Janine Cammarata is a writer who writes mostly medieval literature. She became a writer when she was in grad school when her teacher told her she should write novels. In school Janine had a high interest in Celtic folklore. She liked how it incorporated nature and how it included strong female characters. Janine includes her love of fantasy, mythology, and martial arts in her novels. In October of 2008 Janine’s son, Nick passed away from Leukemia. Janine is the president of Nick’s Fight to be Healed Foundation, Inc., which supports pediatric blood cancer patients. The money earned from her books go to the foundation. Today Janine lives in upstate New York. Janine is a unique author. She enjoys reading books that “move her” and make her use her imagination. Her favorite author is Marion Zimmer Bradley. Janine cares a lot about her family and believes strongly that you should always keep them close. After reading Warriors Within I learned that Janine puts a lot of emotion in her stories. Janine has been through a lot because her son passed away and she uses it in her stories. “Tipped off about a drug exchange, Senior Narcotics Officers Jack Sommers and Frank Goodale raced to a local dry cleaner in New York City.” The chapter explains that there are two officers that have been partners for years and how they go on a drug raid and one is shot. “Frank Goodale woke up and saw his partner of 30 years lying in a congealing pool of blood.” When one of the officers, Frank awakens he realizes that his partner had been shot and calls an ambulance. In the end, “Jack Sommers died that night.” The ending explains how Jack’s two daughters Shannon and Michaela deal with the death of their loving father. Janine uses emotion through out her novel. “Shannon and Michaela just sat on either side of their father’s bed, not knowing what to do. Shannon cried and held her father’s cold hand, while Michaela watched her, not wanting to see their father’s face.” I feel as if in some of the things Janine wrote it is really herself at the hospital and Jack is her son. There’s no question this woman adds emotion and drama to the story. The story is breathtaking and brings goose bumps to my arms as I feel like I’m standing right there watching this all happen in front of me.
My questions and comments for Janine are:
Is it easy to pull the emotions out and write it into a story?
Where did you get the idea for Warriors Within?
How do you come up with the titles for your books?
How do you come up with the characters names for your novels?
Comments: I love the way you add emotion to your stories and make the reader paint a picture of what’s going on in their head along with the detailed descriptions of the characters. I can really invision them.