For writing out loud: Writer Wednesday: Jim Jackson

It’s not every day you meet someone who claims to have interviewed the devil herself or co-written a book that may contain MSG. You see, when it comes to meeting writers, there are so many wonderful new versions of the word weird that you’ve yet to encounter. Jim not only looks like the lovechild of Hugh Lowry and Glen Hansard, he also loves wine and not only writes a mean tale, but is all for helping you learn how to harness YOUR own brand of weird. In short, Jim Jackson is an author, an educator, and a gentleman, who loves wine… and writing some weird shizzle. In long…. Well, best read below to see how far this rabbit hole goes.

1. Greetings and salutations, Jim. How’s it hanging, what’s for dinner, and who is Jim Jackson and why should people perk up and pay attention when they hear your name?

Hi JD. Great to be here in the inter-ether. Dinner will probably be fancy, but my breakfast was a spoonful of peanut butter. Where’s that food pill the 50s promised us?

And I guess I’m pretty much like everybody else – vintage leather jacket enthusiast who writes about dealing with the devil, hopping corpses from Chinese mythology, and accidental threesomes.

That’s what everyone does, right?

I’m also incredibly cool. You know it’s true because I said so.

2. Your taste in writing is as eclectic as it gets with current and upcoming titles running quite the gamut: How to Tell a Really Good Story about Absolutely Anything in 4 Easy Steps, Stones in My Passway: A Novel in Blues, Kiss of the Cockroach Queen, Dispatches from an Accidental Sex Tourist. Where do you get your inspiration and how do you decide which project you will go for?

At the risk of sounding all writer-y, artist-y, I honestly have no idea where the inspiration comes from. I wish I could say “walks in nature” or whatever, but I just don’t know. It just pops in there. I like to call it the muse, because that makes it sound all writer-y and artist-y.

I’d always wanted to write something using the language and the ethos of blues music. So, when I needed an idea for NoNoWriMo 2016, I went with that. That’s where Stones in My Passway came from.

As for what projects to go for? That’s a tough one. The muse (see? that sounds artist-y) gives me more ideas than I can write, so there are tough decisions to be made. Do you stick with the work in progress you’ve committed yourself to over however many months and years, or do you chase after the slutty new idea?

3. Apart from an author, you are also an educator. What can you tell us about that and how do you balance this wonderful creative juggling act?

Really Good Story came out of this part of my life. I teach public speaking, and I always tell people to start with a personal story. Eventually, I realized not everyone knows how to do that when talking about something like international tax. I brought the idea up with my boss at the time – maybe we should do a webinar? Story-based learning is my area of expertise.

Tepid response.

Tried again later, same thing.

So, since I knew there was a market for this, I just went ahead a wrote the book. And it’s done remarkably well.

I loved the process so much – both writing and publishing it – I went ahead and became a writer.

As for balancing it – who told you I was any good at that? 😊 It’s more of an awkward, grinding shifting of gears to go from teaching accountants not to sway on their heels to writing hard boiled, mythic beings on the streets of modern Hong Kong.

4. All 4 of your titles are rooms in a fun house. What’s in each room?

Really Good Story – people. The people I’ve talked to who have really good stories. Flight attendants, teachers, bartenders – everybody. (You’re still allowed to kidnap people you find interesting and lock them in a funhouse room, right? Only the interesting ones, though).

Stones in My Passway – a harmonica, a buzzing electric guitar amp, a stack of old records and a homemade paper maché devil on a spring with tinny, mechanical laughter on a loop.

Curse of the Cockroach Queen – a map of the Hong Kong subway, the eight-sided, feng shui ba gua and cockroaches. Lots and lots of cockroaches. Swelling from a hole in the floor in such great mass they’re crushing the ones on the bottom. (Anyone still reading?)

Dispatches from an Accidental Sex Tourist – peek in this room, and all you see is plain, brown paper wrap covered in various Chinese Communist official stamps. But there’s a torn corner where, if you look closely, you can see a fold of what’s definitely skin, but you can’t tell what part of the body.

5. We can learn a lot about a writer from what they read, what are some of your fav books you read from last year?

Reading? What’s this reading you speak of? I’m a writer – I don’t have time to read!

