readers. Short story, single novel or novel series - which do you think is the best medium for Fantasy? Any one of these can be a jewel if it is well written. But personally, I like stories that contain memorable characters, exciting action and rich detail. It's hard to do all three in a short story. Even a book isn't always enough room to fully explore the world you have created. I was never a big fan of fantasy series -- for one thing, it seemed the library or book store always had Book Two but never Book One! But after I wrote my first fantasy novel, Dayspring Dawning, readers demanded a sequel. And suddenly, the story took form in my head and I discovered I had much more to say about my main character, Elinna Serru, and her adventures. But keeping in mind my former prejudices, I tried to write each book so you can read it alone. And now I find I am working on a prequel to both books! Do you use myths and ancient religions for inspiration? Myths and religions deal with the central issues of life and death -- so I don't see how any writer can avoid them. The myths that I love are the ones that touch upon my favorite themes, especially stories about someone who is on a quest. And my latest work is a novella that is based on a story of courage in the face of prejudice taken from the Old Testament. What book are you reading at the moment? I am reading Octavia E. Butler's Parable of The Talents, an exploration of religious issues in a near-future United States. Chaos has forced society backwards and traditional religion is attempting to rule with an iron hand. Meanwhile, one courageous woman tries to create a faith that will lead the world to its true destiny. Parable of the Talents deals with one of my favorite themes -- what exactly is faith and how do you determine what you believe in. Do you enjoy collaborating? I co-wrote one of my books -- The Sex Gates -- with SF writer Darrell Bain. Sharing the writing was an interesting experience -- it is really important that both writers share the same vision of the work. The Sex Gates is about four young people who are confronted by the changes that occur when thousands of gates of unknown origin suddenly and mysteriously appear on Earth. As the book opens, the main characters are walking down the street when one of these gates appears in front of them and Don -- in a rash act of curiosity -- walks through it and emerges on the other side as Donna. In writing this stories of sex change and how it affects the people involved, Darrell came up with the plot ideas and I concentrated on exploring the emotional reactions of our characters. I think the result is a book that is exciting reading on all levels. How does your approach to the editing role differ from that of writing? They really are two different hats. When you are writing, you sometimes have to tell that "inner editor" to shut up for a while so you can get the story out. Too much critical thought can stop the flow of ideas. I like to write a first draft, let it sit for a few weeks, and then come back to it as the "editor" with fresh eyes. But I have to say, I love the editing part most of all. Getting that first draft out is always a struggle, but I can rewrite and rewrite and rewrite some more and enjoy every minute of it. I never seem to get tired of taking my scenes and making them better. Polishing every word gives me great pleasure. In fact, the hard part is to finally stop rewriting and declare the book finished. Do You Always know a Story's Ending When You Begin Writing? With my first novel, I had no idea how the story would end. Writers have a phrase for this, they call it "writing into the mist." In some ways, it's exciting and in other ways, it provokes a lot of anxiety. I mean, here you have a book three-quarters done and you are still wondering how it will end!! Fortunately, the old subconscious mind seems to have a plan. My second book -- Dayspring Destiny -- was entirely different. It's a sequel to the first one, Dayspring Dawning, and the story line was very well established when I started it. So I sat down and did an outline for the first time, then followed it. There was no flying into the mist the second time around. In some ways that was great -- I wrote the book in record time and with a minimum of rewriting. And in some ways, I missed that sense of "what's going to happen next?" But I strongly suspect when I start a new book set a new fantasy world, I will once more be flying into the mist. That seems to be the way my mind works. Who or what has been a major influence on your writing and why? I started devouring books at an early age and grew up reading all the SF and fantasy greats -- Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton. I feel like some of their characters were my friends through childhood. A little later I discovered Mary Stewart and her Merlin books -- and fell in love with the world of magic and enchantment. I loved to sit down, open a book, and find myself in other world with people I really cared about, and today I try to create that same experience for my readers. What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work? One reviewer compared The Sex Gates to the best work of Robert Heinlein. That was quite a thrill! Plug away - what do you have coming out? My SF novel, The Sex Gates, is currently available as an e-book at Double Dragon eBooks (link below) and as a paperback at Amazon.com. My fantasy novel, Dayspring Dawning, will be coming out July 17, 2002, from Novel Books Inc (link below). The sequel, Dayspring Destiny, is scheduled for release in December of 2002. You can keep up-to-date on all my writing adventures by visiting my Web site (link below). Many Thanks, Jeanine! Relevant Links Jeanine Berry Main Bibliography Jeanine Berry's Website Double Dragon eBooks NovelBooks, Inc