Today I'm chatting with author Jay Jean Jackson, who has shied away from social media, but has such a charming story to tell, as to why she now writes her books, that I wanted to share it with you.
It's lovely to be here! The first children’s story I wrote, The Tale of Totowa, came about because of my love for wildlife. I have always enjoyed writing, but never really thought of writing a children’s book before this.
I had travelled to many countries to see wildlife in its own natural habitat, wild and free. I love photography, and wildlife encounters were always so thrilling that it had almost become an addiction.
I can understand that, I'm a fan of seeing wildlife in the wild too!
There's nothing quite like it. My love continued and when I moved to Turkey, 19 years ago, and heard a loud chirping noise outside my window every night, I was excited and curious to see what creature it was.
Each night for weeks I would stand on my bedroom balcony or downstairs terrace, a torch in one hand and a camera in the other, searching in the dark. However, the chirping sound would very often stop as I crept about.
I had lost hope of ever discovering what this animal was. I had many disturbed nights’ sleep and must confess to feeling extremely frustrated, but my curiosity and love of wildlife kept me going.
That's perseverance! What happened next?
One night, I was again standing on my terrace searching in the dark with my torch, and the noise started again. It sounded so close, echoing around me. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t see it, but wait, was the noise coming from behind me? From inside the house! Could it have been in my house all along? I walked into my kitchen and burst out laughing. There, sitting on the edge of my dog’s water bowl, was a little green toad.
I was so dumbfounded I had forgotten to even take a photo, but my imagination was stirred and I started writing ‘The Tale Of Totowa’ the very next day.
Aww, that's really cute!
Unfortunately, once written, it remained unedited, and his story sat in the dusty archives of my computer, rather like Totowa himself, who must have been hiding all that time in the dust under my kitchen units.
I am not sure if I ever intended to do anything with it in the way of publication. I just wanted to write, and I hoped my grandchildren would read it someday.
So you had a manuscript collecting dust, but you have more published books now, so what happened to change that?
My next two books came about many years later, and for a very different reason. With thanks to social media, my childhood friend Alison reconnected with me. We had known each other for many years through the trials and tribulations of growing up. In fact, our mothers had been friends. Both had been nurses who had worked together many years before and had also stayed friends.
Sadly, Alison and I had lost touch, so I was delighted to hear from her again. She was now living in France and loving her life there. I was devastated when she told me she was unwell, and I knew she was very depressed because of it. I racked my brain to think of a way to cheer her up. Travelling to see her at that time wasn’t possible, and I came up with an idea that I hoped would help.
Whenever we spoke, we dreamt about meeting up somewhere and catching up on the parts of each other’s lives we had missed out on hearing about, so I wrote her a poem and asked her to write the next verse. I named the poem, I Wonder Where Our Bench Will Be? This is the first verse:
Where should our bench be?
Should it be where we have never been?
Should it look over a river or stream?
Should there be trees and grass, and flowers?
A picnic, perhaps, as we talk for hours.
Or should it be looking out to sea?
I wonder where our bench should be.
Perhaps a lake reflecting the sky?
A Paris cafe, watching passers-by?
Maybe a forest during spring or fall?
Or a snowy mountain 1000ft tall
I think I would like the sky to be blue
But as for the rest, it’s over to you.
The very next day, I was thrilled to receive a verse back from my friend. This became an almost daily occurrence, and our poem continued for months until we had finally caught up with so many of the adventures we had experienced.
After we had shared so many of our antics over the years, the poem ended, and Alison had started to feel low again. She wanted a new challenge, so I suggested we write a children’s book. She loved the idea but suggested that I write it and she would illustrate it. I got writing straight away as I had recently visited Mexico and met a cunning little raccoon I had named Bandito.
And these are the illustrations she sent over?
Yes. It was wonderful sending Alison each chapter I had written, and it was wonderful seeing my little characters come to life through her imagination, as she drew the pictures of them getting up to all sorts of pranks and mischief. One book led to another, and this is how ‘Douc’s Adventures In Mexico’ and ‘Douc’s Caribbean Cruise’ were created.
I am not sure I ever really thought about having a book published. I would often write, just for the fun of it. Sometimes about my travel adventures or something funny that had happened whilst working. Quite simply, I just enjoyed writing. I also enjoyed drawing some of the amazing creatures I met.
This is so lovely!
It is! However, eight years after my friend had sadly passed, I did wonder about publishing the Bandito and Douc books so I contacted my friend's husband. He still lived in France and we had kept in touch over the years.
When I asked how he would feel about me publishing the books with my friend's drawings he assured me that they had spoken about it and she had expected me to ask this question one day. I was amazed she had and was able to go ahead not just with his blessing but with hers too.
Aww, Jay, that's such a touching story.