IndieView with Janet Luongo, author of Rebellion, 1967: A Memoir

I struggled with how much to reveal of intimate moments, of impulsive moments that led to problems, which felt like mistakes. I tried not to explain, analyze or judge – myself or others – but simply tell the truth.

Janet Luongo – 27 July 2021

The Back Flap

Janet Duffy, a spunky, seventeen-year-old Irish girl, is eager to start college—but instability between her alcoholic father and self-absorbed mother jeopardize her dream, so she sets up her own apartment with her younger sister in Jamaica, Queens, and treks to City College in Manhattan, New York. The routine is deadening, but she finds purpose in the black community, working for a mural painter and volunteering for a civil rights activist.

After turning eighteen, Janet marches with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and falls for a young black saxophone player, Carmen. Her father, a policeman, explodes over their relationship, so Janet rebels—runs away with the jazz musician, and then winds up in the East Village in the Summer of Love. In the ensuing months she deals with heartbreak, sexual harassment, poverty, and danger—but eventually, she asks for the help she needs in order to pick up the pieces of her life and return to her dream.

About the book

What is the book about?

Coming of age in New York City in the Sixties, an Irish girl, Janet Duffy, relates events as they happen during a topsy-turvy year when she turned eighteen. Her family broke up while rules in the society were breaking down, and she found mentorship and purpose in the Black community. She followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for freedom and justice, and worked for the Great Society. The relationships she built with a few Jewish girlfriends, and several Black people – friend, painter, activist, neurosurgeon, musician and lover – led to heart-warming, harrowing, and eye-opening experiences.

When did you start writing the book?

I started writing the story in journals as I was living through the events of 1966-1967 — over fifty years ago! In 1989, I wrote a rough book draft, but when my son was born, I hid it under the bed. Ten years ago, I pulled it out, and joined a writers’ group, Write Yourself Free, in Westport, Connecticut and worked with a brilliant mentor, Patrick McCord, with whom I completed a second draft.

How long did it take you to write it?

The actual writing/editing of my memoir — from the first pages I read aloud to my writing group, to its publication in 2021– spanned a full decade. A friend told me about a college buddy, who, at every reunion over ten years, reported her book was “in progress” and it became a kind of joke…until the book was published and earned prizes! I read that Junot Diaz took five to ten years between books —and he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize! I stopped being embarrassed about how long my project has taken. A book takes as long as it takes to become what the author envisions.

Where did you get the idea from?

Knowing from an early age that I wanted to write a book, I kept journals. I got the idea to write this particular story as soon as I graduated high school in 1966 and began living through dramatic events. Some experiences were special, such as painting murals and working for Civil Rights. Many disturbed me: my parents’ divorce and living on my own at age 17 with my younger sister; discovering abject poverty in a Black ghetto on the “other side of the tracks;” and finding boys my age so panicked about the Vietnam war they injured themselves to beat the draft. I fell in love and felt heartbroken too many times; I witnessed riot police break up a picnic; I ran away with a jazz musician; I changed jobs too much and worried some nights where I’d lay my head. Living in the East Village, I fended off a verbal sexual assault. Even while going through scary events, I thought to myself, This would make great material for my book!

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I had to dig deep to remember my feelings at the time, perhaps because some were painful. I struggled with how much to reveal of intimate moments, of impulsive moments that led to problems, which felt like mistakes. I tried not to explain, analyze or judge – myself or others – but simply tell the truth.

What came easily?

The initial writing – free flow – came easily, because I worked from a previous account I drafted about a dozen years after the year covered in my memoir, an account based on my journal entries from the time. Each scene opened doors in my mind to an abundance of memories, vivid recollections of dialogue, emotions and sensations.

 Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

A memoir is nonfiction, and all my characters are real: myself, family members, friends, boyfriends, mentors, as well as people I encountered. I changed some names. I flashed back to people I knew personally, such as my beloved third grade teacher, the only Black teacher, the only Black person in my primary school. I also refer to well-known historical figures, such as U.S. presidents, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose Riverside speech I heard in person, and with whom I marched for peace in New York.

The key characters are diverse: Nanny, my Hungarian maternal grandmother, and my Irish paternal grandparents; a few close Jewish high school girlfriends; my high school sweetheart, an Armenian; and my short-term Italian boyfriend, gung-ho about the Sixties sexual revolution. I write about real friends in the Black community: a boy from high school; a mural painter who hired me as an assistant; a community organizer, with whom I volunteered; one of the first Black neurosurgeons in America, director of a hospital where I worked briefly; and a young Black jazz musician, the boyfriend with whom I hit the road.

Do you have a target reader?

I envision a young woman who knows troubled times, and after she reads my story, feels confident she can pull through and go on in the direction of her dreams. People who have faced any kind of adversity might find hope in my story.

I hope to reach a wide range of people, from teenagers, college students and baby boomers who lived through the Sixties, to people who are interested in psychology, family dynamics, history, coming of age, sexuality and racial issues.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I write something every day, even if only for ten minutes, to keep the story active in my mind on a subconscious level. Many mornings I wake up hearing lines in my head that I rush to my desk to capture. Sometimes I get so absorbed that I spend many hours writing. My handwriting is hard to read, so I usually type it out on my computer, fast.

When I’m drafting I write quickly on paper or computer, and freely allow let ideas to flow. At the first stage, there’s no room for judgment, which can kill creativity and imagination. The judge is welcome in the next stage. While reviewing my draft, I reflect, revise, correct, reword and shape the narrative. Authors who profess this process include Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and Mary Karr’s, The Art of Memoir.

Downtime is so important to the creative process. I watch good films and read articles about the issues I care about, and find inspiration from literary authors I most admire. Many times while showering, swimming, or walking in nature, the best ideas flash into my head.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences? 

