Author Interview of JoAnne Keltner, Author of Goth Girl Virgin Queen

Interview with JoAnne Keltner, Author of Goth Girl Virgin Queen

1.) What is Goth Girl Virgin Queen about?

Goth Girl Virgin Queen is about seventeen-year-old Jackie Turov, who denies her psychic abilities because of her Russian Orthodox upbringing and the lie she told after having her first psychic experience in church. Jackie carries a lot of guilt because of this lie and the events it caused, and she hides from the community in her goth attire. When her fickle friend Trish, jealous over Jackie’s relationship with their friend Jason, invites a demon with her Ouija board to help her win Jason’s love, the demon causes Jackie to be persecuted for this lie. To protect herself and Jason, Jackie is forced to learn to use her psychic ability. Of course, she has a lot of guilt to overcome before she can reach her full potential.

2.) What “possessed” you to write Goth Girl Virgin Queen?

It’s always dreams that possess me to write anything. With Goth Girl Virgin Queen it was the images from various different dreams that I wove into a story: a psychic operating out of her apartment on Main Street in a small town; an iconostasis in a church on fire; a woman picking up emotions through touch and healing the negative energies in a house; attending a carnival in a rural area and being followed by a fortune teller. Of course, these dreams didn’t transfer exactly as they were into Goth Girl Virgin Queen. It took a lot of work building the actual story, discovering a main character with a problem to solve, asking question upon question. This book was almost about a psychic, single mom living in a cabin in Wisconsin. Thank goodness I found writing YA more fun to write and chose seventeen-year-old Jackie to be the main character!

3.) What message do you wish readers will come away with after reading Goth Girl Virgin Queen?

I would like readers to take away from Goth Girl Virgin Queen the power of love and the importance of accepting yourself for who you are and accepting others for who they are.

4.) What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on my fourth revision of book 2 to Goth Girl Virgin Queen. This novel takes Jackie to Russia as she searches for answers to her great grandmother’s past and reveals her connection with the young seminarian, David. Over a year ago, I had been working on a fantasy novel about a newly orphaned twelve-year-old girl who uses her ability to astral project to “find her way” home. I had just finished a rough draft of this novel when I was suddenly inspired to write the second book of Goth Girl Virgin Queen. So, that one is sitting on the back burner waiting for my return.

5.) Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?

I try to stick to a schedule by beginning in the morning with a little journal writing and then following it with a few hours of work on my novel. This typically works out well for me Mondays through Thursdays. Fridays, however, I spend time grocery shopping and cleaning—lol!—and I’m typically too tired to write afterwards. But on Saturdays and Sundays in the afternoon, I can usually find time to return to the novel writing.

6.) How do we find out about you and your books?
You can learn more about me and my books at www.JoAnneKeltner.com.