Today we are sitting down with Jacki Kelly,
whose first Passion in Print book
- The Sweet Road Home -- will be released Nov. 17.
Colleen: Jacki, thank you for spending some
time with me today. First, tell us why do you write?
Jacki: I’ve always been that
person that cheered for the underdog or saw a news story and wondered how it
turned out. Writing gives me the opportunity to tell their stories and end them
the way I think they should. It gives me the chance to live in the world that I
built.
Colleen: Where/when do you like to build those
worlds? Do you write everyday?
Jacki: The majority of my writing is done in
the evening, between 7 and 10 pm. That’s when the pressures of the day have
subsided enough to allow me to be most creative. I write or do something writing
related every day, whether it’s revising, editing or research. I even write on vacation. I can write
almost anywhere. While I do most of my writing at a desk, it’s not unusual to
see me writing in bed, at the airport or even on a beach.
Colleen: What is your least favorite book you
wrote?
Jacki: I really don’t have a
least favorite book. If I don’t like it, I keep revising until I get it right.
I have some manuscripts stuffed in my desk drawer right now waiting on my
attention. No one beyond my critique group will lay eyes on them until I think
they are the best that I can do.
Colleen: Well, I would love to take a peak at
them! So are you a plotter or pantser?
Jacki: I’m definitely a plotter. I need to
know where the story is going and how I plan to get there. I’ve found out the hard way that this
also makes me much more productive by not spending time dreaming up scenarios
that don’t mesh together at the end. Even though I have an outline, my characters
have been known to highjack my manuscript and take it in another direction.
Colleen: Last question - do you listen to
music while you write?
Jacki: Yes, music helps to set the tone for
the scene I’m writing. My music
choices vary depending on what I need to accomplish that day. If I’m writing a love scene then I
might pick something mellow and relaxing. If it’s a conflict scene I’ll chose
something more upbeat, maybe something with a lot of bass. Believe it or not
each of my manuscripts has a theme song. A song that I play before I sit down
to write that helps bring those characters to life and to ground me in the
story.
Jacki Kelly has been writing
since her fourth grade teacher made her keep a journal for a grade. Now she
does it to keep track of all the fascinating and heartbreaking moments that
life throws our way. Poetry, personal essays, short stories and novels have all
occupied space in her heart and her hard drive. Jacki
can be found at http://jackikelly.com/ as well as on twitter and facebook.
