Jackie Lynnley, From The Beautiful South, 822 Fans, 91 Hubs, Joined 2 years ago
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Nell Rose Interviews Jackie Lynnley
Insights from a Southern Bibliophile
Hi Jackie first of all, tell us a little about yourself, where you come from originally, and how you got into writing.
I live in the southern state of North Carolina, USA. I am from a small place called Avondale. Well, I was born there and lived there until age five, and I have quite a few memories from no more years than that!
I made up book reports in school instead of reading the book! I know that sounds horrible, but I will explain. (I suppose I started writing here without realizing it!) I made honor roll grades but I only managed that by getting my work done at school and on the bus. I had four younger brothers, and unless you have been there you cannot imagine trying to study around four romping boys! Besides, it was my job to look after them, not have my nose in a book. My sister, who is a few years older than me, added three more to the chaos before my brothers were very old. Not that they were with us all the time, but they were around quite a bit! I never really read anything other than literature in school (which I loved) until I got married and had four long years of no children!
Once I started reading I loved it. I would have a hard time saying what I loved best. Of course like many Americans, I would say Harlequins were my starting point, but then I went in every direction and I was a book critic long before I became a writer. I would always think about how a story could have been better, how I would have done it differently. I felt shame for authors who had to look in the mirror to see how beautiful they were! The only writing I did back then, though, was a Harlequin which got buried in Never-Never Land. In my twenties I mailed off a cute little story about my mom and me from when I was about ten. I mailed it to a magazine and never heard back. A couple of years later I read that story (not by me) in the same magazine. I would guess that was my first publication!
I only started writing after someone led me to HubPages almost four years ago to vent my anger about nursing home elderly abuse (and elderly abuse in general) after going through several years of it with my dear mother. I vented my anger for a good while and, although it was good to do that, I had to get over it before it killed me. A couple of HubPages friends, Nell Rose and James A. Watkins, gave me gentle and good advice that lead me into the poetry.
I noticed in your bio that you said you have always worked with books. Can you tell us more about that?
When my children were small I hated leaving them, so I created a job where I could take them with me. I started a book store and I sold books of every kind; the hottest, latest, most popular, and most loved authors. I soon realized I would have to read these authors to be able to talk about them with my customers. Now of course, I did not like them all, and I shut my eyes all the way through the Stephen King ones! I got to know the authors, though, the only way you can: through their writings. I much preferred LaVyrle Spencer to Danielle Steele, but I did not tell my Danielle Steele customers that! I read true crime, sci-fi, horror, romance, historical, even the westerns! Go Louis L’amour! (He paid the rent.) Historical novels were my favorite, reading and learning so much of the south, the land I love. There were male authors who wrote many of my favorites based on fact. Less romantic, but very good. It's strange, but after a while, the logic in my mind said it isn’t a waste of time if you are learning something! So I started reading nonfiction and books based on fact almost exclusively.
What brought you to HubPages? There are lots of different writing sites on the Internet, what is it about HubPages that makes you want to stay?
As I said, I came to shout about abuses of the elderly in healthcare facilities, but I stayed because you have a voice at HubPages like no other place. It has its quirks and seeming-injustices at times, but it is like a big huge room of people, and you can reach out to anyone you want to. You form friendships and have followers as you follow the ones you love to read. Again, I can read subjects from A to Z, besides getting medical advice and great recipes! I have finally found my voice for where I want to be, and I have many who appreciate my writings and let me know what they think. It is like one big family! (Or many big families.) Where else can you have that? Nowhere that I know of.
I have noticed that you write a lot of poetry. Is it your favorite subject to write? And what is it about poetry that you love the most?
I am very fond of writing children’s fictional stories and have several true stories at HubPages of me as a child. Those are such fun because they do not go deep and take emotion to write, so I will always love writing those. I made a fantasy family of rabbits in Run Rabbit Run. I gave birth to these characters, so they will always be real to me. I think of them ever so often and wonder what they would like to do next. So this is much fun for me to write.
