Press
Honors and Awards
Author Q&A for Just the Truth
Why did you write your book?
To celebrate journalism, the profession that speaks truth to power and protects our freedoms. Today we have a troubling trend toward “fake news,” with reporters substituting bias for truth. My novel shows how one newswoman resists this trend.
My main character is journalist Laura Taninger. She’s an especially important heroine as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. There’s a long tradition of women writers who fought for their ideals. For example, the Antebellum author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was viciously attacked and her book banned in the Old South, but she prevailed—and her great antislavery cause was won.
My character honors this tradition of independent women who fight for important causes.
What is your book about?
Laura is host of the prime-time news show on her family-owned television network, Taninger News. When she discovers suspicious activity that might just manipulate voting to reelect President Ken Martin and when a whistleblower who had information for her is suddenly murdered—Laura investigates.
Facing the crushing retaliation of the Martin administration and their supporters against her family’s business, a smear campaign to destroy her reputation, and the intense pressure of her family to give up her investigation, Laura is determined to pursue the truth wherever it leads.
What do you hope readers take from your book and why?
I hope readers will be inspired by Laura. I also hope the story will get people to discuss what’s happening to truth in journalism. Are we in danger of losing it?
Name a few writers who have influenced your writing and thinking and why?
My novel was inspired by contemporary journalist, Sharyl Attkisson, whose motto is: Untouchable subjects. Fearless, nonpartisan reporting. She wrote two books exposing corruption in politics and the media.
Speaking of women writers, I was inspired by Ayn Rand’s great novels. Her themes about individualism and freedom got me thinking about the ideas that move the world, which she portrays through riveting plots and compelling characters.
“Foyle’s War,” written by Anthony Horowitz, is my favorite television series. The writer skillfully blends murder mysteries with an important theme (the effects of the Nazi attacks on British life in World War II). There’s also an unusual hero—a middle-aged man! Truth and justice have no greater ally than Detective Christopher Foyle.
What's the most important piece of advice you've been given about writing?
I was a restaurant consultant, writing video scripts for employee training programs. These scripts were getting more and more plot oriented and story-like. A client finally said to me, “Gen, I can’t have romance in a training program about restaurant sanitation.” When I related that incident to a friend, she suggested I write fiction. That was a turning point in my life! Since then, I’ve written four novels.
What else should readers know about you and/or your book?
Just the Truth is available in paperback and ebook. I also have three other novels, which won twelve awards.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?
The plot. I wanted to construct a story with suspense and surprises. I call the process of creating the plot my “sweet torture.” I hope readers will do some nail-biting.
The image of the Winged Victory used here was released to the public domain and is found on Wikimedia Commons.
The imprint
Winged Victory Press
Gen’s novels are published by Winged Victory Press. The soaring statue shown on the logo expresses in stone what treasured books portray in words—the noble and uplifting in art and in life.
The logo displays the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a Hellenistic sculpture from the second century BC. This majestic marble stands eight-feet high and resides in the Louvre in Paris. The statue captures Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, as she appears to be descending onto the bow of a ship, bringing good fortune to the voyage.