We have a children's book author in the hot seat today. Jeanetta Brancaccio talks about her book Ann's Amazing Adventure.
Bio:
Jeanetta has
always had an entrepreneurial spirit. While keeping busy with her large family,
she started a business renting out VW Campers in the 60s and opened a health
food store in the 70s, which is still in the family. She has a love for
writing, mostly in the forms of poems, positive affirmations, and letters. She
also collects Pinocchio memorabilia, simply because it’s a story about
unconditional love.
Jeanetta
resides in Stuart, Florida, with Donald, her husband of 55 years, is a mother
of six and grandmother of 13. While it is not easy to accomplish, she adores
having every single family member together under one roof. However, she admits
now, as she approaches her 8th decade, that it's better when it's someone
else's roof!
Welcome, Jeanetta. Please tell us
about your current release and the
inspiration behind it.
Ann’s Amazing Adventure is a story based on a true incident
that happened in 1959 when our 4-year-old daughter, Nancy, lost her doll on a
road trip. The inspiration for the story came over 20 years later when we
“found” the doll at an antique show. There was no intent to write a book for
publication. Nancy had a daughter of her own by that time, so we purchased the
doll. Pretty soon a story began to swirl around in my head. Wouldn’t it be fun
to write about what happened to Ann while she was missing? Where had she been
all these years? Was she happy? Safe? I thought of the story as a playful, fun
exercise which I would give to Nancy’s daughter, Nicole, along with the doll.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
Throughout my
life, there was never a time that I wasn’t writing something although never
considering myself a writer. There was always time in the midst of raising a
family and running a business to jot down notes. Sometimes a sentence,
sometimes a paragraph, some pieces ramble on as exercises after reading a
self-help book or attending a class on personal growth or positive thinking. These
writings include family stories which are where my passion is and is what I’m
inspired to write about the most. As I approach my eighth decade, I am
remembering what I saw or heard as a child as though it was yesterday.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?
No, I don’t
write full time, but every 2 or 3 months I mail a Heritage packet off to my 6 children
and 12 nieces/nephews so that family history & stories are passed down to
the next generation.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
It’s a rule
that I made up for myself that is not a rule that writer’s learn about when
they take writing courses and it’s going to sound silly, but it works for me. I
couldn’t get started. Every time I sat down to write, that’s all I did, SIT! There
were boxes and piles of files of rough draft papers & notes and the
impossible task of organizing many year’s -worth of material.
How to make
it simple and easy? I said to myself; “Jeanetta, you don’t have to write a
book. No, no, no, just one PAGE will do.” Click…there was the answer. My RULE: I
can only allow myself to write about one subject on one page. (usually double
spaced) These one-page stories have become a series which I find easy to keep
adding to.
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up and when did you first consider yourself a writer?
As a child I
always wanted to be a wife and mother. I never dreamed that I would become a
business woman or a writer. The first time I felt that I was an author was on
Oct. 13, 2011. That was the day I went to the Governor’s Mansion in
Tallahassee, Florida at the invitation of First Lady, Ann Scott. She hosted her
first Author’s Tea which included me and two other authors. We read to children
from local schools and then joined Mrs. Scott for lunch. The following month,
she invited me to the Gator Run Elementary School in Weston, Florida where she
did a reading of my book; Ann’s Amazing
Adventure. THAT was the first time I felt like an author.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
To any
would-be writers, all I can tell you is: Remember, to get started, you only
need to write one page!
That's great advice, Jeanetta. Every story starts with the first word.
Readers, you can connect with Jeanetta through her website, or on Facebook.
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