Teaching, Kitchen Table, Late November, Shay, Michal, and England in May: Author Janice Broyles
Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet author and educator, Janice Broyles, aka Shay Lee Giertz.
So many moves. Did the moves get easier?
All the moves were desired, which made them more of a positive experience. Moving up to Gaylord was the start of my teaching career, and it was there, I met my best writing bud, Rachel Anderson!
Moving to Cadillac was exciting because I was stepping into a full-time college instructor role and into my doctorate program at CMU.
Moving to North Carolina was probably the most stressful out of all of them as I’ve always been a Michigan girl, but there was still excitement at the prospect of leaving behind the snow. 😊
You’ve earned so many degrees, I’d love to see all the letters that follow your name. What would that look like?
Haha,
oh my, I’m not sure if I could show it all accurately! Does this look right:
Janice Broyles, Ed.D.,
MAE, MAEL, BAE
That
said, just call me Janice.
You must have been very organized and dedicated to keep
achieving more. What did you learn about yourself over the course of your
educational career?
I found
I have multiple layers to my life and career, and each of them are quite
valuable to me. I’m a life-long learner, but I’m also a mentor, coach, and
instructor in a lot of areas, so earning degrees helped me fine-tune this part
of who I am. Helping students write well is a highlight of my career, just as
much as becoming a published author.
- Teaching
is what I do. I’m a veteran educator. Fourteen years teaching K12 high
school (with some middle school thrown in…), and several years teaching at
the college level. Currently, I am English & Communications faculty at
Davidson-Davie Community College.
That’s a lot of teaching experiences. What are your favorite
memories being a teacher?
Teaching
is a joy. Inspiring others to write more, teaching them the proper technique to
writing well, and discussing classics and all sorts of books and stories that
somehow all connect our common humanity, what’s not to love?
When students tell me that I’ve inspired them to write more, that’s a win for me. All of our voices need to be heard. Helping create that spark within a student is a highlight of my career.
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| Book festival |
Your first published book appeared on July 25, 2016. This year will be your author tenth anniversary. And you’ve been prolific since
then, with more non-fiction, a series or so, more than a half dozen titles.
We met a couple of decades ago. I remember being in a
kitchen with you across the table, and I think we were talking about writing,
specifically how hard it is. You hadn’t yet published.
You obviously found a way to publish novels, and you could
give a class on it. But, what’s the secret to your publishing success?
It’s
not really a secret, but it’s my mantra when it comes to my own creativity:
Never stop writing.
When I finished one novel and was seeking an agent, I was already working on another one. When I landed an agent, and she was sending my book out to publishers, I was writing another. None of it was easy, and none of it happened the way I desired. I didn’t get the major book deal.
Instead I found small publishers who liked my work and wanted to give me a shot. When my agent left the business, and then my second agent switched companies and ended our contract, I kept writing while pushing the couple books I had out.
I
had already written the books, so with my husband’s support (and Rachel’s…my
writing bestie), I started my own publishing company: Late November Literary. The
goal was to learn everything about the publishing business and do my best as an
Indie author to get my books out to any and all potential readers.
That was six years ago. Since that day, 23 of my books have been published (some continue to traditionally be published, others are published through my own company), and I have successfully added several authors and their books to my publisher list.
I have five more books set to be released through Late November
(other authors and my own) by May 2026, so I’m excited about them!
- My
first novel to be released is actually the first book to the David series:
The Secret Heir. It is a retelling of the story of David and Michal. It
was released July 2018, by Heritage Beacon press (an imprint of Lighthouse
of the Carolinas). The two other books in the series are The Runaway Heir
and The Anointed Heir. They are available now for purchase.
Biblical David, I presume? Did you conceive of the story as a three-book series from the start?
Yes, it was always a story arc that moved through three different books. The story evolved into becoming Michal’s story just as much as David’s. Told in alternating points of view between David and the princess, The Secret Heir begins with David as a young man, newly appointed to King Saul’s court as a lyre player.
It progresses covering major events most of us know and love, but it’s
the story behind it all that I really wanted to delve into. How does a princess
go from being madly in love with the lyre-player turned warrior only to despise
him ten years later?
Now THAT’S a story I want to read, so that’s the one I wrote. It’s still selling copies today! Then again, it’s a timeless story, so that probably has a lot to do with it.
You’re a proudly Christian writer. Are there any
Jesus-upending-the-money-lenders’-tables conflicts between being godly, and
being a working writer?
One
of the agents I worked with would tell me repeatedly that she loved my writing
style but that my writing was too clean for a YA author. I never knew how to
take that (um, thank you?). I really don’t think she meant it rudely, so I
didn’t take it that way. That’s one thing I love about books: each book holds a
little bit of the writer’s heart. How beautiful is that?
That said, my faith is who I am, so I truly believe it comes out in my writings, although I do have fiction that is not expressly Christian or faith-based.
