On today’s episode we get to chat with Janet Roberts, a Women’s Fiction author and poet in Pittsburgh, PA, who has a background in cybersecurity. After fifteen+ years as a global leader in cybersecurity awareness and education, Janet transitioned to full time writer and part-time consultant in 2023, to be able to chase her dream of focusing nearly all of her time on her writing. While employed full time, she self-published two novels - The Narrow Gate (2015) and The Leaf Queen (2016) - both of which won First Place in Fiction from Pittsburgh’s The Author Zone, and a small memoir - Seven Thin Dimes. Her third novel, What Lies We Keep, to be released in May 2024 by TEN 16 Press, was written over a five year period while leading a cybersecurity awareness program for a multinational corporation. Her poetry has been published in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and San Fedele Press’ Art in A Time of Covid.

All of her novels are set wholly or partially in Western PA, but What Lies We Keep is her first novel to include cybersecurity in the plot. In her work, Janet’s female characters are women struggling with low self-esteem or lack of confidence who find their super power as they grow through adversity in her novels. But, having grown up with brothers and male cousins - and working in a primarily male dominated environment most of her adult life - her books often have both a female and male point of view.

She was raised in Erie, PA, by a father from Cleveland, Ohio, and a mother from a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA, spending a good amount of her childhood in the Pittsburgh area visiting relatives. As an adult, she moved a lot during her career, but in 2019 her deep Western PA roots called her to head back home. She’s a graduate of Temple University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, and of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (Now PennWest Edinboro) where she earned a Master of Arts in Communications.

You can learn more about Janet and her work on her website www.booksbyjanetroberts.com. Follow her on social media at @janetroberts77 (Instagram or Threads) or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetroberts/ to keep up to date on her next release!

A little about today's host-

Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”

Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/. 

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