Interview Jeannine D. Van Eperen

by

Marilynn Byerly

1) Jeannine, tell us a bit about yourself.

I currently live in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and most of my life has been spent in the Albuquerque area, but I have lived in many other places. I was born in Beloit, Wisconsin and lived in Chicago before moving to Albuquerque. As a member of the Newcomers Club in Appleton, Wisconsin, I won first place as the person who lived in the most places. Most of those place changes are because of job transfers, and for some years my husband and I worked as motel managers and were transferred a lot, California, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Wyoming and when I worked as an office manager for MONY I was sent to New York, Washington, Colorado, California, Virginia as well as Albuquerque. My husband's job in international marketing took us to many places in Europe, and for some time we had our own plane and traveled at times just for the fun of it. I attended the University of New Mexico, College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque and Western States University College of Law in Anaheim, California.

2) You've had a fascinating life with so much travel, ballet training, a family, and even a pilot's license. What drew you to writing fiction?

As a teenager I thought I'd try to do something better than my older sister, Shirley. I remembered the family being so proud of her writing and getting A's on her creative writing, so I decided to try. I don't think I ever did any better than she, but I'm published and she didn't pursue writing. She did write a song, however, and I'm using the lyrics at the beginning of my upcoming historical, Daughter of Spain.

3) Music, dance, and the creative life with its joys and sacrifices fill most of your books. What draws you so to that life, and do you regret leaving it?

I guess sometimes I do regret not continuing. I still love ballet and try to see a ballet every so often. I studied dance for many years, so I believe my ballet sequences and the people involved within my books are true portrayals. I did continue with little theatre work in Albuquerque for a while and sang with a band, but now spend my creative energy on writing. Though I'm not a good musician, I keep a Casio keyboard adjacent to my computer and play badly while things are printing out or downloading.

4) Your new book, Lila’s Protégé is a sequel to Children Of St. Yves, also published by Wings.  Tell us something of Children Of St Yves

This is the story of children raised in an orphan home in a tiny fishing village in St. Yves, France (a fictional village). When a small blind boy, Jeffrey, is brought to the orphan home, Jean-Marie Merchand, though eight years of age instinctively knows that she and the boy have loved in another life. A woman who teaches the village children ballet discovers Jean-Marie's dance ability, and arranges for Jean-Marie and Gabrielle, her daughter, to audition for the Paris Opera Ballet's dance school. Jean-Marie and Gabrielle leave St. Yves to attend ballet school in Paris. Jean-Marie uses her talent to succeed, while Gabrielle learns that her beauty and sex can also achieve the same goal. Jean-Marie's love for Jeffrey doesn't diminish, but can their love survive as they mature and Jean-Marie becomes famous?

5) Lila's Protégé is Jeffrey's story. Will we be seeing Jean-Marie in this story, or is that giving away too much of the story?

It won't be giving away too much to say that yes, Jean-Marie appears in Lila's Protégé, but I won't go beyond that now.

6) Lila sounds like what I call a whirlwind character--a character of such strong personality and energy that everyone around her is changed for better or worse. Do you see her as that kind of personality?

She is a strong character, but she does have her weaknesses--money and sex.

7) As I work with my novels, for my own amusement, I often choose a theme song of sorts for a character or for the novel. My Time After Time, for example, shares the name of the pop standard I chose for it.  Do you connect any songs or music with the novel, Jeffrey, or Lila?

I wore out two LPs of Vic Damone singing Shangri-La during the writing of this book. I now own several CDs that contain the song, so yes. Shangri-La and the song, Ridin' High, also is a background theme. In fact, Vic Damone's Shangri-La was so inspirational that though I don't know the man, I dedicated this book to him.

8) Will there be another book in the St. Yves series? Tell us about it.

Before The Star Fades is the last in this series and will be out in July. This book is set in northern California, primarily, and continues the life of Jeffrey. There is a reincarnation theme as there is in Children Of St. Yves. If after reading Lila's Protégé you think nothing more can happen to Jeffrey, think again.

I might mention that a few of the minor characters in Children Of St. Yves are also found in According To The Rules as major characters.

Thank you for chatting with me, and I wish you great luck with your career. Is there anything else you'd like to share with readers?

Just that I love to write and I hope readers enjoy my work. If readers would like to comment on them, I'd love to hear from you. E-mail me at jdvaneperen@southwestwriters.com and put the title in the subject line.