Q&A: Jeannie Hart, Aspiring Author

by Phillip Derouchie

Local aspiring writer, Jeannie Hart

Welcome to the first installment of Q&A, Bakersfield Book Blog’s latest feature! Every now and then, BBB will ask local booksellers, librarians, and aspiring writers to share their thoughts concerning book culture in Bakersfield. Our very first guest is the talented Jeannie Hart, an aspiring local novelist.

by Phillip Derouchie, Editor, Bakersfield Book Blog

Jeannie Hart is as busy as she is talented. When the 27-year-old Bakersfield native isn’t working 40 hours a week as an AutoCAD drafter, she is attending the Random Writers Workshop (founded by local author Nick Belardes), reading, shopping for shoes, and—most importantly—writing novels. Bakersfield Book Blog recently caught up with Jeannie via e-mail (a testament to just how busy she really is) for an insightful and candid Q&A session.

BBB: I know you are an aspiring novelist, but you are no stranger publication. Can you tell us a little about your writing career?

JH: I started writing game reviews in college for Playstation magazine. From there I branched out and started writing with a company called Associated Content. It was so new it actually paid writers well.  I covered the local music scene but was best known for finding new artists via Myspace, before Myspace had a label. Moving back to Bakersfield, I continued with Associated Content but still combed craigslist ads. That’s where I found the Bakersfield Independent. While working the 9 to 5 job, I became their Lifestyle Guru, writing about the then blossoming Arts District. Now you can find me writing sporadically for Examiner.com as the Local Arts Examiner.


BBB: Who are your favorite writers? Which writers have had the most influence on your work?

JH: They change daily. One day I may try to cram Josh Bazell down your literary pie hole and the next second tell you that your life will change when Nick Hornby enters into it. However, authors who influence me are a completely different set. I try to take writers like Michael Crichton’s flair for detail and realism, mix in futuristic social commentary by way of Ray Bradbury, and throw in just enough grit, via D.R. Haney (author of the novel “Banned for Life”), to sauce it up a bit.


BBB: I know you spend a lot of your free time writing, but how much time do you spend reading each week? What book are you currently reading?

JH: I try to ingest as much literary goodness as I can. I go through spurts which usually coincide with how busy my real job becomes. On a good week I’ll read a couple of hours a day. Right now I’m reading “Bowie: A Biography” by Marc Spitz as well as a handful of “popcorn” fiction books. But that will probably change by the time this goes out.



BBB: You regularly attend the Random Writers Workshop. In what ways has the workshop helped you as a writer?

I found out my novel was not ready to be published. Even though it went through several revisions, the workshop helped to further sculpt my voice. Talking with the other writers, having that common bond and respect for the craft, made me look at my work with a fresh direction. The lectures and guest speakers offer up pearls. As we glimpse into a successful writer’s mind each week, we realize that we too can push our writing. The Random Writers Workshop has really helped me to not be so careful when writing but be scrutinizing when revising.


BBB: Over the past few years, the art scene here in Bakersfield has flourished. Do you feel the local book scene is keeping pace?

JH: I don’t. With the art scene we had Don (Martin, owner of Metro Galleries) who really fought to keep the scene from fizzling out. The Downtown Business Association worked so hard with the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Art Council of Kern, Bakersfield Art Association and many others to keep it going. However, there seems to be a line drawn within the literary community. And there’s a chasm between the literary community and Bakersfield. Those of us in who are working to cultivate and grow the scene understand that the want is there, only the support is sparse.



BBB: What has been the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received as a writer? The least valuable?

JH: The most valuable advice came from being a designer but echoes from several different writers, have thick skin. Let’s face it being a writer means rejection, criticism, and odd looks from family members. We, as writers, need to remember that it’s not a personal refusal. Or that they hate us. Just that the story was not their cup of tea. Move on. Get over it.

The least valuable advice, write for money or awards. Sure, you’d like recognition for your work, money is nice. But if this is why you are writing, your priorities are out of whack. If you hone your craft, create memorable images, and focus on the story the other will follow.



BBB: Finally, do you have any parting thoughts or advice for fellow aspiring writers?

JH: Do National Novel Writing Month at least twice in your lifetime. The first time you will fail but that’s okay. The point of NaNoWriMo is to allow you to suck in the interest of finishing a large body of work—50,000 words. It also teaches you to set a writing routine. Binge writing is fun but unproductive in the grand scheme of things.

Learn to love revising. That NaNoWriMo is your first draft, remember that. Find a process that works for you. I completely re-key my work through the first three drafts. But then again I find blank paper sexy and need to fill it with mental prowess.

For a sampling of Jeannie Hart’s writing, please visit her blog at http://atelierofawriter.blogspot.com/