Jessica L. Jackson is a Romance Novelist who has been writing since the 1980s and she lives right here in Lethbridge. I’m always impressed when someone not only has an idea for a book but actually has the discipline to follow through and write it and then publish it. Jessica has done this numerous times. I thought I’d find out a little bit more about what motivates her to continue doing what she does.
Talk about your life growing up. Where are you from and what was your childhood like?
I was born in Vancouver and my family moved all around B.C. for a while. We settled in Vernon for a few years where I started school. In the middle of grade 2, however, the Federal Forestry dept. in Vernon closed down and everyone was transferred. That’s how we ended up in Victoria. We lived there until 1975. Dad signed on for a 3 year contract with the Iranian government and we moved to the northwest of Iran, in the Gilan province, right next to the Caspian Sea. Those were an interesting 3 years, I can tell you. After we returned, we settled in Chilliwack where my dad took a job with the provincial government forestry dept.. I graduated from high school in Chilliwack, worked for a year at a bakery, and then went to the University of Victoria for two years. I married Ron Miller in 1982. We had 3 children, Erin, Shaela, and Jonathan. After moving to Lethbridge in 1997–we arrived on April Fool’s Day, believe it or not–Ron left us. I decided to stay in Lethbridge since he was not moving back to Vancouver Island and I didn’t want to deprive my children of access to their father. In the fall of 1998 I went back to school at LCC, taking Engineering and Drafting Technology. After I graduated in 2000 I went to work for Ferrari Westwood Architects for 13 years. I married my current husband in 2007. We met on the internet and he moved here from England.
My childhood is almost a blur because every chance I took I spent reading. I’ve been reading books that were written for adults since I was 10. Some of the authors: Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer, Thomas B. Costain. Whatever book we had in the house, I was free to read. When I was in Iran our school had a small library and that is where I discovered Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, etc. I began reading romance novels when I was 10 or 11, too. Mostly Harlequins, but other types too. I’ve read some of the more traditional books that kids of that age read too. Black Stallion, Anne of Green Gables, and so forth. Reading was all I really wanted to do. That was also the beginning of when I started to play with the idea of becoming an author.
For people who don’t know you, tell us about the kind of books you write.
I write Romance Novels and the reason I write Romance novels is that all other genres exist within that genre. There are suspense romances, mystery romances, paranormal romances and so forth. I have a paranormal contemporary series that is suspenseful. I have a time-historical series, a Regency series, a stand-alone angel romance, a Pride and Prejudice Continuation, and four novellas, two of which belong to the Regency series.
When did you first realize you had a knack for writing?
I started writing seriously when my children were toddlers–in the 1980’s. I took a break after we moved here because it isn’t so easy to write a good romance when you are in the midst of a divorce. I started up again in 2011. I joined the Alberta Romance Writers’ Association and everything I’ve published, I published since then.
Were you a good English student?
Yes, I’d say I was a fairly good English student. This improved significantly over the years of writing so that when I returned to school in 1998, I had almost 100% on the two English parts of the LCC placement tests. I passed the math ones too, by the way.
Talk about the discipline of writing and how you achieve it.
The discipline of writing…hmm…that’s a good way to put it. There is no doubt that if a writer does not place her butt onto a chair and put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, she will never finish a book. Then she has to edit it and have the guts to put it out there. Stick-to-it-ed-ness is essential. You must have confidence in your writing too and be willing to trust your own intuition. There is lots of advice and lots of directions out there, but in the end, the story is yours to tell. How do I achieve my discipline? Practice, practice, practice. I think about my stories all the time so that when I sit down, even if I have only 15 min. to write, the words come out. I am not an outliner. I am a pantser–someone who just sits down and writes. Sure, I have a general idea about what I want to write about and when there is a mystery aspect, or a paranormal aspect to the story I have to spend a good deal of time ironing out how the ‘world’ in my book will work. What kind of angel will my character be? What sort of paranormal ability will my character have? How does it work? What are its limitations. I often hammer out these details with my youngest sister and younger brother. We talk back and forth about it until I think I have a pretty firm grasp on what I’m going to write. Then, I sit down and start writing
Why do you write?
I write because I love to make up stories. Once a story has a hold of me, I must write it. Sometimes the story comes easily. Sometimes it does not. Like, Pemberly Haunted, my Pride and Prejudice continuation. The language in that book is old fashioned and I wanted it to feel as if the reader is in that time period. I wanted to make the characters seem like the ones we all love. I must say, though, that the book is from Kitty’s point of view and sometimes she’s not all that happy with Lizzy and Darcy and if that offends the sensibilities of some of the readers, then that’s unfortunate for them, but I will not apologize for Kitty’s feelings. They are hers and she’s entitled to them.
