Like the little engine that said “if you think you can, you can,” Dr. Jacque Jacobs of Vero Beach begins her retirement years as an author and publishes a book series “LoveIsACabin.com” based on her early life memories in the Smoky Mountains. The author’s novel series has received multi- star reviews and this endearing and entertaining six-book series was written in ten short months. Quite an accomplishment for anybody, particularly one who also learns to self-publish (or indie-publish) all by herself.
Where does one get such inspiration and drive? Certainly, the “safe space” inside the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation writing group called the “Tuesday Writers” has helped to grow and to nurture Jacque Jacobs as well as many other budding writers gathered inside the LRJF Writing Center on 1914 14th Street in Vero Beach. They refer to it as a safe space because fellow writers only offer constructive ideas for improving each other’s stories. In addition to the LRJF “Tuesday Writers,” a group of 5-12 people, several other writing and poetry groups have sprouted. The LRJF “Porch Poets” have met for more than ten years, quite literally outside on the porch of the LRJF historical Florida Cracker-Style home which is open for tours on Tuesday afternoons (and the second Sunday of the month November-May) and is located next to Brackett Library on the Indian River State College on Mueller Campus in Vero Beach.
The Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is dedicated to preserving the author’s home and nurturing local writers through a series of literary offerings including writing groups, summer camps, workshops and poetry festivals. More information can be found at https://www.lrjf.org.
Having read the LoveIsACabin series, the author has created for me a vivid picture of life in the Smoky Mountains and for me that is proof of a very good writer. The story offers both drama, love and relationships between the characters and each novel keeps one yearning for the next one in the series. And as reviews have expressed, it is hard to read the final pages of the last book in the series as you don’t want to say goodbye to your favorite characters.
Below is information about the author and an interview about Dr. Jacobs in regards to her thoughts about becoming a writer.
About the Author
Jacque Jacobs, as she is known to most folks, is also known from her professional career as Jacqueline Evans Jacobs, PhD. She is a retired Professor of Educational Leadership from Western Carolina University in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Jacque has lived and worked on five continents and visited Antarctica. She looks forward to the opportunity to visit Africa.
High on a Mountain is her debut novel and the first in her series, Love is a Cabin. Visit https://www.LoveIsACabin.com for updates on the books in the series.
In retirement, Jacque is an active participant in the Tuesday Writers of the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation of Vero Beach, Florida, where she also serves as Vice President for Operations for the LRJF Board. She is also a member of a Vero Beach AAUW writing group. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Vero Friends of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and recently served five years on the United Way of Indian River County Board.
Jacque was born and raised in middle Georgia and St. Petersburg, Florida, by her parents whose roots in the Smoky Mountains date to 1720. The recipient of numerous awards throughout her career in education she is honored to have received the coveted George H. Lackey Inspirational Teaching Award at the University of South Carolina. Jacque has published books and professional articles in education. The latest was: The Learning Leader: Reflecting, Modeling, and Sharing.
Jacque celebrates the lives of each of her children and grandchildren and is grateful for the journey they share as a family.
An avid reader and fan of the power of words to enhance and improve our lives, Jacque encourages others to explore their own creative writing experiences and enjoy the stories that enrich their lives.
An Interview of Author Jacque Jacobs
What books interested you as a reader, writer and person?
“As a casual reader, books that have more of a world view and specifically detective and spy novels, but with an academic background much of my reading was in my discipline.”
Which character was your favorite to write about and why?
“You already know I never expected to write a novel. Once this story started, I had no idea what my characters would be like or how they might evolve. Bella is at the heart of the story and it was interesting that one of my daughters told me, ‘Bella is you, but not you, Mom.’ What is like me is that the story takes place in the Smoky Mountains where I spent much of my childhood. I am both a storyteller and an observer and that is Bella, too. After writing the six novels, you own the characters. When you create a character, you’re building who they are and you have much vested in them. As a novelist, you draw on what you know and your life experiences. One thing I bring to this writing is an adult life lived on five continents, and interactions with people of all ages, many cultures and personalities which gives me as a novelist lots to draw from.”
What part of your personality – geeky, nerdy, weird – came thru when writing the series?
“The geeky is that I am academic by profession but what comes through the most is the folk wisdom. I grew up in South where we have lots of sayings to explain life and people. For example, one my mother used when we were children, if people behaved differently than she was teaching us, was ‘If people could do better, they would.’ It’s that kind of folk wisdom that I have inside me.”
At what point in your life did you call yourself a writer?
“I can tell you exactly. I published academically: books…research articles but that was part of my work. After writing six novels in 10 months, I still could not call myself a writer. In December, 2022, I was at Vero Radiology and a mom and her little girl were there. The little girl was reading a book and I said to her, ‘I see you like books.’ She appeared to be about 3 but her mom said she was only 2 ½ years old. She said, ‘I do.’ I told the little girl, ‘I am glad you like books because I am a writer.’ That’s when I first owned it. It took a child for me to say that I am a writer.”
