Interview With Author Janine Valentine
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an author, poet and entrepreneur (real estate transaction management). I have written one book, which released in Sept 2022. I live in Colorado with my two Havanese dogs and I love to travel. I am passionate about sharing our personal journeys with one another – not just the parts that are fit for public consumption, but the messy underbelly, in progress and failures too. When we can be vulnerable with ourselves and each other, we light a path inviting others to take chances, engage more deeply in our own lives and stop letting fear keep us small.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Both Things Are True: A Journey from Fearing Trust to Trusting Fear
The vacation of a lifetime ended abruptly with a positive test for COVID-19. Janine was whisked off her luxury dive boat in the Maldives, ordered into isolation, and left to fend for herself on a conservative Islamic island on the other side of the world, terrified and alone.
Though well into the pandemic, the Maldivian government had no clear plan to provide shelter, food, or medicine for tourists required to quarantine. Fighting for her own survival with a language barrier, only $38 cash, worsening symptoms, and a quickly diminishing sense of safety, Janine came face-to-face with her greatest fear: abandonment. She soon realized her many coping mechanisms, and the limiting beliefs behind them, were no longer sustainable.
Intimate conversations with the Sea while reflecting on the burka-draped women who swam in it led Janine to find her True Self and her Higher Power on that island, where she ultimately realized it’s impossible to ever really be alone.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write by hand before moving it onto my laptop for revisions.
And, when I write, it feels like I am almost channeling the words… they come when they come and I have to be ready. I keep notebooks and paper pads in every room of my home when I’m actively writing. I’ve learned the hard way that the perfect sentence that I thought of while doing something else will not, in fact, be something I can remember in a few minutes when I’m finished.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a huge fan of Celeste Ng’s work lately. She writes so metaphorically, which resonates with me.
After publishing my book, I found Mosaic Heart by Donna Mazzitelli, which parallels the messages of my book so profoundly that I used about 30 sticky notes to note them and look forward to sitting down with the author soon to connect.
I also love the writings of Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle, Suleika Jaouad, Susan Cain, Brene Brown, and Luvvie Ajayi Jones.
What are you working on now?
Poetry mostly… an interesting piece paralleling two words I love: apricity and aperture. It may be for two voices… we shall see what rises!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a monthly newsletter that has become quite popular, and I promote that on my social media sites. You can sign up at www.janinevalentine.com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be true to your own voice. Definitely seek out other authors for community wisdom, but don’t devalue your own instincts.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ever? The best advise I have ever received was regarding visioning my perfect day/perfect life. Rather than trying to imagine everything it would hold and what it would look like, someone suggested I focus instead on what it would FEEL like. Once I was clear on that, I could start practicing adding little things day by day that felt that way. This way I am already living my ideal life, instead of pushing through trying to “get to” that life someday. This has been a game changer for me.
What are you reading now?
Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return, by Rebecca Mead
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure yet… I am trusting that my book will do whatever it came here to do, and my role is to cooperate with whatever arises next. So I stay open and grounded, curious and listening, and above all, heart-centered as I make decisions.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I actually never re-read a book because there are so many new books to be read and I have a finite amount of reading I can get done in this lifetime. So, if I knew I were going to be stranded on an island and could pre-plan to bring some books, ugh… that would be hard. Of all the books I currently know I want to read, I would choose Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Essential Rumi, expanded edition, and The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Knowing that as early as tomorrow, there could be new books that may change that list…
Author Websites and Profiles
Janine Valentine Amazon Profile
Janine Valentine’s Social Media Links