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MEET JANET MITSUI BROWN (2/2011)
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Janet Mitsui Brown

I loved reading – fiction and non-fiction.    When I was young my father used to take me to the library, and I would check out the maximum number of books, which I think were 10 at the time. I also devoured comic books. I remember one summer setting up a lounge chair and shade, and piling books and comic books next to me. It was heaven – the best summer ever.  Books enabled me to travel all over the world, to visit with friends, to learn new things.

What are the topics of your books?

After college I enrolled in a fiction group writing class.  Each of us would write a story and then read them to the group.  I wrote lots of stories and I read them I noticed there was a strange silence, maybe a yawn or two – bad news.  The instructor then suggested we write about things we know best – the textures, flavors of the moment.  So I wrote about the Thanksgiving holiday at my grandmother’s home.  I remembered the food, the smells, the fun we had – the dust, and all the aesthetics of the experience – and I wrote about it. When I read it to the class, the class listened, laughed, and got into the story.  Then I knew I had something.  So my first books were about my Japanese grandmother, and how unique the Thanksgiving holiday was to us, being westernized Americans, and being Japanese.  I have continued this theme, and I have two additional books pending publication.

 What kinds of things inspired you to write?

I am inspired about things that touch me emotionally.  I try to recreate in words the feelings I have and put them to paper.  I have that feelings, especially those from the heart – laughter, sadness, joy, excitement, and anxiety – are universal, and readers can relate to it.  I try to write about moments or experiences that touch people – a familiar food, a dance, a holiday – it seems to trigger memories and experiences that are timeless.
 
 How did your life change when you got married, had children?

When I was single, I was with this man who was an actor.  We got along and enjoyed each other’s company, but were not serious about our relationship.  He actually had women calling him all the time on the phone because he was a recurring actor on a soap opera.  Then one day I discovered I had breast cancer – at the same time, he found out he was being killed off his soap opera series. I turned to him and told him he was to make a decision – to be with me and help me heal, or we should break up because I had a serious illness to deal with.  Timing is everything and he agreed to take care of me.  He told women who called he was committed to someone, and told them not to call, and didn’t return their calls.  A year later, he asked me to marry him, and a year after that I got pregnant.  We celebrate our 24th anniversary on July 4th; my daughter just graduated from Princeton, and is working with Google.
 
 Have you earned special recognition for your books?

When OBAACHAN came out in 1994,  it earned the American Library Association recognition award.  Most important, it has been given special recognition by the Japanese community, Asian American community, and minority communities.  When my book first came out, there were few books on the minority experience in America.

Do you like to include humor in your stories?

I love including humor – there are so many things we laugh at – it brings joy to our lives, and it helps young people to realize that life is just not that serious.  I have a best friend who I have known since we were 8 years old.  Here we are grown-ups, and we still laugh at the same things!  I try to communicate that laughter in my books – the silly things we do, the joy we share.  It’s wonderful.

When you do school visits, what question do children ask you most?

I write and illustrate my books – so for writing, children ask me how I put together a story.  I tell them to remember all the things that touch them, that make them laugh, that make them sad, and then a good writer recreates them.  The kids understand this.  For illustrating, the kids ask me simply how do I do it?  I talk about practice, about just doing it, just completing the work – I tell them that’s all you need to do – start, work at it, and complete it – finish it.  Life is really pretty simple, and children ask simple questions – they appreciate simple answers.

What do you do now – what is your next book?

The next books will be a continuation of the grandmother series.  One is about the Japanese new year, and the other is about the Japanese Obon summer festival.  They are pending publication now.

I also practice feng shui interior design, and I contemplate writing a book about this for children.  Feng Shui will impact children tremendously but I am in my early outlining stages.