Poetry somehow found me is all I can say. I started by writing poetry about my mother, like in Another Spring, and when I would finish the poem I would read it, and it was as if someone else had written it. The words were torn from my heart by my fingers in text, and many times reading would be so painful but so cleansing to my spirit. Many of my readers say my poems bring them tears, and many did for me too, on my first read. Then I was encouraged to write of other things in my life, and so hundreds of poems were born. Not everything I write is true or about me, but it is much better to keep the readers guessing I think. I touch some on spiritual subjects, and I do especially like those myself. I have a couple of sci-fi poems such as Forevermore, so I guess in a way all I have read has come out in my writings! What I love about poetry is that when a poem is being formed I may have an idea of what it will be about, but I have no idea where it will go. I cannot explain the high of emotion from reading it once it is finished. My poems really do become like a child to me in a sense, and there is my love of poetry.
Your bio also states that you have written over 500 short stories, poems, social articles and health articles too, along with a couple of children's stories. Have you published all of these as ebooks, or have you centered on your poetry?
I have lost count of my writings to date and although I am slowing down, I am not stopping. I have only published a children’s eBook and a paperback poetry book with my very favorite poems at this time. I also have a little of everything at HubPages of all that I do. I have no fear of running out of material! All I need is a good agent!
Jackie, do you have any advice for writers who are starting out on HubPages?
As far as I know, none of my material has ever been stolen, but since many have had that problem, I would advise new Hubbers to look into the legal way to protect their writings, first of all, if that is a concern. Being from the US, I have a US copyright on all my writings and it is very inexpensive, especially if done in collection form.
HubPages is like any other place online. You have people from all over the world, but we are somehow more tightly knitted, with a closer feeling. Do what feels right to you. Make friends or keep your distance. Take it slow and look around, find the circle that feels like home to you. Make it your world.
You love books, but who is your favorite author of all time, and what type of genre do you read? Does this give you inspiration to write?
It would be a close race between Robbie Branscum and Laura Ingalls as my favorite authors of all time. Both write very heartwarming books. For many years I read all the Laura Ingalls books from Thanksgiving through Christmas to the New Year. They made the holidays so very special. Maybe I learned from these two writers the skill of telling a story that captures the reader, for their books certainly did that for me. I would be happy to know I did the same for others.
I have read some amazing stories of your childhood and your wonderful family, and I have been drawn into those stories because they are so real. How do you manage to capture our interest by making the stories come to life?
Thank you. There is not a better compliment than having someone say they feel a part of your story. I have had a wonderful family and childhood, and I love going back there. When I tell these stories it is like I'm visiting those places at that time. I manage to relive experiences as I am writing, and that is how it comes out! It is as easy as that. I think it is very important to capture the feel of your writing as it goes down in words. I should point out here too that my mother was a fascinating story teller, and she never wrote one of them down, but they live in my memories as does the joy she had in telling them.
Is there anything you have learned by reading the Hubs of other writers? And if so, can you tell us what it is?
Oh, where to start! You get to know these writers either by what they write or how they write. Some share their life with you, their likes, dislikes, pain, sorrows, and happiness! Some share wonderful recipes (and yes, I really do try them and let the authors know how it was)! There are crafts, how-to's, health, economy, you name it. HubPages is so diverse, it is so family-like, and you can turn in all directions and find no two Hubs alike! I believe some Hubbers should be making as much money as the authors of the books I sold so many of. I truly believe that. I think what I have learned from my many friends at HubPages is that, bottom line, we all are human and we have the same needs in life. We have love and appreciation among friends and fellow Hubbers even if no one else gives us a thought. No one will ever feel alone at HubPages unless they want to.
And last but not least, tell us something about yourself that may surprise us. For example, do you have any unusual hobbies or musical talents?
I use to love dancing and did plenty of it, no kidding, but those days are gone. Besides writing, it is probably no surprise to my followers, but I am a photographer. Lately this hobby has taken up much of my writing time. Besides taking pictures, I spend hours each week separating and filing my photos into types. For about a year I have been compiling over two thousand photos I plan to share on HubPages. I have friends who love this picture or that and I am very protective of my pictures (such as the magnolia in my Still Magnolia poem). So, I have tried to be very generous and share as many types of pictures as possible for everyone. I am doing the thumbnails now and it shouldn’t be too long! With all my love!
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