Janette DeFelice is a health sciences professor, author, essayist, former professional dancer, and physician who chose motherhood over medicine whose writing draws on themes of performance, motherhood, and the female experience. She has taught narrative-based medicine, evidence-based practice, and community health to the next generation of healthcare providers — work grounded in an MD from Rosalind Franklin University, an MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MA in Humanities from The University of Chicago, where her master’s thesis examined the evolution of consciousness in Henrik Ibsen’s prose play cycle through Hegelian philosophy.
Before attending medical school, she danced professionally with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, River North Dance Company, and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, working under directors including Sir Peter Hall of the Royal Shakespeare Company and choreographer Wayne McGregor. She has also taught dance at professional training schools in Chicago and performed and toured nationally and internationally.
In addition to fiction, DeFelice writes essays and commentaries on culture, politics, medicine, public health, and environmental issues. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times.
A lifelong Chicagoland girl, she grew up in Hammond, Indiana, lived for many years in Chicago, and now resides in the suburbs with her husband, twin teenagers, and an orange cat. The Last Pirouette: A Novel in Three Acts is her debut novel.
About The Last Pirouette
When Delia lands a coveted spot with a prestigious New York ballet company, she steps into a world of beauty, betrayal, and brutal ambition—while her mother, Victoria, is left behind to confront the wreckage of her own unrealized dreams and long-buried trauma. A cryptic prophecy shadows their lives and as Delia’s path toward womanhood is marred by injury and manipulation, Victoria embarks on a tender, midlife metamorphosis—rekindling her own desire and learning, too late, that letting go is not the same as giving up.
Told with lyrical grace and unflinching honesty, this haunting, feminist portrait of art, sacrifice, and rebirth reminds us: life dances on, a tragic ballet.
The interview
Why do you write in the genres that you do?
I write in multiple genres. I don’t think I could limit myself to one genre even if I tried. I write fiction and non-fiction. My debut novel The Last Pirouette: A Novel in Three Acts is contemporary women’s fiction.
My next novel, which comes out in 2027, is a medical thriller. I’ve written political essays and scientific journal articles. Whatever I feel passionate about committing to the page is what I write.
Do you keep a notebook of ideas?
I do not keep a notebook of ideas generally. But when I’m working on something, I will speak ideas into the Notes app on my phone, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea.
Do you have a muse?
I think music is my muse. When I write a scene, I’m really invested in making it flow smoothly through the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the denouement.
A good piece of music has all of this already in its structure. So, I listen to a good piece of music as I write and follow its structure. It’s kind of a cheat code.
Are you more of a fan of plot-driven stories or character-driven stories?
I’m a fan of plot-driven stories that have well drawn characters. I’m also a fan of character-driven stories that have a well-developed plot. It’s rare to find a book that does both really well. I think that’s really what makes a great book.
Fill in the blank: “People will like your book if they like stories about…”
People will like my books if they like stories about complicated people in complicated circumstances making the best choices they can make but not always making the right choices.
What are your thoughts on typewriters?
I love typewriters. I wrote my first story as a little girl on the typewriter in my dad’s office—a story about the little known Ancient Greek god of garbage! I can still hear the whir of the motor after turning it on and the click, click of the keystrokes. So satisfying.
What wasn’t satisfying, though, was trying to fix typos. The idea of writing on a classic typewriter is romantic and enticing, but I would never give up my laptop. I love the ease of banging away at the delete button to instantly make my mistakes disappear, and copy/pasting a paragraph from one place to another where it fits better. I swear by my laptop!
How do you name your characters?
The main characters in my book are named after two characters in Shakespeare’s King Lear. When I first started writing this book, I was thinking about the idea of filial duty—what a child owes their parent. I could think of no other work of literature that captures this idea better than the tragic play King Lear.
In the beginning, the king asks his three daughters to tell him how much they love him in exchange for a piece of his kingdom. His elder two daughters gush and slather him with praises and affection. His youngest daughter, Cordelia, gives a much more measured response, refusing to flatter him, telling him she loves him according to their bond.
She points to the hypocrisy that her sisters have husbands, yet they say they love their father with all of their hearts. Honest Cordelia is punished and ends up with nothing, while her sisters split the kingdom evenly.
Like I said, one of the themes I was exploring in my book was filial duty.
What was the responsibility of a daughter to the mother who had taught her everything she knew about ballet?
What if that daughter did not want to deliver on that responsibility?
What if the daughter was forced to live up to that expectation?
What could go wrong?
I knew that my book would be a tragedy, just as King Lear is a tragedy.
I named the daughter character Delia, after Cordelia, the youngest daughter in King Lear. And I named the mother Victoria Leary, calling to mind, for me, a female version of Shakespeare’s main character.
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
I would love to see this book become a movie. There is so much visual in the pages. I have choreographed dances with words and would love to see them brought to life. I have also incorporated music throughout.
My starting scene is a dance that my main character choreographed on her daughter to a piece of music by Philip Glass. It would be a dream come true to see this book and the visual and aural ideas I put down on the pages come to life on the big screen. Even further, I would love to be involved in the making of the movie, especially staging of the choreography.
Do you try to hit a certain page or word count with each writing session?
When I’m actively working on a project, yes, I do try to hit a certain word count. What that number is depends on how productive I need to or want to be.
The daily minimum word count could be as low as 500 words (if I’m feeling like I need to be kind and forgiving to myself), or up to 1500 words or more. I also give myself permission to have multiple writing sessions throughout the day if I need that.
What are your passions/obsessions outside of writing?
Music and dance are my passions. Since I can’t dance so much anymore, I have begun to enjoy playing the piano.
I love musicality and phrasing. Playing the piano wrings out my brain almost like it’s a sponge. Great for clearing away all the random thoughts that are cluttering things up in my head!
Have you made any public appearances to promote your book?
No. The thought of that terrifies me. I feel like there is a chance it could be like throwing a party and having no one show up. How mortifying!
However, I would consider doing a public appearance if it is in partnership with other authors. That way, we could commiserate with each other if no one shows up.
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