Author Interview with Jena' Galifany

Please join me in getting to know Jena' Galifany, the author of an exciting new series about the British rock band ShadowsForge!

Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?

I'm a 47 year-old writer of sweet and dark romance. I'd like to branch out into other genres. I work a night job and sleep during the day. I am married to a wonder man and we have an ADHD daughter who is 14. I have two older children, 22 and 21, and the 21 year old is mother to my 2 year-old granddaughter. I live in Los Angeles County , in California , where we moved when I was nine. Before that we moved about every three months so I am not planning to ever move again!

What made you decide to become a writer?

I have enjoyed crafting stories since I was in junior high school. I wrote a mystery in eighth grade that the English teacher thought was wonderful. She encouraged me so I took creative writing. I only dabbled with writing for years after that, until my first marriage ended. I took a "writing for children" class, but still did not pursue publication. I didn't believe I was good enough. In July 2002, I fell in my garden and tore up everything in my left arm. I was unable to work for almost a month, so I used the time to write ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero . A couple of people at work read it and encouraged me to seek publication.

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

For me, it is a writing night. I get my husband and daughter to bed, make a cup of hot tea, and settle into my desk chair. I have my crunchy Cheetos and I'm good to go. I spend from about midnight to six-thirty a.m. typing out all of the scenes I have written in my head at work during the week. My work is kind of mindless, so I use the time to write in my head and make a few notes in a notebook lying open on my desk. Once I get to my computer at home, I can usually pound out several pages a night, a chapter in a weekend. I don't get much time to write during the week.

What gave you the idea to write a series about a British Rock Band and how did you come up with the name ShadowsForge?

I love the 80s bands, especially the British boys. I still listen to their music. So does my son. I only started out to write one book about the bass player. I love bass players. Once I finished SF1: Three Times a Hero, the people who read it at work wanted to know what happened next. So, the series was born. I wrote ShadowsForge 3: Retaking America but needed a bridge and introduction to the characters, so I had to write ShadowsForge 2: Trials on Tour to fill in the blanks. I write backwards all the time.

The name ShadowsForge was difficult to come up with. It started out Ravenwood but that name was used too many times on the Internet. I ran several names like that through Google looking for a name that was not used.

If you want lead singer Geoff Richards' explanation of the name, here's an excerpt from SF2: Trials on Tour. He is being interviewed:

"We wanted something that would represent our coming from nothing and becoming something. A Shadow, a ghost, shade, they don't exist on this plane. They are ethereal, delicate, untouchable, non-existent. A forge is where metal is heated up in a blacksmith shop for forming. Solid, hard, metal. It kind of describes where we came from and where we are going. From nothing to an impenetrable force. ShadowsForge!"

At the time I came up with ShadowsForge, no one else had it. Now I believe there is a ranch with that name. I have the capital in the middle of the word as an irritant to my older sister who should have been an English teacher. It's a joke between us. It makes her cringe.

With the maturity and wisdom given to his character, Ty is surprisingly young, at only 24. He's tired of the rock'n'rock lifestyle and has already been married and divorced. Was there a specific reason you made him so wise and worn at such a young age?

Ty is tired of the lifestyle but he loves to perform. In the music industry, there are a lot of entertainers who are worn out by that age when they begin young. I noticed the difficulty that many of them have keeping a relationship going. Ty was young and naive when he married Elsbeth. She took advantage of him. He would have grown up fast after that. ShadowsForge started when Ty was 17. He's been at it for six years now and that can be a long time with a lot of hard living, considering his lifestyle and the image that management has designed for the band. This is explained more in ShadowsForge 2: Trials on Tour that will be released from Whiskey Creek Press on November 1 st .

What do you have planned for the rest of the band?

Wow, not easy to answer without giving too much away. SF2: Trials on Tour, someone is out to exterminate the band over a woman while Geoff Richards tries to cope with a woman who doesn't fall all over him the way he's used to. SF3: Retaking America finds the band re-arranging women to find the best fit. With four women and five men, it adds up to trouble. SF4: The Long Way Home covers Brian Cummings, percussionist, and his woman troubles past and present. SF5: Jon's Way will have some interesting situations for second guitarist Jon Wiles. SF6: Sharon 's Song finds Jordan Cantrell, lead guitarist, dealing with wife problems. All of this takes place amid the Ethereal Edge tour through Great Britain and North America .

Is there a character from one of your books that resonates deeply with you?

I think on each book I work on, there is always one. Right now, it is Brian Cummings. I am very empathic with my characters and I feel the things they feel. My imagination is such that I can put myself in their situation and really feel what they do. I've scared myself at times!

Would you like to talk about anything else that you're currently working on?

Currently I have about six storylines that I am making notes for. I want to concentrate on the ShadowsForge series and finish SF4. Then I'll to take a break from the band and work on one of the others. Most of my works seem to include someone who is in the entertainment field. My father worked for MGM and Paramount, so I have become oriented to that field. The field presents so many situations to choose from, I will never run out of material for books.

Is there something special you do to celebrate a book release?

I've only had the joy of one release so far. I was applauded by my friends and co-workers at work that night. When I see how well the book is selling, then hopefully I'll truly celebrate.

Is there anything else that you'd like to tell our readers or advice you'd like to give to aspiring authors?

For the aspiring author, do it NOW. Don't wait until you are almost 50 to start. If you are already there, do it anyway. You're never too old. Keep writing and keep learning about the craft. You never know it all.

I appreciate every reviewer and every reader. Without these two groups, writers would have no reason to be.

Thank you for such thought provoking questions. I truly enjoyed it.

Thank you Jena' for spending some time with us at Euro-Reviews.

Visit Jena's blog

Visit Jena's MySpace

Check out Jena's book ShadowForge 1

- interviewed by Kerin