Yes. After finishing a scene, I made a note summarizing it. I outlined the major emotional events chronologically. In a memoir, of course, I knew the story and the outcome, but I diagrammed the plot as an emotional arc. An experience over time can bring highs and lows, and spark multiple, even conflicting, emotions. To shape the narrative, for each section, I designated a dominant emotion. The primary feelings ranged from compliant, upset, curious, confused, angry, high on love, despondent and fearful, to awakened and determined for change.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished? 

I never edit while I am freely creating.

I do minimal editing after a section is done. When I have a full draft, I shape and organize the whole into one continuous story, with smooth transitions, subplots woven in, motifs well placed to indicate changes in the protagonist. For instance, my motif of trees changed from stunted bonsai in summer, to uprooted in autumn, to young and bare during a winter romance, to the absence of trees outside tenements in the East village.

Did you hire a professional editor? 

Yes. Carol Dannhauser, co-founder of Fairfield County Writers Studio, was wonderful. She pointed out changes I could make in my style, such as condensing dialogue, the order of sentences, plot structure, and, most importantly, to share with the reader my deepest thoughts and emotions. It was a slow and costly process and I felt, after the first hundred pages, that I had learned enough about editing to carry on myself. Four early readers volunteered to read the completed manuscript and give honest feedback, which led to several more revisions.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I usually work in silence. To relax, I turn to Baroque – Vivaldi and Bach. To recall my youth, I play loud the hits from the Sixties – the best music ever!

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents? 

I dreaded the process of researching and pitching to agents. I was told that after a hundred queries and rejections over a year, an author still might not be able to secure an agent. And if one succeeded, the agent might take yet another year to line up a publisher; and the publisher would take a couple more years to get published. So, no, I did not submit to agents.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process? 

At an event at Fairfield County Writers Studio, I heard of She Writes Press (SWP) and looked it up. Since I am independent minded, I liked the concept of Indie. A shared investment made sense. A traditional publishing house vets authors so offers prestige and traditional distribution and sales; but I discovered that SWP does vet their authors, who win prizes, coveted reviews and blurbs. And SWP offers the same traditional distribution to bookstores and libraries through Ingram Publishing Services. SWP was named Indie Publisher of the Year, 2019 by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group. I like the book list. I fell for the culture established by the founder, Brooke Warner when I heard her Ted Talk based on her book, Green Light Your Book, and loved her message: “Your Creative Life on Your Terms.” I felt I belonged with this spirited community of women writers and pictured myself among them. She Writes Press was the first and only publisher I applied to.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

The cover of my book was a creative collaboration. I appreciate that She Writes Press aims to please the author and allowed suggestions. I supplied a professional photograph from 1967, and suggested the face remain black & white, with the background in color. They win awards for their book covers, and I trusted them to come up with the final design, which I adore!

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I am giving my book the support it deserves and signed up for publicity through BookSparkStudio, which coordinates well with She Writes Press. Of course I am building my presence on social media, gaining exposure for my memoir, and getting the word out.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Be willing to revise and cut the unnecessary. A dear friend of mine, Vera Schwarcz, who authored nine books, helped me find the joy in crafting the story. Keep the passion of the original, and avoid paralyzing perfectionism. Yet, shape the story so it shines, much like Michelangelo did in bringing forth from a rough hunk of stone, the brilliant and confident figure of David.

Check out Scrivener. I found working with this software extremely helpful for navigating through a long book. There are places to summarize, and save previous drafts.

Join a writing group where you read pages out loud and get feedback. Find good readers you trust, listen to their responses and make the final call.

Honor your desire to publish and don’t give up. Be willing to invest in yourself. Find a publisher that is well respected. Know that you deserve to be heard, and keep in mind the audience who may be uplifted or changed by reading your story.

About You

Where did you grow up?

In Queens Village and Jamaica, in the borough of Queens in New York City. At age eighteen I moved to Manhattan for a couple years.

Where do you live now?

Norwalk, Connecticut, a diverse community on the Long Island Sound.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m a visual artist as well as a writer. I lived in Europe for eight years, where I taught art and painted and exhibited in Paris, fulfilling a childhood dream.

Though I lost precious years of my youth due to a breakdown, I did not give up on myself. I enjoyed a career in art education at schools colleges and museums; a loving marriage of 45 years; a wonderful son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter; a lifetime faith, Unitarian Universalism (UU); dedication to social justice; and a range of experiences that gifted me great material for my stories.

At each new stage of life, we have the power to reinvent ourselves. At age sixty, I went zip lining in Costa Rica; gave a presentation on creativity in Xian, China; climbed a 14,000 foot mountain (with my son as “Sherpa”); studied the feminine divine; and earned three certificates in well-being: teaching yoga and meditation; life coaching; and Integrative Nutrition from Teachers College, Columbia University.

​What are you working on now?

I am learning new and creative ways to connect virtually with family and friends, many who live far away.

I am a member of the women’s group in my Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation. We bond as we work on important issues of our time that relate to #BLM, and #MeToo.  We are now designing a worship service that invites all genders to express – through art, poetry, stories – how giving voice to their true stories has changed them spiritually. Also for my congregation I am offering a writing class, in which we’ll explore memories of how we were taught the beliefs, assumptions and biases we may still hold today, consciously or subconsciously. I’ll read excerpts from my coming of age memoir, and ask participants to freely draft stories about “Encounters with The Other.”

I am an activist and work with many social justice partners. I founded a group, Individual Democracy Actions, alerting people on how to take small steps to expand the vote and engage with elected officials on local and national issues important to them.

I am giving interviews, such as this one for The IndieView – thank you for the opportunity! I am also submitting essays to magazines; and writing blogs and designing my new author website, www.janetluongo.com.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of Rebellion, 1967: A Memoir from Amazon US or Amazon UK.