February 5, 2026
By Adam Messer
“In my senior year of high school, my grandfather fell terminally ill with cancer and I promised him that I would write his story to share with the world.” – Janna Herron.
Transforming Tears became the book that told her grandfather’s harrowing story of survival and transformation.
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Janna Herron and I am a 26-year-old traditionally published author of the narrative nonfiction book, Transforming Tears, and Brokenness Restored: The Path to Recovery is a Healing Journey. I graduated valedictorian of my high school and received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Woman’s University, where I studied music and English. I am currently a remote contractor for AI companies, doing data annotation and linguistic work to put my English degree to use, and on the side I am a piano teacher with my own students to share my love of music. I was a classically trained pianist from age 3 through college and I also play guitar, ukulele, and viola, and have written over 20 songs where I have a youtube channel: @jannaherron226
What genres do you write and why?
I am primarily a narrative nonfiction writer that specializes in biography and autobiography because I believe in the power of telling real stories and using them to inspire and make a difference. I love being able to take the realities of life, past memories, and experiences and share it with others, encouraging people to also share their stories because it deepens connection and the vulnerability and authenticity that is real life. My debut book was a narrative nonfiction titled, Transforming Tears, that follows the life story of my grandfather, growing up in Malaysia, surviving WWII, and immigrating to the United States. My most recent book, Brokenness Restored: The Path to Recovery is a Healing Journey, is the telling of my own story and mental health treatment journey and how my faith provides me hope throughout recovery. My blog on my personal website is also centered around the sharing of my own experiences and mental health advocacy, but there are times where I like to dabble in writing poetry or fiction just to express my imagination and outside of the box thinking!
What is your earliest memory of reading?
I was blessed to have a mom that started early childhood education with me and so my earliest memory of reading was in my toddler years, probably right before pre-k. My mom is a polio survivor and so she lives with Post-Polio Syndrome where she had to take a nap every afternoon. I was trained from early on that I had to stay quiet during this time and so I can clearly remember sitting by myself and going through stacks of books. My favorite book was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Eric Carle.
When did you know you wanted to write? How did it happen?
I have always loved writing from a young age in addition to reading, already having my writing displayed as a 3rd grader and throughout elementary school. In English classes throughout middle school, I would go above and beyond the expectations for assignments because I wanted to create works of art and not just regular class assignments. I can still remember the times that I wrote over 40 pages for a hero story and an epic that my teachers told me that I should one day publish. They are still sitting on my middle school flash drive, but perhaps one day I will edit and expand upon them and turn them into books. However, the pivotal moment for me was when I was published to the Texas Music Teachers Association for a creative essay that won a competition in high school and that propelled me to take my writing more seriously. In my senior year of high school, my grandfather fell terminally ill with cancer and I promised him that I would write his story to share with the world. Through the grief, I spent 4 months at the age of 17, writing and polishing what is my debut book, Transforming Tears.
What’s one of your favorite scenes in one of your books?
My most favorite scene in Transforming Tears would have to be the symbolism that I use to characterize my grandfather’s soul as a butterfly. Throughout the book, this butterfly symbol shows up multiple times whenever there is a big change that happens and there are dreams that my grandfather experiences that show him the realities of life. My favorite scene lies at the end of the book when readers get a full circle moment to realize that my grandfather is the butterfly that shows up multiple times throughout the book as his soul flies free and he reaches eternal peace.
What makes a good character? A bad one?
Personally, I think crafty character development makes the best kind of character, especially when there is growth or something that readers do not expect from a character throughout the story line. For example, this might be a bit controversial, but my favorite character in the Harry Potter series is professor Snape. He is a mysterious character that readers have a difficult time seeing what side he is on and whether or not he is truly bad or good. I like good character development with an overarching theme that teaches a moral lesson that readers can learn from and so that leads me to a bad character, which is quite the opposite, when there is no character growth and everything just sort of stays the same. It is also quite bad if readers cannot get the full picture of what a character is supposed to be like or an author fails to clearly provide a distinct description.
What moves the story for you?
My immediate thought goes to character development once again, however, if I think deeper about it, I think it would be safe to say that I think plot twists are what moves the story most for me. I like the element of surprise in a good story and so I love books and movies that have a plot that is unexpectable or even hard to follow for the audience. This is because I feel like I am being taken on a journey that allows me to feel a wide range of emotions instead of just sitting comfortably. Uncomfortability is where there is growth!
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book would have to be a book that one of my favorite English teachers shared with me in my senior year of high school. It is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt that follows the life of a famous painting that was accidentally stolen by a boy during the bombing of an art museum. Going along with my answers from before, this is my favorite book because there are lots of plot twists and moments of in depth character development that take me on an exciting journey of feeling anticipatory to feeling uncanny, from the depths of curiosity to enlightenment.
What do you want to say to your audience?
My hope throughout my writing and my purpose in living this life is to share that no matter who you are or where you come from, you have a story to tell that is worth hearing. As someone that is in recovery with many different mental illnesses and survived multiple near death suicide attempts, I hope that by sharing my story, it inspires and encourages others that if I am still alive today to share my story and if I survived a traumatic and abusive childhood that was filled with brokenness, then there is real hope. There is hope for anyone out there that may be struggling or even just trying to scrape by to survive. Your story is important and even the smallest smile can make the biggest difference!
What advice do you have for new writers?
My advice for new writers is to simply write to your heart’s content. Let your joy of writing propel you forward to create your own craft telling the stories that you have to tell. Only you know the story that you want the world to know and in fact, you are gifting us with that story through the words you put on a page. I would encourage you to never give up no matter if a publisher or someone in your life or a critic tells you that you are too young or too inexperienced or not gifted enough. They just don’t know the value of the story that you have to tell and I say this from personal experience of the thousands of rejections that I have gotten over the years. I see you and there are others in your life that do too. So, pick up your pen and write your heart out!
Do you have anything else you would like to add?
I would just encourage everyone that you are capable of anything that you set your mind to with persistence and determination! I believe in you and there are others out there that do or will believe in you too!
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