I
have a pen name (Shay Lee Giertz) that was specifically for edgy, suspenseful
YA books. Basically, I write all over the place. I’ve been told I’d be more
successful if I focused on one genre. Yeah, my brain doesn’t let me do that.
All-in-all,
I want to write books young people will stay up all night to read. I want my
books to uplift and remind readers that they are valuable just as they are. I
don’t necessarily shy away from having parts of stories reference God or a
deity because it’s one way to look at and embrace the world.
- My
first teen novel was signed on with Illuminate YA, The Road Back Home from
Here. Since then, I have released other teen novels that feature male
protagonists (because we need more boy books, right?): Tubbs and the 200
Dares and Marco’s Next Move.
You’ve written non-fiction inspirational, a series based on biblical David, and several stand-alone YA books. In what order were these titles written and published? Are you involved in any publishing aspects?
I
love books. Lots and lots of books. I read most everything, so it makes sense
that I write books that match that variety! However, it hasn’t been the best
marketing move to publish so many different genres and titles.
My very first novel that I wrote was not the first one published. My first written novel is what is now Marco's Next Move. My first published novel was The Secret Heir, which is honestly about the fifth novel I wrote.
I’ve been blessed to be published by Heritage Beacon Press for my historical fiction and Illuminate YA for some of my teen fiction. However, several of my titles I’ve indie-published through Late November.
I’m involved in indie-publishing from start to finish with my books, but Late November hires a small team that edits the books and designs the covers and interiors.
I find that investing in professionals helps my books—and the books
of the authors I’ve worked with—really shine and do better in an overly
saturated market.
You were the first in your generation to graduate, from
University of Michigan, no less. You got your Masters there too. What’s to love
about U of M?
Neither
of my parents finished college, but my dad loved Michigan football. I thought
if I could get into Michigan I could get my dad tickets to the games. That’s
the honest-to-goodness reason. I actually went to Oakland Community College in
Royal Oak and transferred to U of M. Once there, I fell in love with all of it.
Ann Arbor is incredible. Even when I had to start commuting, I still wanted to
be on campus as much as I could.
Sunday School Superintendent. Any tales you want to tell out
of school?
When
you ask little children if they have prayer requests, prepare yourself for
brutal honesty. One little girl asked us to pray that God would take away her
newborn little brother. She had decided she didn’t like him and wanted her
parents all to herself. Another time, a child patted my belly and asked if a
baby was in there. There wasn’t. 😊
Kids
are awesome. They are brutally honest, but they’re awesome.
A Michigander most of your life, you moved to North
Carolina. How did that come to be?
Born
and bred Michigan gal, but the Northern Michigan winters are brutal. We were
starting to travel down south a couple times each winter, so we started
discussing making a move. John, my husband, is from North Carolina. One of our
visits to his dad only solidified our resolve.
Since
moving, I’ve acclimated more and more to the beautiful state of North Carolina.
There’s a lot to love. It’s not Michigan, and Michigan will always have my
heart, but I find I’m getting along just fine down south!
This was an enthusiastic reviewer of The Secret Heir. That’s quite a tightrope act, tiptoeing through physical human attraction and interaction, with God watching. How do you mix lust with good morals?
Very,
very carefully. 😉
Building
romantic tension between characters is hard to do, but I find it truly
enjoyable to write. I have a closed-door policy for all of my romantic scenes
in terms of explicitness, but there are aspects to falling in love that must be
on the page because it just makes for good storytelling.
Another reviewer raved about your characters: I absolutely loved Michal’s sassy, spit-and-vinegar personality as well as David’s fierce-yet-sensitive warrior persona.
Did you have as much fun writing Michal as the reviewer had
reading her?
Princess
Michal is by far my most favorite character to write. She’s considered a “bad
girl” in church traditions, but why? I’ve never liked that. So, studying her
and learning about her was like becoming friends with her. I needed to tell her
side of the story.
You wrote an educational piece for The Mitten. Would that
lesson be part of your coaching? What kinds of topics do you cover in your
presentations?
I’m part teacher, part coach, and all writer. That’s my formula in everything I do. Part of being a successful writer/author is sharing with others what worked and what didn’t work, along with all the other bits of information in-between.
I’ve written educational articles in several online and print magazines, most of which focused on how to incorporate writing in one’s life, how to fine-tune writing to get closer to publication, and how to navigate being a writer with being a book marketer and developing a platform.
That said, I don’t feel like
an expert. There is still so much to learn, and I’m sort of winging it and
hoping for the best.
What’s next for Janice Broyles?
Lake of Mysteries, the sequel to Lake of Secrets, comes out in early 2026, under my
pen name: Shay Lee Giertz. The third book to the Broken series is set to be
released by May of 2026.
In
my personal life, my youngest son, Benjamin, is graduating high school this
year, so I’m excited for our family bucket list trip to England in May!
Please share any social media platforms:
@janicebroyles_author(Instagram)
https://facebook.com/janice.broyles
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