Inspirational evolution of Lisa Jackson as an author

It was a beautiful day in Lake Grove, Oregon. Lisa Jackson and her editor had been in the middle of planning a book. The sun was shining and the radio was playing in the car. The music stopped and an ad came on.

“What would you do if your teen was out of control?”

What if you sent them to a school to correct them? A mother came on and said, “I sent my child there and she came back as a perfect child.” As Lisa drives, she thinks to herself, “What if I sent my teen away? What if the teen got there and it was lousy?” After “what ifs” bounced around in her head, She turned back around, went home, and called her editor. “I’d like to write this story”.

That book came to be “Without Mercy”. Jackson calls it one of her favorites to write because “it was such an inspiration.” Who would’ve thought such a great book came from a leisurely drive?

Jackson was born in Oregon, and over her many years as a writer, she’s written over ninety-five novels. Books and education were a large part of her life. She studied English in college but never graduated. She got married and started working in banking. Though she had always wanted to be an author, Jackson had felt that that dream was “a pie in the sky”. It was unreachable.

Jackson and her sister, fellow author Nancy Bush, learned from a New York Times magazine about the rise in romance novels in the writing business. Young mothers had started taking an interest in them and wrote their romance novels. “After the last diaper was washed and bottle was cleaned”, they would take out their typewriters and type away. Bush and Jackson had never read a romance novel, but it was a great opportunity to try out writing them. They collaborated with another woman to create this story that would’ve been named “Stormy Surrender”, but it died after no editor wanted it. They split up, and it took Jackson another year and a half before she sold another novel.

Even though Jackson managed to successfully publish her first book, “there were many ups and downs throughout the years until most recently.” The market was constantly expanding, so Jackson and her sister made sure to keep up with it by constantly staying up to date with the trends so they could have a little more success. Even with all the ups and downs, Jackson kept the mindset that “you can’t write anything if you don’t love what you’re writing” or if you don’t love the process of it. This consistency had kept her focused and encouraged her perseverance over the past four decades.

When it comes to obstacles, many people could say not knowing what to write is the most difficult one. Jackson says the biggest obstacle was publishing the second book, as a common theme in the book/writing community is that the second book isn’t as good as the first. With a change of editors with different opinions as well as personal problems with herself and her family, successfully publishing her second book was made to be challenging. Consistency and perseverance were what helped Jackson overcome this.

Selectric typewriters were difficult to get, so breaking or damaging one was not a good idea at all. After Bush had sold one of her books, she was able to buy Jackson and herself typewriters during the 1970s. Not too long after having her typewriter, the cord of Jackson’s tied around a door and the typewriter fell to the ground. Gasp! It broke! Jackson was in disbelief. With no money to even get a new one, Jackson took it as a God-giving “sign to get a real job.” She took the sign and applied for a “real job”. While waiting for a callback, Jackson’s former co-author informed her that the woman in charge was accused of embezzling. Jackson cried but kicked her typewriter to get it back working again, even if the margins ended up being messed up. Surprisingly, Jackson had been writing a proposal about embezzling to her editor before this incident came about, and that book was sold as “Suspicions”.

In the end, rejections were just stepping stools to try new things. Eventually, Jackson found a great editor at Kensington, and she’s written for Kensington Publishing for about 20 years now. After many years of failure and success, She has been able to settle comfortably with “a very lovely career” with “wonderful people”.

She has continuously worked on books with her sister. They wrote the “Wicked” series together, and they are currently working on one to write for next year. Jackson said, “I could not write with someone I didn’t totally respect”.She and Bush have been able to write such successful books because they understand each other. Being a co-author isn’t a 50/50 job, it’s 100/100. Each person needs to put in full effort so they can understand each other and work together. “I wouldn’t suggest writing with someone you don’t respect” because you might enjoy their work, but it won’t be fun if the person isn’t great.
After getting asked about any accomplishments, Jackson voiced her joy and pride in her children and grandchildren. A single woman who made it on her own. When it comes to writing, Jackson is proud of having written 3-4 successful and popular series as well as being able to write stand-alone books that were successful. The same pride goes into getting on the New York Times bestseller list. But the main pride goes to writing a full book as it is something she still considers a major accomplishment. Going “one word at a time, one sentence at a time, one paragraph at a time, to one page at a time” and ending with 500 pages.

Jackson learned the best way to write such great books and characters was by being where the characters were and being in the setting. You have to feel what your characters are experiencing and convey it to the reader. Being as connected as possible with your story influences the greatness that you can create.

The advice given was, “believe in yourself”. Going through life, people will say “you’re not good at this, you’re not good at that”, so the only thing you can do is just push through. Jackson says that all of the obstacles she faced, drastic or not, were just reminders she had to keep at it. For people who want to do well in life, it’s best to just focus on your goals and keep at it, and for people who want to be writers, write two sentences for a plot. Expand that into a paragraph, then into 20 pages, and then 40 pages, and so on. Inspiration from anywhere inspires your writing. “Writing, if you’re not inspired, is just words on a paper.”