Learning About The Admiral’s Daughter From Beth Jannery

I’m delighted to welcome ‘new-to-me’ author Beth Jannery here today to tell us about her release, THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER, and her thoughts on writing.

THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER has been in the works for a decade, and is finally ready for readers to snatch up. It is a story about that moment of clarity we are all faced with at least once in our lives that impacts the path we choose.

Lacy Redmond is undercover working as Trinity, a spy. She has learned all her tricks from working in the field and attending the United States Naval Academy. Lacy’s training in the CIA has helped her work hard and play hard. Though, moments of Lacy’s past haunt her future. 

Lacy struggles with the honorable choice. Something life altering happens at the Naval Academy that changes Lacy’s life forever. Is it something that she will be able to overcome? Will she find meaning to life after the loss of her family and create a family and life of her own?

Here’s a brief synopsis:

        In that moment of clarity, if we are lucky, and we see it, we realize what we've wanted for so long is right there in front of us.
        She looked up to her father, the Admiral, and attended the United States Naval Academy, not to follow in his footsteps, but because she wanted to prove to herself that she could rise to the elite. Her father climbed the ranks of the hardworking enlisted to join the brass as Chief of Naval Operations. They never accepted him as one of their own. As Lacy moves on to the CIA, she becomes a top interrogator, and she soon finds herself with power and prestige, but just as he was slated to fill the CNO billet, Admiral Redmond is killed, and his legacy is now left in the hands of his daughter.
        Lacy Redmond. Be strong. Discover your true north.

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Beth, Welcome, Beth!

How did the story of THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER come to your mind?

Beth:
This novel started as a spy thriller set in Washington, DC when I was a young reporter back in my 20's. It was originally going to be called Capitol Kill. And the opening chapter was about an experience I encountered with a man who was thought to be a Russian spy at the time. But I never thought of myself as a fiction writer, so I set it aside for years and picked it up again after my own father died in 2012. I think the timing was right for me to write this story as there are very human experiences in the novel - not all good - back in my 20's I wrote more of a rose-colored glasses novel and now in my early 40's I write about the ups and downs of humanity and it is much more real and authentic than it would have been. 

Some of the life moments Lacy Redmond experiences are not so pretty but they are human and they create layers in her character. What I love most about Lacy is how she erects these fierce walls over time but then begins to shed her protective layers one brick at a time. 

What was the hardest part of the story to write for you?

Beth:
The hardest part of the story was to write the chapter about Lacy when she goes camping with her father. The Latrine guy is a Stephen King-inspired character who is sick and flawed. His book called On Writing taught me to write about what I was most afraid of. A monster like that, someone who preys on little girls, is a frightening concept to me. That was difficult to write about because I did not want to be judged by readers for conceptualizing such abuse and nastiness. But he is an essential story-line of Lacy's motivation for doing what she does. 

Ultimately it is not about this man at all, but about Lacy's desire to feel that safe harbor, that ultimate protection from her father that she once felt, that drives her. Sometimes as writers we have to be afraid too. And in doing so we let go of what anyone will think and we write the truth, which becomes powerful because we stop caring and become more real. 

The final chapter was also challenging to write because, like the reader, I truly did not know what Lacy would decide. Her path was unknown to me. It came out of me in real-time. Her reference to True feeling like home just flowed. The sign she sought, which was ultimately the model ship and its significance, was a surprise to me. It was nothing that I had planned. 

What is the best part of your book being published?

Beth:
The best part of being published is a hard question. Finishing a book or a piece of writing is like giving birth in a way. It is such a labor of love. It is tangible evidence of the hours, the days, the months and the years put into the effort. The checks from the publisher are always nice too. This summer my two daughters and I enjoyed a great trip to the beach that we would not normally have gotten to do as a result. It's an incredible feeling to earn money doing what I love. Pinch me! I feel like the options are endless now. I saw something I believed in completed and published and now I dream about having THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER adapted into a screenplay and made into a movie. It is what it is so I'm just enjoying the ride.

Other than that there isn't much to say other than I keep writing and move onto the next set of characters that rent space in my head. The best part is really giving life to voices in my head. They lived there for so long it's almost a sense of relief to have them gone. Although I hear them getting louder now and then so I'm wondering if there might be a sequel to come. We shall see. I know, that sounds crazy that I hear voices, but I believe any novelist would know what I'm talking about and will identify with that crazy statement.

Beth, thanks for joining us and sharing this look at how THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER came to be. Sounds like the timing was finally right for this book to be written.

Now, let me share a bit of background on Beth.

Beth Jannery started her journalism career at 21 for CNN’s Investigative Reporting Unit. She went to Boston University for graduate school. Her masters are in Broadcast Journalism.  

Beth also worked for the largest English-language newspaper in Bangkok, Thailand called The Nation. In Bangkok she wrote feature articles and covered politics. She was on the first writing/producing team for Southeast Asia’s Face the Nation and Good Morning Thailand.

In Washington, DC she was a defense journalist covering the Pentagon prior to 9/11. At Harvard University she was Communication Officer for the John F. Kennedy School and was editor for two national magazines in Boston and DC.

She is the author of several non-fiction books. In addition, Beth teaches Writing Across the Media for the Department of Communication at George Mason University and has also taught for American University and Marist College in New York.

Beth blogs and stays connected via social media. She lives in Northern Virginia with her two daughters, Skye and Tess. She has just signed a new contract for her next novel: FINDING GRACE AGAIN.

For more on Beth and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER is available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Thanks for stopping by today during Beth’s visit. What do you see as the hardest part of writing a story? To entice you a bit more to check out THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER, here a book trailer for your viewing pleasure…enjoy!


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