Kathleen M. Jacobs - Writer
My Writings
Honeysuckle Holiday - Released Summer 2016
Honeysuckle Holiday centers on the life of twelve-year-old protagonist, Lucy. It takes place in the south, in the late 1960s. Lucy struggles internally to come to terms with her parents’ sudden and mysterious divorce. She finds herself thrust – almost overnight – from a world of comfort and privilege into one of near marginality. When her mother hires a black woman to help her, the situation intensifies. As the story progresses, Lucy learns the mystery behind her parents’ divorce – her father’s uncharacteristic, almost unforgivable immersion in the KKK. Lucy comes to shed her unknowing racism, taking her beyond the ideals of youth – her love of books and the trappings of childhood knit closely to her very fiber. She learns to peel back the layers of human frailty (her own included) painful piece by painful piece, while struggling to hold on to the comforts of innocence.
Out Of The Mouths Of Babes
As my nieces and nephews journeyed from picture books to storybooks to chapter books, it seemed as if what truly sealed their love of reading were middle-grade mainstays such as Charlotte’s Web, A Wrinkle in Time, Because of Winn-Dixie, The House on Mango Street and particularly (my favorite) To Kill a Mockingbird. As their thirst for more great stories grew, a seed was planted and sprouted: I should write a book to encourage young readers to turn their love of reading into a lifelong adventure.
Kathleen M. Jacobs:
Writing Advice and Harper Lee
One year after I began my teaching career at Charleston Catholic High School I was asked to teach a course in creative writing to rising seniors. As a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry I was delighted to accept the challenge and spent the early part of the summer pondering the perfect segue that would also become the touchstone of the course.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” had always been and continues to be my favorite novel, and the movie version was shown every year to my students, most of whom had never seen the film. As a writer, whenever I found myself paralyzed in a piece, I simply had to only open the book to any page, close my eyes, point to a spot on the printed page, open my eyes, and read. That simple exercise always provided the fuel
The Road Home
WV Living Magazine
One year after my family moved to West Virginia, “Howard’s New Life,” a 1967 episode of The Andy Griffith Show, aired on television. The story revolved around the character Howard Sprague’s decision to quit his job as county clerk after seeing a travelogue on TV about island life. He sees the opportunity to discover life as a beachcomber in the Caribbean, lying in a hammock all day, enjoying the view and living life on the beach. Ahhhhh..