Uncharted: The Start Of The New Beginning

Janet Howle experienced hardship as a young child but continued living the life she wants. She started writing academic paper, but after all of her hard work, she finally published a book entitled Uncharted, a combination of fiction and non-fiction novel.

LONDON - 27 March 2023

I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Michigan in the U.S. My parents weren’t alcoholics, abusive or divorced. I had one sister who I most often liked. The first disruption in this ordinary childhood was surviving polio when I was seven. I was the only one in my neighborhood of eight girls that was hospitalized with the then dreaded disease. As young as I was, I didn’t know the seriousness or the potential consequences. I honestly think this was harder on my parents and sister than it was on me. While I was recovering, I had physical therapy and an in home teacher and by the end of the year was level with my classmates.

My teen years weren’t particularly remarkable. I wasn’t rebellious, well, maybe a little. Fast forward to adulthood. I graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in physical therapy and I immediately specialized in pediatrics. A few years (and a marriage) later, I left Michigan for graduate school at the University of North Carolina and on completion, joined the faculty there. During these years, both as a clinician and an assistant professor, I wrote a lot of nonfiction, you know, case reports and academic papers, that sort of thing.

I married twice. The first one didn’t stick and should be classified as fiction; young, naïve physical therapist marries a soon-to-be doctor. However, the reality of being left without notice by a man I supported through medical school did give me experience in anger, depression, and loss of self-worth. Not my best years, but I learned a valuable lesson, there are things in life for which you will never have an answer and there is nothing to be gained by wallowing in the ‘why me’?

My second marriage made up for anything I lost in the first round. I married a loving, but restless man. There have been many adventures, and it has been a grand success. We are still married after 48 years. During these years, we raised six children, three came with the marriage, and a family of three we adopted. We moved several times, living in Paris for five years and spent as much time as possible on our sailboat in the Bahamas and Caribbean. We even boat-schooled our youngest two sons on our Camper and Nicholson 40.

Throughout this we were both working, having left the university system to start and run a business, manufacturing mobility products for children with neuromuscular impairments. I’m proud to say those products have improved the lives of many children and their families. The walker we invented, designed, and manufactured, continues to sell around the world.

We developed a second hobby—sailing being the first—vintage car rallies. As part of these rallies, we have traveled on back roads through Africa, South America, and seven times on various roads across North America, including Canada. One trip included the Dawson Highway, a stretch of dirt, mud, and gravel, to the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Someone had a sense of humor when they dubbed this a highway.

Then, there was the around-the-world rally, west from NY, ending in Paris. That adventure included China, Siberia, Russia, Mongolia, and seven countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Did I mention driving on back roads?  This circumnavigation became the basis for a novel Ed and I co-authored. The Long Road to Paris.

We hurriedly self-published that novel and in doing so learned two important lesions. Don’t rush the editing and rewrite process and be prepared to handle your own marketing.

Now to Uncharted. This story was brain-stormed by the two of us, and is published under my name. The setting, characters, and plot draw on our many years sailing the Bahamas mixed in with a shady period in the history of these islands when the Columbian drug cartel controlled Norman’s Cay. I published with a small press that seeks female authors who write both fiction and non-fiction books based on life on the water. It has been a perfect fit and I plan to publish again with Sistership Press. 

I am currently working on the sequel to Uncharted. This book is again set in the Bahamas and the backdrop is another contentious time in the history of those islands, when, during the 1940s, the Duke of Windsor served as Governor General amid accusations of Nazi connections.

What’s your favorite book on one else has heard of?

I am sure some people know this book, and more should.  My Left Foot by Christy Brown is a long-time favorite. Mr. Brown was one of 15 children raised in a Dublin slum. Not only that, he was born with a severe form of cerebral palsy and could not walk, talk, eat, or care for himself.  Born in 1932, he never went to school. The very fact he wrote two books, typing with his left foot, is nothing short of amazing and his ability to find humor while describing a tough and often lonely life is remarkable. My Left Foot was made into a movie.  I still own this books along with his novel, Down All the Days.

You’re organizing a party. Which two authors, dead or alive, do you invite?

Only two? I would invite Abraham Verghese and Amor Towles, both brilliant writers with extraordinary imaginations. I am constantly underlining sentences in their novels (and in the case of Verghese, his two memoirs) that I wish I could emulate.

If I could include one more, it would be Ernest Hemmingway. Not because I admire his writing so much, in truth, some of his novels, I find hard to read, but because he led such an adventurous, unconventional life, even for a writer, and certainly would add to the mix. Unfortunately, I would be so intimidated by these men, I would probably only be able to come up with something stupid like, “Well, what do you think of this weather we’re having?”

Which writers-working today, do you admire most?