What’s the difference between writer and author in your opinion?
“Maybe it’s the great debate. I don’t personally differentiate between them but most people see a writer as anyone who writes and an author as someone who publishes. We are in an age now where commercial publishers don’t control everything we have access to read; now, we have self- publishing and indie-publishing, so I think that adds to the discussion of what an author is.
What do the words “writers block” mean to you?
“For me personally, I haven’t really experienced it. I have pauses of time where I am not writing but when I get back to it, I realize my thoughts are in my head always. The phrase- ideas play in my head- now makes sense to me. The words and ideas roll around and then it’s like ‘that’s it!’ In the detective series I’m writing now, I find this is more crafted. In the LoveIsACabin series, I found the words just flowed. In a detective series, there’s more challenges to keep a reader in suspense. Sometimes, I need to go back and put in new ideas to keep up the suspense.”
Are there therapeutic benefits to modeling a character after someone you know?
“That is funny. I think there could be. As I think about this question with regards to my Love Is A Cabin series, some of the characters—although not all—are modeled on real people I know. Realistically, they are more of an amalgamation of people I have known. I had warm feelings for my grandmother, but the grandmother in the book was not like my grandmother. Writing a grandmother in the series though gave me a new perspective on my dad’s mother. I struggled with who my grandmother was when I was a teen. She had what we now know is dementia. As I reflect on the grandmother I wrote, I think maybe it was my memory of the grandmother I knew as a young child.
What’s the most difficult part of the writing process?
“Doing it.”
How long have you been writing and when did it start?
“I used to write little stories when I was young in elementary school. I always had a fascination with words. I was named Bibb County, Georgia, Spelling Bee Champion at 11 years old. At the State Spelling Bee championship the word I missed was ‘sufficient.’ My mother said she could see on my face I was doing the rules – i before e etc. but ‘sufficient’ didn’t fit the rules. My teachers had excused me from homework but I did my homework anyway except for the night before the state spelling bee. This is my nature to follow the rules. For example, I did my homework even though I was excused from it (because I was studying for the spelling bee.) On the way home from the spelling bee, when I opened my homework, there on the first page was the word ‘sufficient.’”
What advice would you give to a writer working on a book?
“I have attended writing workshops much of my adult life and almost always I hear presenters say a writer should get out and write three hours a day. But they never said why. So I thought the comment was about the discipline of writing. What broke the rules was a Masterclass with Walter Mosley, a detective writer. He said, ‘You write every day for two reasons. One, you are not same writer today you were yesterday and you won’t be the same writer you are today as you were yesterday. Two, when you write every day, words play in your head.’ I’ve found this to be true. In ‘High on a Mountain” I wrote 1000 words the first day and on the third day, I was dreaming about it and I finished the first manuscript of 98,000 words in twenty-four days. Most novels are between 80,000 and 90,000 words.”
What to you are the most important elements of good writing and why?
“In fiction, it’s capturing the reader. When I am reading something, as we do in our writing groups, I am looking for the thread of where are you going with this and whether I have to guess because it’s disjointed -which happens. So, I think the clarity of what you write is important. Also, can your reader relate to your characters and is the story relatable?”
What comes first the plot or the characters?
“In general, we’re taught it’s the plot which honestly kept me from writing. For me, personally, it is the characters. It’s because I am a storyteller which comes from my mountain heritage.”
How do you develop your plot and your characters?
“In the first series, it just happened. I don’t know how to explain it. In the detective series, I find I have to keep track of the crime. Then, I have to figure out if the crime is the major part or if the crime leads to something else and may not be the major crime at the end of the story. I have to remember to go back, for example, and have a character pick up a pen she left at an interview with a person of interest. Most people think of a plot line like a timeline. We were taught the narrative of a story builds, then it’s done. Susan Conley gave me the best advice. She explained that it is really more like an EKG. It lifts, it spikes, then just when it catches a reader, it drops down and then goes up again. She explained that neither a reader nor a writer can sustain a straight line spike in a plot. You need to have a little release and build-up of suspense to keep the reader interested.”
What is your favorite part of publishing?
