Welcome to JaneLeder.com - Questions & Answers

What motivated you to become a writer?

After teaching English, I decided that what I really wanted to do was write. I started a new career, first as a newspaper reporter, then as a writer/producer of educational materials. When an educational book publisher contacted me about writing a series of books for young readers, I dropped everything and launched my life as a freelance author.

How did you decide to write a book about teenage suicide?

My brother took his own life. I needed a way to explore my feelings and to share the experiences of others who had dealt with a similar tragedy.

What was the most important thing you discovered?

People take their own lives for a host of reasons. There is not one event or one problem that leads to suicide.

Was writing the book a cathartic experience for you?

Absolutely! I was able to come to closure and to realize that I was not alone in my grief.

Your next book explored relationships between brothers and sisters. It seems like a logical step to the book about suicide.

I thought that I had put the subject to rest. But I was wrong. I wanted to understand how siblings shape our lives and why there had been so little written about the importance of brothers and sisters.

Writing a book about men and women during World War II seems to be a major departure from your first two books.

Yes and no. Exploring the lives of young people during wartime and how the war affected love and sex is a departure. But, at base, this book, along with the others, attempts to understand the events that shape people's lives.