Certainly both Verghese and Towles as stated above, but I would also include Barbara Kingsolver, Fredrik Backman, Anthony Doerr, and Delia Owens. Kingsolver’s most recent novel, Demon Copperhead is a brilliant modern day retelling of David Copperfield. I admire Backman for his smooth storytelling and charming, quirky, yet believable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed Owens’ novel, Where the Crawdad’s Sing but more so her honest and thoughtful memoirs describing her on-site animal research in the Kalahri Desert and the remote areas of Zambia. I have read three of Doerr’s novels, all very different, but I was blown away with Cloud Cuckoo Land. I could not imagine how he was going to pull together these three time lines and he nailed it. Brilliant. ( note to self:   find a synonym for brilliant.)

What do you read when you’re working on a book? What kind of reading do you avoid while writing?

At the stage that I am researching background for my novels, I read both fiction and non-fiction based on the factual parts of my novels. During the early stages of writing UNCHARTED, I read many books about the years the Colombian drug cartel operated in the Bahamas. When I include factual information, I want to get it right. I am currently reading books about the time the Duke of Windsor governed in the Bahamas in the 1940s as this plays a role in my WIP, the sequel to UNCHARTED.

I usually have a novel going as well. Some days I need a distraction from my writing. While I am not usually not a fan of science fiction or fantasy, I have thoroughly enjoyed Doerr’s novel. Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Weir’s, Project Hail Mary and TJ Klune, House in the Cerulean Sea. All with fascinating characters and elegant writing. I also read popular novels to see what people are reading and buying as I always wonder if I am writing what people are looking for.

In addition to reading to escape, I read to improve my writing by analyzing how authors advance their plots and describe characters that pull the reader in. I am also currently reading Dreyer’s English, which is the only grammar book that makes me laugh while improving my writing.

What kind of reader was I as a child?

A constant one. My mother was a teacher and later a librarian. She set the bar. She always  made sure both my sister and I had books. Our community library was on the corner of our street and we often walked there, usually after dinner, to check out as many books as we were allowed. My sister and I collected the popular series, Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, Judy Bolten among others. ( I did not read Anna of Green Gables or any in that series, not sure why) A trip to the local bookstore was often a reward. We were never without stacks of books on the tables in our house.

What genres do you especially enjoy reading?

I particularly like contemporary fiction that also introduce me to bits of history I know nothing about. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson comes to mind as does The Lost History of Stars by Dave Boling.

It’s easier to say what I don’t read. I don’t read horror, not when I’m writing and not when I’m not. Reality in the real world is enough.  (I live in the U.S. with almost daily shootings.) I am also not a fan of sci-fi or fantasy. I have read some, but not my go-to. I did thoroughly enjoy The Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett as well as those I mentioned in my answer to question 4. I will read most anything that is well-written. I am always curious about what pulls a reader in and makes a book a best-seller.   

When did you start writing?

I wrote my first piece of fiction the summer I was nine or maybe ten. It was a story about a young, bored girl who, despite an otherwise happy childhood, runs away to join a circus. It wasn’t a very long story since I couldn’t decide if my heroine was going to be a bareback rider or aerialist, but I did know she would wear one of those sparkly, sequined leotards and tights-pink, or maybe purple. I also had no idea how to develop a plot or describe characters.  

After a long pause for career and family, I didn’t write or publish a novel until I was 63. I coauthored a novel, The Long Road to Paris with my husband. It was, and still is a great plot with intriguing characters. It is based on our around the world car rally. It is, I will admit, not particularly well-written and has many grammatical and spelling errors do to the fact it was hurriedly self-edited. In fact, I’m kind of embarrassed but it’s out there and someday, I hope to revise it and publish it under a different title. I have learned a lot about writing since that time.

Which writer would you want to write your life story?

I am not ready to write my story. There are parts of my life that would be hurtful to family and friends close to me and I am not willing to expose those things for the sake of a juicy autobiography. If I had to choose a writer, it would be one who writes fiction that reads almost as non-fiction. Beatriz Williams or Erik Larson come to mind. I wouldn’t mind a bit of embellishment.

What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?

I have never read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte or Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin (or any of this series). Often Heathcliff and Catherine or Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are referenced in modern stories, so I am probably missing out on things, but I still can’t generate the interest to follow these stilted relationships. 

Are there any classic novels that you only recently read for the first time?

I’m not sure this qualifies, but it should. I recently read the epic Lonesome Dove by Larry Mc Murtry. This is not a genre that I usually read- historical American west- and I gravitate toward novels with strong female protagonists which this certainly isn’t. At 900 pages, it was a bit daunting but I decided to give it a go. It is a dramatic, authentic read and I didn’t want it to end. I will read another in this tetralogy.

How would you describe your writing?

I write first to entertain but everything I have written is based on my life experiences. Fortunately, I have had many and some unconventional ones. In addition, I want my novels to introduce readers to parts of history they may not know about. My novels are set in contemporary times and in places I know well. I do change things around to move the story forward, but the settings are authentic.  All my writing involves a strong female protagonist. If I had to apply a genre, it would be suspense with a romantic subplot. However, my novels would not be considered thrillers.

I admire writers such as JK Rowling who can create alternative universes but my mind doesn’t work that way.