But seriously, last year I read mostly the new publications from other authors on the local scene. Two short story collections stand out – Rob Bose’s Fishing with the Devil and Sarah L. Johnson’s Suicide Stitch. Great stories to read while shaving – they’ll make the hair stand up straight on end.

As a bit of research for Cockroach Queen, I also read a couple Carter Brown pulp mysteries from the early 60s I was lucky enough to find at a Value Village for a quarter each. The Hong Kong Caper and The White Bikini. Those were fun.

6. You’ve been among several wonderful and wonderfully varied authors I’ve interviewed from Canada who are represented by Creative Edge. Describe your Writer Journey before and after you joined forces and what’s been the biggest lesson from this partnership?

I’m not sure I’d even call it a “journey” before joining up with Mickey at Creative Edge. It was a writer’s wandering. No direction. And not in the good way.

Mickey has exposed me to things and people that I wouldn’t have found on my own. I prevaricated for about year, maybe more, whether I wanted a publicist or not. Bad idea.

Biggest lesson? Wish I would have signed earlier. Mickey’s great, and the stable of other authors at Creative Edge are talented, supportive people.

7. If your writing process was a recipe, what would go in it, how would you prepare it, and what would go great with that dish?

You need to start with pre-heating the oven. Well, you need to start with having an oven. For me, that’s the fantastic group of writers that have been kind enough to accept me in. We have a great scene here, and there are four or five people who I can say I have a real bond with.

After that you take a big ol’ hunk of ambition that isn’t being used elsewhere. Chop that up, though, or else it’ll overpower the dish.

Then, prepare some ideas for scenes on sticky notes and have these ready for when you need them. Mise en place is important.

Then, get up before the rest of your family, add a cup of strong, black, Chinese tea to the mix and toss everything onto a sizzling keyboard. Type hard and type fast.

Then, let it sit for a few months. Taste. Wretch because it’s terrible. Season liberally with editing until tolerable. Let friends sample. Bleed a little from stingning comments. Season with more editing. Cross fingers, smile and present.

8. Inspiration comes in many shapes and forms, what inspires you?

Inspiration. Yeah. Hm. Like I said, I wish I could say it was long walks in nature or spending time in rainy used bookstores, but, honestly, I don’t know.

I sit down to write every morning, and sometimes inspiration comes. (Sometimes it doesn’t, but I still write). But when it’s there, it’s like it comes through me. Like the ideas are already there somewhere, and I just need to move my fingers along the keyboard to take them down.

Call it the muse, psychosis, whatever. I try not to look too far into it. It works. Good ideas and good writing come out of it. I don’t want to break whatever mechanism does that by taking it apart.

But I’ve found a great way to have great ideas is to go out without a notebook or pen. Good ones always tend to show up then.

9. What are some of your writer goals for the next couple of years?
If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have had a different answer. Something about just getting more out there. (There’s a second Hong Kong pulp that’s half done, and the first one isn’t out yet).

But, on the advice of other writers, I’ve been doing some of what I call “R&D” writing. Stuff not meant to be put out the world.

And I’ve discovered a whole new style. A whole new subject matter. There’s this dreamy, romantic quality to it that’s different from anything I’ve done since writing songs in my teens. I want to see where that goes. That kind of writing feels good. I’ll come back and let you know where that went.

And, speaking of songs, it’s always been a goal of mine as former songwriter and musician to put out a record. So I’ll be working on that.

10. And finalllyyyyyyy… if people can’t get enough of you, where can get they in touch with you?

www.reallygoodstory.com

twitter: @jacksontron

Instagram: @jackstontron

facebook: facebook.com/jim.jackson.author/

www.accidentalsextourist.com
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I’d like to thank Jim for sharing some time with us and if you want to learn a bit more about his work, below is some more info to see if you find something that whets your appetite.

Peace, love, and maki rolls

Existing and upcoming works by Jim Jackson

How to Tell a Really Good Story about Absolutely Anything in 4 Easy Steps
The only how-to book about using the power of story to make your life a little more awesome

Stones in My Passway: A Novel in Blues
A folklore-laden, bluesy trip to the devil's crossroads with bluenotes and hellhounds tripping behind the beat