How do you get over mental blocks? (If you ever have them)
When I was writing Her Place in Time, one of my time-historicals, I got to a place in the story when my heroine had just waved farewell to the hero as he led his men off to go a-viking. I leaned back in my chair and said to myself, “Now what?” I thought for a moment, couldn’t think of anything particularly exciting so I said, “Well, I can’t leave her standing on the beach, can I?” So, I wrote her off the beach. Now, every time I can’t think of what to do next, I say “You can’t leave her on the beach,” and I write that character out of their current location. I confess, though, that sometimes I just jump to another point of view and get on with it.
Where’s your favorite place to write?
Sometimes I write longhand because it just flows without my interrupting myself with questions about spelling or research. I just put ?’s in that spot and go back to it when I type it into the computer. If I’m writing longhand, I like to write in restaurants or food courts. The background noise becomes white noise and it doesn’t intrude. If I’m writing on a computer I like to write at home.
Do you have another “real” job?
Yes. I’m a drafter. For the last year and a half I have worked for a civil and irrigation engineer. It’s rewarding work.
Take us through the process of getting your work published.
Though I started out publishing my work through an e-book publishing house, I have since become an independent publisher. Firstly, I finish my book, edit it, edit it again. And again. Meanwhile, I get my cover artist to work on my cover. I like to have it done before I finish my book. Then, I format the manuscript and upload it into Amazon, along with the cover art. Much chocolate is required during the formatting phase because there’s often stuff that needs fixing and doing over and that can be annoying–particularly the table of contents. Once the uploading is done, I set the price, upload the blurb, and tweak a few things more and I’m done. Anybody can publish their own work. However, it is essential to get your work as correct as you can before you do it. We indie publishers must take pride in our work. We do not like to be considered the poor, distant cousins of “traditional” publishing.
What kind of success have you had in terms of books sold?
This varies so much that it’s difficult to talk about in this forum. Some books have done well, others readers have ignored for some reason I have yet to determine. The important thing to remember is that royalties arrive in waves and troughs.
What was the most influential book you ever read that got you into the world of writing?
Hmm. That’s a tricky one. I expect it was the romance genre as a whole.
Top 5 authors of all time.
Georgette Heyer, Anne McCaffrey, Charles Dickens, Isaac Asimov, and Agatha Christie
Would you like your books made into a movie? If so who would you want cast as your main characters?
I’d love to have my books made into movies. Who wouldn’t? I’ll only suggest a few since there are too many characters to cover. I’d like Stana Katic, from Castle to play Violet Tine from my paranormal contemporary Watch Your Step. I’d like Milla Jovovich to play Delphinia in Remember to Breathe–the third book in the paranormal contemporary.
You are the mother of Shaela Miller who has had a fair bit of success in the music world. How proud of her are you and how much influence did you have with her love of music?
I’m more proud of her than I can express even though I am a writer. She has really stuck to it, year after year and a parent must be as proud of that skill as with any talent. She’s never told me if I’ve influenced her love of music, but I always had music going from the time she was little. All types of music, though not heavy metal or punk. Country. John Denver, Dolly Parton, all sorts. We also loved classical music and played that. I always sang around the house and in the car–some pieces from church choir that would have the whole car moaning. lol. Often at the top of my lungs, too, poor things. I’ve always loved to sing but I never pushed my children to sing so I was that surprised when I discovered Shaela wanted to be a singer/musician. However, the talent was in my children’s DNA, from both sides of the family. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Best review you ever got.
The best review is too long to put in here. It is lovely and is for That Wicked Earl.
Worst review you ever got.
The worst review is also too long and was for Pemberley Haunted. The reviewer gave me 5 stars, which is great, but then she went on to give a book report type of review that revealed the plot and the plot twists and I could only shake my head in disbelief as I read it. If there was a way to get that review taken down, I would, even though she gave me the 5 stars.
What’s the best thing about writing?
Feeling your story come into being. Sometimes it’s as though it’s writing itself. Characters do things out of the blue that I hadn’t thought about the second before I was writing it. That’s really cool.
What’s the worst thing about writing?
The worst thing is working so hard and finding that no one wants to read your book. If the book is bad, then fair enough, but if no one even reads it, then no one knows if it is bad or good. All I can do is my best to get the book noticed, but even that isn’t always enough. That’s really hard. I want people to love my books and find hours of delightful escape from the struggles of the real world and when they won’t even try the book, then I feel very frustrated.
What advice to you have for aspiring writers?
Learn your craft and write what you love. Put out the best story you can, edited and ready to be revealed to the world.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a Pride and Prejudice variation called A Witch For Mr. Darcy. In this variation, Lizzy is a witch–I suppose that’s kind of obvious. I’ve not written a variation before and I’m looking forward to seeing how well it does.
Final thoughts?
My books are written to make the reader feel good and hopeful about love. They are not full of misery and angst. Those types of books always make me feel miserable, so I’ve never liked to drag out that type of emotion in mine. I also like to have humour in my stories. Humour is a great healer and we readers often need healing–not of the body, so much, but of the soul. We need to feel rejuvenated, and I think the romance genre helps with that rejuvenation.
Find out more about Jessica and her books at her website:
https://www.jessicaleolajackson.com/
Mark Boogieman 