S.R. Johannes is the author of Untraceable (a teen wilderness thriller) and On The Bright Side ( a tween paranormal). She lives in Atlanta Georgia with her dog, British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess, which she hopes- someday- will change the world. 

After earning an MBA and working in corporate america, S.R. Johannes traded in her expensive suits, high heels, and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and her love of writing.

Gabby is a disgruntled tween angel who has just been assigned to protect her school nemesis and ex-beffie. Problem is her ex-beffie is dating Gabby’s longtime crush. Instead of protecting Angela, Gabby pranks her (since when is sticking toilet paper to her shoe or spinach in her teeth a sin?) Soon, Gabby gets out of control and is put on probation by her SKYAgent, who has anger management issues of his own. Determined to right her wrongs, Gabby steals an ancient artifact that allows her to return to Earth for just one day. Without knowing, she kicks off a series of events and learns what can happen when you hate someone to death.

Could you tell us 5 random facts about yourself?

Wow, I could give you a whole book of random. There are so many “random” things about me. Nothing that means anything.

1)      I used to sing in a band

2)      I hate the word moist. I have no clue why? Even moist cakes make me cringe.

3)      I am extremely sensitive. Like I cry at Liberty Mutual commercials.

4)      I love Bikram Yoga in the heat but hate to sweat outside – go figure

5)      I am an overachiever

Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer.

Oh gosh. How long do you have? I started writing in 2004 when my daughter was born. I was on maternity leave and had never written much before then. I got an agent in 2009 and was on submission with 2 books over 2 years. Those 2 books made it to acquisitions and I even did a couple of noncontractual revisions, but they never made it all the way. Unfortunately. My agent and I parted ways and those 2 books are the ones out now – Untraceable and On The Bright Side.

Why do you feel you had to tell this story?

There are so many books about dead kids that are dark; I wanted to try a funny look at death. (I know sick right?) I was watching one of those shows on people who died and saw the Other Side before coming back. And they always talked about how wonderful it was Over There. I thought what if I did a book about The Other Side and it was fabulous. And what if it was awesome and funny.

It started out as YA, but seemed too dark. When other angel books started coming out, I switched to tween so I could be more adventurous and funny. Tweens are lighter than teens J I began to wonder – if there really were guardian angels (in my book they are called Brights) then what would they have to know and what would happen if they got assigned to someone they could not stand. That seemed funny to me. Can you imagine? Covering the girl you hated in high school? What you could do? Funny right? That is Gabby in On The Bright Side.

What was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?

Gosh (I say that a lot) I loved writing this book in general because I got to throw out rules and make up a cool, hip, eco-conscious, technology-advanced Heaven (which I call Cirrus) that was a New York in the Sky with shopping places like Amen Marcus and fashion like Dolce and Nirvana. That was the best part.

On The Bright Side is your latest book.  It is a tween novel.  Why did you decide to write a tween instead of teen?

First, I could be lighter in tween. I didn’t think a funny book about death would work so well in teen with all the dark stuff out. Also – I don’t feel like there are many books for tweens and I feel sorry for them. They don’t want to read middle grade stuff and their parents don’t want them reading young adult stuff. Yet the publishing industry shies away from tween b/c there is not an assigned shelf for it at bookstores. So editors force authors into aging characters down to 12 or up to 15. I wanted a girl 13 or 14 to have someone to relate to and to show that balance between still being a kid, yet wanting to grow up.

On the Bright Side follows fourteen-year-old Gabby as she enters Heaven.  As a narrator Gabby is witty and sarcastic.  How did you create the character?

Well first off, I don’t call it Heaven; I call it Cirrus – A New York in the Sky. I did not want this book to be about religion. I wanted to strip away any rules or impressions people had and build something from scratch that was fun and inventive. (Though I’m sure I will get some letters about not showing religion) I wanted each reader, no matter what their religion was, to read it and just have fun without judging it for any religious undertones.

Gabby is grumpy. When I was that age, I always felt grumpy unless I was around my friends. But even then, there was something cynical about me. I think with hormones and trying to break away from your parents while still being under their wing causes internal conflict. So Gabby is a little grumpy like I was, which I think makes her funny. I mean who ever heard of a disgruntled angel? Her friend Jessica is the total opposite – she’s all bright and life is great. This duo makes me laugh.

I love the concept of this book.  It is an enjoyable take on the idea of a guardian angel when you were writing was it hard to keep the idea fresh and fun? Was the world challenging to build?

It wasn’t hard to keep it fresh because I don’t think there are many books about guardian angels. They are all about dead ghosts but not really about the Afterlife. And if they are, they are depressing. Except the Riley Bloom series by Alyson Noel. That touches on Summerland but Riley is a Soul Catcher not an angel. However, I think Gabby and Riley could be great friends.

So I thought it would be fun to look at – if we have guardian angels or Brights as I call them– what would they have to do on a daily basis? What kind of training would that take and what would they face watching Mortals all day. It must be exhausting. The world was very challenging to build. I still think I could do more sometimes to fill in gaps, but it was a blast to create my perfect Afterlife.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Man that’s tough. Even though my books got very close to being acquired – I think a few editors told me they didn’t end up buying Untraceable because they didn’t think girls liked nature and that tough girls only worked in dystopic books (not contemporary). That worried me. Not because of my book necessarily, but because I think that would be sad if girls didn’t care about nature and I think we should encourage strength in the real world – not just in imaginary ones. (I disagreed by the way)

With On the Bright Side, they told me I could not pull off a funny book about death with tweens. I don’t think death has to be all bad and depressing. I mean, I hope it’s not. In those moments you just have to go with your gut and push forward.

The best compliment is that my books are fresh. I like that. It’s hard to come up with unique ideas and still make them feel commercial. And I think I have done that. They may not sell as well as the concepts that keep getting redone but at least they are different.

What character do you relate most to?

There is a piece of me in all my characters. Grace – I am a huge animal lover and any travesty to nature or animals is incomprehensible to me. It brings out a rage deep inside that I struggle with.

In Gabby, I think she’s snarky like I am (not always a good thing) but she’s honest. I consider myself a very honest person (sometimes too honest).

But then if you look at the moms in my story, they have pieces of me too and how I think I would deal with things if I were in their situations. I think that is what makes a story feel real. If the author puts himself in each character’s place and feels what they need to feel.

What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?

Both. The middle sucks the most. (oops can I say sucks? It is outlawed in Cirrus so wasn’t sure)

What are you working on now?

I have an Anthology coming out on Valentines Day with some other indie writers. It is called In His Eyes and it has short stories about love and girls from a guy’s perspective. The sequel to Untraceable (called Uncontrollable) will come out in Summer 2012. That’s about as far as I can see right now!

Places to Find SR Johannes:
Blog
Twitter
Author Facebook
Author Goodreads
Untracable Goodreads
On The Bright Side Goodreads
In His Eyes Anthology Goodreads