Novelist Joyana Peters joins me today to chat about her new historical fiction, The Girl in the Triangle.
Bio:
Joyana Peters is the Indie author of the best-selling novel, The Girl in the Triangle. The Girl in the Triangle won the YA Spark Award from SCBWI, the Ben Franklin Award for Historical Fiction from IBPA, the Book Excellence Award for Multicultural Fiction and was a Top Five Finalist for Shelf Unbound’s Indie Best Book of the Year.
Joyana got her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans in 2014. She has taught literature and composition on both the secondary and university levels. She also writes non-fiction and has been published in digital and print publications nationwide.
Joyana currently lives in Northern Virginia where she takes in the sights of DC with her two kids, husband, and goofy Yellow Lab, Gatsby.
Welcome, Joyana. Please tell us about your current release.
The Girl in the Triangle takes place in NYC during the early 1900s. It covers the Garment Workers’ Uprising of 1909 and the events leading up to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911. It examines what it means to be an American and different meanings of the word strength.
What inspired you to write this book?
I grew up in NY and learned about the fire in school. I was there during 9/11 when they published side by side photographs in the newspapers of people jumping from the Trade Center next to people jumping from the factory. Up to 9/11, the Triangle Factory had been the worst workplace disaster in NY. Those pictures haunted me.
Then in 2011 it was the Centennial memorial of the fire. I was in a Creative Writing MFA program and looking for a topic for my thesis. Those women’s voices were still haunting me. I needed to tell their stories.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m currently working on the sequel to The Girl in the Triangle. It will be the third and final installment of the trilogy.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I can’t even remember. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Ask the kids in my elementary school who were characters in my first cheesy murder mystery stories. It’s always been a part of who I am.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do currently write full-time. I get up at 5 every day to get some creative writing time in before the kids get up. Then after I drop the kids off I use the time they’re in school to handle both writing and the business side of things.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I love historical fiction because it offers us an opportunity to learn from the past while still being entertained with the power of story. It’s pure magic.
Links:
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