Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Jane Haltmaier
Book Title: The Secret of Spirit Lake
Released: 08/19/25
Genre: YA Supernatural Mystery
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “The Secret of Spirit Lake”?
Haltmaier: I have always wanted to write, but did not have time while I was working full-time and raising three daughters. After I retired, I began volunteering at a residential village for children who have been abused and/or neglected. Several times I ran book clubs with some of the older girls. Reading and discussing young adult novels with them prompted me to try writing a young adult novel myself.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Haltmaier: I chose Amy for the contemporary girl because it was a name I have always liked, and Penny for the girl who lived in the 1930s because it sounded more like a name from that time.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Haltmaier: I want very much to create strong, capable female characters that inspire teenage girls to believe that they can rise to whatever challenges life throws at them. One of my favorite books when I was a young teenage girl was A Wrinkle in Time. I would love to create a character that would speak to another young girl the way Meg spoke to me.
If "The Secret of Spirit Lake" was adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Haltmaier: Since my teenagers are young, I would suspect they would be played by actresses who are not well-known. However, I could definitely see Keeley Karsten (Malcom in the Middle 2026) as Amy. Julia Butters is another possibility.
If you could have dinner with any character you’ve written, who would it be—and what would you talk about?
Haltmaier: I would meet with Penny, and I would ask her how she was able to put her childhood trauma behind her and live a healthy life.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Haltmaier: If I can’t get the words to cone, I first stop, maybe read a newspaper article, then go back to it. If it still isn’t working, I just stop and allow the ideas to percolate while I am doing something else. I think I get a lot of my best ideas just before I fall asleep.
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
Haltmaier: I like both sceience fiction and mysteries. As I mentioned earlier, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engel is one of my all-time favorites. I also loved the Trixie Belden series when I was younger. Now I usually read detective/crime novels, although I also belong to two book clubs and we have read a wide range of both and fiction and non-fiction.
What are you working on next?
Haltmaier: I am about to publish a book called Glo-kids about teenagers who discover they are half-alien and can transform into energy. I hope to make that a series, and I have begun working on a sequel.
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