Featured author: Janet Garber

Biography

PhD dropout, Janet Garber received an MA in English from the University of Rochester. She has had her articles and essays published in The Wall Street Journal’s Vertical Network, The New York Times, The New York Post, Working Mother Magazine, HR Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul and elsewhere. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in a score of literary journals such as Forge Literary Magazine, Tigershark and The RavensPerch as well as several anthologies. She’s published two books, I Need a Job, Now What? (Silver Lining Books) and Dream Job, Wacky Adventures of an HR Manager which was Runner-up in Shelf Unbound 2016 Best Indie Book and Finalist in 2017 New Generation Indie Book Awards. Her third book, another novel, will be released sometime this year. She and her husband, Shelly Hanner, have lived in Somers for the last 15 years and enjoy hiking in the Gunks, listening to live music, and having a second home in the Jacob Burns Film Center.

Interview

confetti: Who or what inspired you to write?
Janet Garber (JG): I always loved creating something out of nothing. Writing helps me digest, helps me make sense of the world and my experiences, and is the best therapy in the world. Writing is the best revenge!

confetti: How would you characterize your writing style? 
(JG): I’ve been told I have a NYC staccato voice, a certain rhythm, and humor or wittiness that runs through my work like chocolate through a marble cake.

confetti: What are you currently reading?
(JG): The Overstory, The Great Believers, The Weight of Ink

confetti: What are your three favorite books? 
(JG): Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Handmaid’s Tale

confetti: What are your three favorite movies?
(JG): The Gods Must Be Crazy, Earth Girls are Easy, Lobster – I love satire!

confetti: What is your favorite song of all time?
(JG): “Like a Rolling Stone” (Bob Dylan) or “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen)

confetti: What advice would you give to young writers?
(JG): Don’t give up your day job. Sadly, it’s rare that a writer can exist on earnings from writing. So pursue a career, store up memories, material, and notes from your experiences. They will come in handy when you’re older.  There is no way I could have recalled street scenes from Paris in such detail and lent them such authenticity decades after the fact in my latest book (not yet published), The French Lover’s Wife, without recourse to my journals from the 70’s.

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