Tell us a little about yourself and your author career path.
When not writing books, Joanne Macgregor is a Counselling Psychologist in private practice and deals mainly with victims of crime and trauma. She consults and writes on alternate days, and in completely different head-spaces and physical environments.
She started her professional life as a high school English Teacher but has also worked as an IT trainer, a theatre dogsbody, and a management consultant. Also as a waitress, an in-store frozen vegetable demonstrator, and make-up artist before moving to her found passion of the author career path.
Although she lives in the frenetic adrenaline-rush that is the city of Joburg, Joanne has always been in love with nature and escapes into the mountains and the bush whenever she can. She’s a pretty good cook, grows vegetables, and is addicted to chilies and bulletproof coffee.
Joanne is a bird of many feathers and enjoys writing for both teens and adults. She is the author of sixteen books across several genres and pen names. Writing fiction gives her a creative escape from heavy responsibilities and helps her write about mental illness and issues more realistically and deepens her character. She loves traveling, cooking, Harry Potter, and playing with her Beagle puppy!
Why do you write?
The stories in my head want out, LOL! I started writing for teens because the kinds of books I wanted my children to read didn’t seem available. Then all sorts of ideas, some of which were more suited to be written as novels for adults, started demanding attention.
What genre do you write, and why did you pick this genre?
I can’t pick a single genre; I blame it on being a Gemini!
Under the name Joanne Macgregor, I write Young Adult contemporary romances and dystopian fiction. I love writing YA (which is mainly read by adults) because the stories are fast-moving, edgy, full of raw emotion, and don’t have too much waffle.
As Jo Macgregor, I write for adults (psychological thrillers and crime mysteries). Crime, mysteries, and psychological thrillers are my favorite genres to read, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that I enjoy writing these, too. In the Garnet McGee series (The First Time I Died, The First Time I Fell, and The First Time I Hunted), I’m able to explore two sides of my personality — the uber rational, scientifically trained, skeptical part, and the slightly eccentric, open-minded and woo woo part. It’s huge fun! Being an author you can choose your career path.
Under the name J. Macgregor, I also have one non-fiction book — Self Help Stories — which is a collection of some of the best therapeutic stories I use in my practice. My clients tell me that the parts of therapy they remember best and touch them most profoundly are my stories (fables, metaphors, and real-life accounts), so I decided to save them and make them available to all.
Tell us about your books.
Generally speaking, I write the books I’d like to read — quality fiction that hooks your head, heart, and funny bone. I won’t recap all my books, but here’s a teaser about two of them.
In The Law of Tall Girls (my best-selling book so far), tall girl Peyton Lane accepts a bet to prove she can be as attractive and desirable as other girls. She needs to go on four dates (including the prom) with one of the guys on her very short list of very tall boys, only one of whom she likes. The only problem is that he’s already taken, plus he wants to find out the secret she tries so hard to hide from the world. Funny and romantic, The Law of Tall Girls is a feel-good, heart-warming read for anyone who’s ever felt too different to belong.
My Garnet McGee series (which starts with The First Time I Died) is about an all-but-dissertation postgraduate psychology student who returns to her small hometown in rural Vermont for the holidays. After a near-death experience, she begins having troubling symptoms — hearing voices and having visions. Unsure whether she’s becoming psychic or losing her mind, she sets out to solve the mystery of the murder that shattered her life ten years ago with a bit of help from the victim! It’s a dangerous investigation because, in a town full of secrets, everybody has a motive for murder.
How much time do you dedicate to your author career?
I spend about two-thirds of my working life in my day job and about a third writing. I find that after doing therapy, I’m physically and emotionally tapped out and not capable of being creative enough to write. So I set aside two to three mornings a week for writing first. Of course, the marketing, promotion, and business side of writing and publishing takes up as much time as I’ll allow it.
How long, on average, does it take you to write your books?
I’ve been a bit quicker on some and longer on others, but on average, I’d say it probably takes me around a year from first plotting to hitting the publish button on the fully revised, polished, edited, and proofed version.
What is the best money you have ever spent on your author career?
I think the money I’ve spent on professional editing and proofreading services, as well as my covers. Neither has come cheaply, but I write (or like to think I do!) quality books. I’m proud of them, and I wouldn’t be if they were shoddy, filled with errors, and had amateur-looking covers.
What is the tough part of being an author?
Writing the wretched books! Honestly, it’s hard work, especially the first drafts. The second most challenging part is trying to stand out against the sea of titles out there so that readers can find my stories.
What is the best piece of advice you have for other authors?
Do what works for you along with your author career path. There’s so much advice on plotting, writing, and revising, but no one way works for everybody or every book. I approach each new project with whatever process works for that idea and genre and fits that time in my life. Combine different approaches, or create your own, but you do it. Be sure to finish writing your books.
What is your favorite book?
There are honestly too many to pick only one, but some novels which I have loved are East of Eden (by John Steinbeck); Flight Behavior (Barbara Kingsolver); Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (JK Rowling); The Good Soldier (Ford Maddox Ford); Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), and The Scorpio Races (Maggie Stiefvater).
Follow Joanne:
www.twitter.com/joannemacg