(Laughs) “In academic life, it’s different. I published with commercial publishers in that arena. When I looked at publishing these novels, having written so many books in a short time, I discovered in today’ s world you need an agent. The agent needs to find a publisher and if they do you are 12-24 months before the first book is published and they will only publish one book a year. I was 73 when I published my first novel. The chatter in writing groups, blogs, webinars on writing which I follow, generally say publishers don’t want to work with people over 50 unless it’s someone who already has a following. I decided to learn what’s involved in self-publishing and if I could do it. As an academic, self-publishing is a death sentence as you cannot get tenure; you need peer review. After a lifetime of academic work, the thought that I would publish my own book was a stretch. I decided if I was going to do it, I had to learn it. I honestly wondered if I had the time to try and publish traditionally. My effort in self-publishing had to meet the high standards I have for myself. I knew I needed to have a very fine editor. Most people make the mistake of not having a good editor. This is my best advice: pay for the best editor you can afford—not just a copy or line editor. You need someone to smooth out language and to read and follow the story. As an example, by book three, my editor said, ‘In book two, this happened and it wasn’t finished in book two but hasn’t been touched on in book three yet.’ She caught something I didn’t see. The other two critical parts of self-publishing I had to learn was finding a person to format my books, and a person who designs covers so I have control of this. One other thing I would say about publishing, I will always urge someone to try to publish traditionally, commercially. You can always self-publish.”
What do you say to an author who wants to design their own cover?
“If you’re in the commercial world of publishing, you really won’t own this as they will control the cover…if you self-publish, you can maintain control. The goal of a cover is to draw people to the book. An author sees something in their own head for a cover. I was firm on my cover that it cannot be the Rocky Mountains when it’s supposed to be the Smoky Mountains.”
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
“Aside from all the things I obligate myself to in my many volunteer positions, I generally start out re-reading what I wrote before, say a chapter or two and get back into my novel. Then, I can write anywhere from one hour to seven hours. My biggest challenge is uninterrupted time to write.”
What would you say is your most interesting writer quirk?
“Specific to the Love is a Cabin series, the only television I watch is reruns of ‘Maine Cabin Masters’ as they restore old cabins in Maine. People may find this quirky as it’s a DIY series where people are saving old cabins in Maine. I like the people doing the work and it’s relatable to the history part of the house like Bella going back to her 120-year-old home in the loveinacabin.com series.”
What 3 things does a writer need to consider before writing?
- “Who is the audience?” (this was an immediate response).
- “Understand why you write. I hear people say they just want write a book. if this is sole reason, it won’t sustain you.
- “Do you have a story to tell?”
Which characters do you relate to the most and why?
“In general, I like a character who has integrity and that is believable to me.”
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
“It’s the relationships between the characters. A reader emailed me saying she had just finished reading book six of my Love Is A Cabin series. She wrote, ‘As often happens, I hated to read the last page knowing these friends were not going to be around anymore. In your characters, what I appreciated the most is the love between family members. I think we all have something to learn about that.’”
What inspired the idea for the book series loveinacabin.com
“I attended a workshop a few years ago where the presenter had us write a noun on one card and an emotion on another card. He collected all of them and passed them out randomly. The cards came I got were ‘mountain’ for the noun and ‘terror’ as the emotion. So I had to write something about ‘Terror is the Mountain.’ In December, 2020, Carla in my LRJF writing group and I talked about this and she sent me a list of nouns and a list of emotions. My academic background would not let me look at list thinking my choices wouldn’t be random. So I had to decide how to choose my noun and my emotion words from this list. I have 5 children and 4 grandchildren so I picked the fifth noun and the fourth emotion words from these lists. The two words were ‘love’ and ‘cabin.’” People tell me I have a big heart so when the words love and cabin came at me, it just opened a floodgate.”
How do you celebrate when you finish a book?
“I talk with my daughters when I finish the book. I don’t do anything grand. I thought it would be a big let-down after publishing the last book in the first series. Instead, I felt good that I set a task and I did it. I wrote six books in ten months! That for me is the satisfaction-the celebration.”
Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself?
“Yes. I grew up in the South and we were taught to hide our accomplishments and to be dismissive when we were acknowledged for them. I never thought I was good enough. I have received many awards in my academic career and even with all that, it was never good enough. What this series has done for me is it has given me a creative outlet and a sense of satisfaction of doing something for the satisfaction of doing it.”
If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, what would those 3 words be?
(Laughs) “How many times have I asked myself this question of others in job interviews? For me, it would be loving, giving, and intellectual and those don’t always go together.”
What’s next?
“One of the sad things about developing characters is letting them go. When I knew the first book series was done, I pulled a character out of the series and put her as the protagonist in the detective series. Yes, so now I am writing a detective series. After that, no plans. (laughs) This is all so new for me. And this new detective series is different because each novel is separate so I don’t know how long this series will be.”
What do you do when you’re not writing?
“All of the volunteer work I do includes VP Operations for LRJF.org which is a small non-profit foundation which has grown and as we have, we have had to create policies and structures to function. I am also on the exec committee of Vero Beach Friends of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra (ACO.) And, I just came off five years on the United Way Board as chair on Education Pillar (one of 3 pillars) I am also active in the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and recently did a talk for them on the development of perception of self and in girls and young women.”
What snacks do you eat when writing?
“I don’t eat when I’m writing. I should write a lot the time! If I do snack it would be cashews. I have deep respect for cashews after living in Brazil—as it’s a single pod of the plant and has to be retrieved by hand.”