Brenda Jackson is the secretary for my ACFW group. Sadly, I haven’t had the chance to get to know her beyond a “hello” or “how are you?” As I formatted her answers, I realized that this project has been a good opportunity for me to get to know the people in my writing group better. I suppose the subjects in the interview come up from time to time, but at one meeting, there isn’t time to hear everyone’s story, or at least not in this kind of detail.
After reading through Brenda’s interview, I feel like I know her a little better than I did before and hope to get to know her better in the future. (And I think I’ll be reading one or two of those Zane Grey books from my grandfather’s huge collection.)
You can find Brenda at her blog, Arizona Inspiration.
MG: When did you know you wanted to write?
BKJ: Grade school—when I learned how to write my first sentence. I remember that feeling like it was yesterday. I was empowered and had found a new way of communication and a new way to dream. I knew from that very moment I was going to write stories. Had a poem published in the county newspaper in grade school then a short story in the state paper in high school.
MG: How long have you been writing?
BKJ: I didn’t get “serious” and focused about it until 2002. Started out writing screenplays with a friend. We had one make the quarterfinals of a national screenplay competition, but I just couldn’t learn to love screenwriting, so I switched to my heart’s desire – novels. But my only publication to date is a devotional in the book Devotions For Writers.
MG: How often do you write? Do you have a routine?
BKJ: Wish I could say I’m a disciplined role model but I’m not. I’m very obsessive about EVERYTHING. When I’m obsessive about writing, I do virtually nothing but. Then that has to cool off and I have to pay attention to something else in my life. At present, the “something else” category has precedence and I’m only working on my novel maybe 4 hours a week. Doesn’t make for a lot of progress.
And, I confess, I’ve found I love helping others with their writing just about as much as I love writing itself, and I end up spending more hours helping someone else with their story then I do work on my own. But it’s a way for me to express a servant’s heart. But I need to work on a better balance.
MG: What kind of stories do you tell?
BKJ: Largely I prefer to write 19th century American historicals that are action-packed and have male leads (at present not too common in CBA). I have a very definite leaning toward “buddy” stories and stories that explore the joys of various relationships – friends, brothers, comrades, etc.
In terms of spiritual themes, they often reflect what’s going on in my own life. Those painful times when we are certain God should’ve answered our prayers in a certain way but didn’t. How do we deal with that? Often God allows things in our lives that are painful and we may not understand why for years and sometimes not ever. But we still have to walk with the Lord. So if my stories can help even one person avoid a spiritual pitfall, it’s worth it.
MG: Do you have any other pursuits besides writing?
BKJ: Yes, pursuits and wanna pursuits. 8-) I’m an Administrative Assistant by day for a children’s behavioral health division, a field which I love, even if I don’t love the very long hours. My remaining hours are divided up between participation in crit groups, my own writing, teaching and assistant teaching in Youth Discipleship classes and Sunday School class respectively, and working with my dog.
I love dogs but I’m not good at training them, and thanks to someone introducing me to Cesar Millan’s techniques via The Dog Whisperer, my dog and I are both presently working very intensively at getting us both retrained so that we have a better life together.
I have a very great desire to learn to play banjo, learn to draw and paint and to learn clogging. Alas, at this point in my life, there is no time for it. But I keep hoping one day life will slow down so that I can explore these things too.
And, God willing, if my back allows, I hope to return to hiking all over beautiful Arizona.
MG: Do you have a favorite author and/or genre that you read?
BKJ: Zane Grey will always be my favorite. His novel Forlorn River is tops. I re-read it every couple years. And who can forget Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind? More recent authors are Nancy E. Turner, Alton Gansky, and Jerry Jenkins.
As to favorite genre, it’s western but it’s hard to find a good western these days or maybe my tastes are changing. Often they are either too violent, too sexy, or too mushy. So instead I read things like Jeff Struecker/Alton Gansky’s recent book Certain Jeopardy—good solid guy fic that has a lot of action.
MG: If you could keep only two writing books, what would they be and why?
BKJ: Numero Uno: Writing The Breakout Novel. Second choice is a little harder – every book on writing teaches you something of value. But I think I’d err on Donald Maass’ side once again and take The Fire In Fiction as my second choice. James Scott Bell’s books on writing run a close second.
MG: If you could visit only two writing blogs, what would they be?
BKJ: Wish I could say I regularly kept up with the blogs but it’s hard enough to find time to maintain my own. But off the top of my head I’d choose the blogs of Terry Burns and Karen Ball. But there are so many good ones.
MG: Why did you decide to pursue publishing?
BKJ: Administrative Assistants don’t make that much money, so if I am to be published, the chief reason would be to earn a little extra income. The other part is ego. From the time I was a kid reading Zane Grey’s books, I knew I wanted to write westerns. And when I took up writing seriously in 2002, I knew I wanted to become known as the person who wrote Arizona based westerns, or “Westerns with an Arizona Brand” as my site says. That’s still my heart’s desire.
I would also like to be published in time and selected as Arizona OneBook for 2012 – Arizona’s centennial statehood anniversary. I don’t want much do I? 8-) But God knows my heart and if those things are in keeping with His will, it will happen. If they aren’t, I’m still going to have the joy of having written these books anyway, so I can’t lose.
MG: What has been the most difficult aspect of trying to get published?
BKJ: I saw where Dhyana said in her interview “finishing the book.” That’s my honest answer. I’m not afraid of the effort at getting published—in fact I’ve had a couple people express interest in at least giving my WIP a look-see. I’m not afraid of rejections or other possible pitfalls. Getting the bloody book finished and submitted—THAT is the most difficult aspect. My publishing dreams are far bigger then my available writing time.
MG: What one piece of advice would you give other writers, either about writing or about seeking publication?
BKJ: Find a solid crit group to join, composed of committed crit members. You will:
1. Develop a thick skin (absolutely essential if you’re going to grow as a writer).
2. Learn to be invested in someone else’s writing career along with your own. Writing isn’t about only taking. It’s about giving.
3. Be a lot more polished before submitting to editors and agents.
Read more author interviews.
