Featured Author of the Week – Jackie Collins

July 16, 2023

Today, on a thundery close #SublimeSundayReading afternoon, I’m pleased and privileged to present the last of the three authors of the newly released book, Telling Tales and Sharing Secrets.

Jackie Collins rounds off what has been a grand series.

Let’s go now to Jackie and Patty as they chat about Jackie, the book and whatever else pops up.

Patty:

Welcome Jackie. I’m excited to have you here in Patty’s worlds. Let’s leap right in.

First, in your own words tell us a little about you.

Where do you live?

Jackie:

I am a native Nebraskan from the small town of Cairo, living there until I was forty-eight. We then journeyed to Minnesota in 1989, naively thinking we understood “cold.” What a shocker living in Minnesota for eight years, vowing to move to Tucson, Arizona to heat our brittle, frozen bones. It was in Tucson I met and joined our writing group, one of the best actions I made for myself personally. We waited until all three children graduated from high school and sped the moving van as fast as possible to Arizona. What a wonderful time those twelve years were before relocating to Berthoud, Colorado in 2009, a small town that is located between Longmont and Loveland and thirty minutes east of Estes Park. It’s a perfect location and much easier to visit family in Nebraska. With this moving history, you might say we are “rovers.”

Patty:

Who are the special people in your life?

Jackie:

I would say those living–my husband of fifty years, our three children with our two girls living nearby, our son living in Minnesota, our grandson and three granddaughters, plus my siblings and their families. Of those deceased are my paternal grandparents (great role-models that expressed love in so many ways), and of most of all, my parents. I was very close to my mother and though she’s been gone ten years now, I think of her weekly and wish I could continue to share with her my life.

Patty:

Do you have any pets? 

Jackie:

Yes. I’ve had years of pets, considering I grew up on a farm in central Nebraska. I loved our lambs, cows and their calves, our three horses, the dogs we had and even our way too many feral cats. Currently, we just have Rusty, a ten-year-old mixture of who knows what canine with an unusual talking voice he calls upon when excited or in need of more petting. His sentences are quite loud and lengthy. He has a big heart for little kids and though he’s nearly driven us over the edge many times with his various quirks, we love him dearly.  I also have a passion for wolf reintroduction into our state, though it’s a very, hot complicated subject.

Patty:

What keeps you going? I mean, like what inspires you and keeps you moving forward in your work?

Jackie:

An innate love of the written word. I’m inspired by so many gifted writers, so many wonderful books, people’s stories and of course, our writing group. We prod each other and hold one another accountable. Their writing is an inspiration.

Patty:

What is your favorite song? 

Jackie:

Les Miserable: “Bring Him Home”

Patty:

What is your favorite movie? Feel free to list multiple titles. 

Jackie:

West Side Story (recently by Spielberg), National Velvet, Best of Show

Patty:

What is your favorite book? Feel free to list multiple titles

Jackie:

Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley, Educated, These Precious Days, Grapes of Wrath, The Red Pony, Old Jules, These Were the Sioux, The Old Man and the Sea, Paula, Angela’s Ashes, and many, many more.

Patty:

What is your favorite food? 

Jackie:

ANY Mexican dish, especially Tres Leche cake, chocolate and more of it, big gooey cinnamon rolls, blueberry pie, Grandma’s sour cream raisin pie, Mom’s peanut butter fingers, sourdough bread, curried Thai food, thin-crust and thick on the ingredients pizza, plus good red or white wine. No oysters or liver, please.

Patty:

What is your favorite quote?

Jackie:

In regard to writing:    “Writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things–childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves–that go on slipping, like sand, through our fingers.”
―Salman Rushdie

Patty:

What is your favorite affirmation? Does it in some way relate to your work?

Jackie:

“May all people be well, may all people be happy, may all people be free.” (repeated every class by my yoga instructor). 

Patty:

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Jackie: 

When people are too blunt and aren’t really being honest, just using that method to be hurtful. Also, when people DON’T listen. The conversation or question they ask you always reverts back to them. Drives me nutso.

Patty:

What do you think your best strengths are, and how do they help you in your work as a writer? 

Jackie:

I care about others, I listen to them, I admire the strength and humor of others. As a writer, I listen or read the story of others and try not to judge. It is their truth. My strength becomes telling my own truth through words simply. I write with the hope it is relatable to others.

Patty:

What are your weaknesses, do they hinder your work, and how are you making them stronger? 

Jackie:

NOT sitting down to write. The more days spent away from the computer, the less I want to write. Another prevalent weakness is believing not anyone wants to hear what I have to say. I’ve written a memoir, but it feels too self-centered to be writing about my life. It seems I am in a generation of “what about me?” writers. Not journaling hinders my work and I don’t know why I haven’t been doing it for quite some time now. I clearly need to work on that.

Patty:

What is your dream for the future, and how does it relate to your work as a writer?

Jackie: 

My biggest writing dream has been fulfilled. I wanted badly (for years) to capture our writing group stories into a book. We are getting older, and I didn’t want them to disappear into a file drawer. It’s been important to combine the stories, to reveal who we were as a writing group. Life always changes course, so it was important. Our hard work and commitment writing and publishing a book produced an everlasting memory. It’s been a dream realized.

Patty:

What is your preferred way of communicating and how can someone best reach you if they should wish to buy from or work with you in some way?

Jackie: 

Email is the best way to reach me. My email is: jkc.doggonewriter@gmail.com

Patty:

Before you go, is there anything you’d like to add about yourself, or your work that I’ve not asked?

Jackie:

I know Sally has written very well the history of our writing group. I’d like to say it has been one of the most important journeys I have given to myself. Not only did the act of “belonging” improve my confidence and skill in writing, I learned how very different writing styles can be and yet relay a similar message of what is love and loving, feelings during painful events, the trust needed for confidential disclosures, the soul of friendships.  I would encourage any writer to join a writing group and hopefully, it will last as long as ours has. The rewards are difficult to relay in words—even for writers!

Read and enjoy our book, Telling Tales and Sharing Secrets and our website: writerswrite.com. You will get a “picture” of who we are, the catalyst for writing our book, and examples of how our writing group stayed together for so many years. It was a joy to write it and may give some ideas not only on forming a writing group, but on writing itself.

Reference information:

A Way With Words

Find our new book here:

Amazon: Telling Tales and Sharing Secrets

Barnes & Noble: Telling Tales and Sharing Secrets