Novel Approach: Writers group’s support propels local authors

Despite only knowing each other since around 2017, local authors Jacque Jacobs and Bonnie MacDougall have a lot in common. Prior to retiring to Vero Beach, each was a college professor and, although they had written academic papers and the occasional story, they got their start as novelists after joining the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation’s Tuesday Writers group.

Jacobs has written six novels in her ‘Love is a Cabin’ cozy mysteries series – ‘High on a Mountain,’ ‘Life on a Mountain,’ ‘Settled on a Mountain,’ ‘New Beginnings on a Mountain,’ ‘Community Unites on a Mountain’ and ‘Holidays on a Mountain.’ She is currently working on another three as a detective series, with a character pulled from the others.

MacDougall’s books are stand-alone novels. ‘Something Terrible about Love’ came out in November 2022, ‘Love, Ruthie’ is about to come out, ‘Those of Us Who Lived’ is completed but not yet published, and ‘What Must Be, Shall Be’ is a work in progress.

Jacobs earned a PhD in educational leadership from Southern Illinois University and taught graduate classes for many years before retiring from Western Carolina University in North Carolina.

Asked where else she worked, Jacobs says with a laugh, “More places than you have room for. I lived on five continents as an adult, so my life wasn’t typical of other people’s. We were both educators and wanted to see the world, so we found a way to do it.”

MacDougall obtained her PhD in 16th century Renaissance literature from Columbia University in New York City, and retired as professor emerita after 39 years from Bergen (N.J.) Community College.

Their paths converged when they met at the Tuesday Writers, one of now seven LRJF writing groups, who give each other support and advice.

“People want it, and we’re really proud of that. That’s what we want to be for this community; a place where people feel safe and can write and give feedback,” says Jacobs, LRJF vice president, noting that peer review is invaluable.

Jacobs recalls being encouraged to write a novel, but didn’t think she had one in her.

“I’m of an age where we were taught distinct rules about writing. You had to have a plot line, you had to know your characters and you had to have a narrative arc, and I just didn’t see myself in that way.”

However, during the pandemic, she decided to give it a go. Although hesitant to follow the guideline of writing every day, a comment by crime fiction novelist Walter Mosley resonated.

“He says you write every day for two reasons. One, you’re not the same writer today as you were yesterday, and you won’t be the same writer tomorrow as you are today. Secondly, he said, when you write every day, words play in your head. Part of his talk also was making something of nothing, which is what writing a novel is.”

Jacobs started her first book on Dec. 4, 2020, and finished it in 24 days. She completed the series in 10 months.

“My family roots are in the Smoky Mountains, and although I didn’t grow up there, I grew up with all of the lore and the storytelling. I always say I’m like my father, I’m a storyteller.

He never wrote, but he was a storyteller,” says Jacobs, whose books reflect those colloquial mountain sayings and expressions.

“My father’s family are the Olivers of Cades Cove (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), which is the largest National Park in the South. And my mother’s people were in Knox County, Tennessee, since 1720. So we have deep heritage in those mountains,” Jacobs says.

“But honestly, the only way I know to explain it is totally organic. I sat down, put my hands on the keyboard and just wrote. The words just come out of me.”

She was also influenced by other aspects of her life, including her service in the military and employment in the records department of a police department.

“So, it’s in your head. I just say it lives on a brain cell,” says Jacobs.

Likewise, MacDougall has been collecting characters her whole life.

“If a person kind of mesmerizes me because they’re layered, there’s some conflicts there, I keep it in my subconscious,” she says.

In one of her books, the protagonist has a brother who in his youth murdered a man, spent time in jail and comes back 30 years later wanting to reconnect with his sister.

“That character was born when I was probably 10 years old. In my neighborhood, there was a boy who came from a really lovely, loving family. But he knifed his neighbor, an older lady, and I kept in my mind all this time, why? And how does he feel now? That is what really fascinates me; how the mind works to produce characters,” says MacDougall.

Her own experience with a badly broken arm contributed to the drawing of the heroine in “For Those of Us Who Lived,” a woman who endured a spinal injury when she was young.

And the boyfriend in the book was drawn from the incongruity of a tall, strapping male manicurist she knew who liked to hunt.

“He grew in my mind as a fascination because of how he was layered and interesting. It’s what I call the sausage theory,” MacDougall says, explaining that the casing surrounds an event that may have happened to her or someone she knows.

“But what I do is I take out the filling and I put a different filling in it. So, the event is the same but the meaning, the characters, the setting and the plot are all different things.”

They both say character development and ideas are constantly flowing.

“Things just come to me. I believe so strongly in the power of the subconscious, and sometimes if you sleep on it, the next morning you’re filled with images or phrases,” says MacDougall. “And so it’s that gift from, I guess yourself, that just come to you. That’s the wonderful part.”

Jacobs adds that she is always solving writing problems in her head. For example, on long drives, she might review the likelihood of an action, or decide whether or not sections pique interest, create enough tension or carry the storyline.

They agree that a serious amount of research goes into their novels to ensure they are accurate, for example criminally, historically or medically.

“Because as a reader, if I read something that doesn’t ring true to me and I look it up and you didn’t bother to find out the truth, I’m done with you as a writer,” says Jacobs. “So the authenticity of fact in a novel is important to me. It’s still a novel, but you don’t write a novel without facts.”

MacDougall agrees, saying, “I’m really interested in the psychology of my characters, but I also dip into history when it is appropriate, and I have to get it exactly right.”

The ladies each decided not to use a commercial publisher, preferring in Jacobs’ case to self-publish and in MacDougall’s to go with smaller independent presses, primarily because it’s a much faster process and does not require an agent.

“Getting an agent is like trying out for cheerleading,” says MacDougall with a smile.

Although the Tuesday Writers group is full, other groups have openings. For more information, visit LauraRidingJackson.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis