An interview with Robyn Jackson

Interview conducted by Shyan Marie

Shyan: Your novel Lakota Moon is inspired by a true story. Why write a story based on an inspiration?

Robyn Jackson: Most fiction is inspired by reality, in one way or another. I think that the story finds the writer.

I read a very brief synopsis of Cynthia Ann Parker's life in Texas Highways magazine in the late 1980s when I was visiting my mother and stepfather, who was stationed in San Antonio with the Air Force at that time. Cynthia Ann was captured by the Comanche in 1836 when she was nine years old, and she eventually chose to remain with her captors and married into the tribe. Twenty or more years passed until she was found by Texas Rangers and returned to her white family with her little girl, who died soon after. Cynthia Ann died of a broken heart, unable to live with her biological family, who could not understand her or the choices she had made, and unable to return to her Indian husband and sons and the way of life she had chosen. Her story broke my heart, and I knew in that moment when I first read about her that someday I would write a novel inspired by her life. It just fascinated me, but five years passed before I was ready to write what would become "Lakota Moon." 

Shyan: Since your novel is inspired by Cynthia Ann Parker, why not use her story and character instead of creating your own?

Jackson: I wanted the freedom to create my own story and my own characters. And, Cynthia Ann's life is well-known by people who study the history of the American West, so I figured books had already been written about her, fiction as well as non-fiction, and I was right. I decided to write a story that has many similarities to Cynthia Ann's, because truth really is stranger than fiction, but I wanted to write about the Lakota, or Sioux, because I felt a connection to them for some reason I still can't explain. It's all the fault of "Dances With Wolves." That movie changed my life. 

Shyan: Can you tell us a little more about Lakota Moon in your own words?

Jackson: Lakota Moon is an historical saga about two sides of an American family, a love story, and the first of a trilogy set between 1845 and 1882 that focuses primarily on the Sioux Indians and their struggle to survive, as seen through the eyes of Mary Eliza McElroy, a young girl who is captured by warriors while traveling on the Oregon Trail. 

Shyan: Lakota Moon uses the term fade to black when it comes to the love scenes. With the publishing world steering away from such novels and toward steamy sex scenes, why write your own novel away from what publishers want?

Jackson: I wanted the love scenes to be sensual and romantic, but not too graphic. I'm not opposed to steamy sex scenes, but it just didn't seem right for this book. I guess I believe "less is more." Or maybe I wanted the reader to use their imagination. And I want people of all ages to be able to read Lakota Moon. I would have devoured this book when I was twelve or thirteen because it's a great love story, but the love scenes aren't too graphic for a reader of that age.

Shyan: Your characters and scenery come to life in your novel. How difficult did you find it to accomplish such a thing?

Jackson: I worked hard to make the characters act and speak realistically, and to describe the land in such a way that the reader could picture it. It took a lot of research and rewriting to add details. When I write, I can see the scene in my head, like a scene from a movie, so that helps, too. And I traveled to the Northern Plains several times to see where the story took place and to do research at places like Fort Laramie and the Black Hills. I fell in love with South Dakota and came to understand why the Indians felt such reverence for the land, and why they would fight to the death to keep it.. 

Shyan: What authors do you admire and why?

Jackson: Some of the novels I read in junior high and high school served as the blueprint for the kinds of books I want to write ... sweeping historical sagas with wonderful love stories at the center. I loved Boris Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago Leon Uris' Exodus, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Those novels had a tremendous impact on me as a reader and as a writer. They were all wonderfully written, and full of memorable characters, and I have very happy memories of reading them.

In the last few years, I've found three new novels that are so beautiful I wish I had written them. They are: Ursula Hegi's Stones From the River, which is about a dwarf woman in Nazi Germany. Trudi Montag is a wonderful character, and her search for love and acceptance resonates with anyone who has ever felt different or unattractive. Micaela Gilchrist's The Good Journey, which was inspired by the letters and diaries of Mary Bullitt, the headstrong niece of explorer William Clark and the wife of Gen. Henry Atkinson, who was in charge of the western frontier around 1820. James Welch's The Heartsong of Charging Elk, which is about a young Lakota man who is stranded in France while traveling with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. I was so worried about him, and so involved in the story that I dreamed about him every night. I also love Tony Hillerman's mystery series about Navajo tribal policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Those are two characters who grow and change with each book.

I love history and I love learning about different cultures. When I read fiction, I want to be transported to an interesting time and place, and I want memorable characters that I come to care about. Otherwise, why bother reading? 

Shyan: What was your writing schedule like when it came to working on Lakota Moon? Were there times you wanted to just give up and if so what helped you get back on track?

Jackson: I'm a night owl, so most of the writing was done after midnight on Saturday night. That's one reason it took so long.

I never wanted to give up, I was having too much fun. Letting go was the hardest part. I'm happiest when I'm writing and creating, and I loved my characters and loved spending time with them. There were nights when I didn't feel like going into my home office and turning on the computer, but I would force myself to leave the TV and go in there. Once I got started, you couldn't pry me away from the keyboard. I didn't go to bed until the sun was up.

Shyan: How long did it take for you to complete Lakota Moon?

Jackson: I started writing on Jan. 1, 1994, and it took eight years to complete it, but I also wrote the two sequels during that time. I worked on Lakota Moon for two years, took two weeks off, then started Mitawa on Jan. 1, 1996. I worked on it for a year and a half and then went back to Lakota Moon. But Mitawa begins eleven years after Lakota Moon ends, and I knew that some very important events happened during that time, so I started War Cry on Jan 1, 1999, to bridge the gap. So the third book I wrote is actually the second in the series. I always have to do things the hard way! I rewrote all three of them during 2001. I had a lot of illness and death in my family in 2002 and 2003, so I didn't touch the manuscripts for two years, but a few months after my mother died on Feb. 5, 2003, I decided to self-publish Lakota Moon. I did one last draft in July and August 2003, then shipped it to the printer. The books arrived on Dec. 9, 2003, so all told, it took almost 10 years to the day to get Lakota Moon in print.   

Shyan: With Native American Romance being your first choice in writing, if given the chance would you ever consider writing another genre?

Jackson: Absolutely. I want to write everything ... romance novels, contemporary fiction, a mystery series, Christian fiction, nonfiction, maybe even a cookbook or two!

Shyan: How long have you been writing stories and what made you decide to do so?

Jackson: I wrote my first short stories and novels when I was 12, but they were terrible, and I knew it. I just had to write. I knew from an early age that I was a writer. One of my favorite memories is standing in the doorway of the children's section of the public library in Gulfport,Mississippi, where I grew up, and looking at all those shelves filled with books and thinking, "One day, my books are going to be on these shelves." I was six years old then, so I guess I knew instinctively that writing was my destiny. I never seriously considered doing anything else.

I became a journalist because it paid the bills and allowed me to learn to write for an audience and get published. It was great training.

Shyan: What inspires you to write?

Jackson: Besides just loving to tell stories and invent characters, immortality. I want to leave something behind when I'm gone. I want to be remembered. I want my life to have mattered.

Shyan: You self-published Lakota Moon. Why did you decide to do so and would you recommend self-publishing to others?

Jackson: I had an agent a few years ago, and I got some nice rejections from major publishers. They liked the book, they just weren't looking for historical fiction, especially historical fiction that didn't fit neatly into the romance genre. I think romance readers would love Lakota Moon, but I don't classify it as a romance.

After my mother died of cancer, I started to think about how short life is, and how, if you have a dream, you'd better do all you can while you're able to make it come true. Mom died five months after being diagnosed, and I realized that if the same thing happened to me, I would not have time to go through a lengthy process of trying to find an agent and a publisher and then wait a year or so for them to publish the book. I decided to self-publish because I wanted to get Lakota Moon published while I was still alive. I also wanted to have my own business. After 21 years as a newspaper editor, I am burned out and need a change. Books are my passion, so being a book publisher is the next step in my career.

Self-publishing is a business, not a hobby. It takes a lot of time and effort and money to start your own publishing company. It takes about $5,000 to publish a book, but that doesn't include all the extra costs associated with starting a business. There are licenses and permits that you have to get, associations to join, travel expenses if you want to go to book signings and conferences, plus promotional costs to mail review copies. I just found out that I have to pay the state tax commission $300 for the privilege of paying them sales tax each month! Most of the start-up fees come out of your pocket before you ever earn a cent on book sales.

I don't have any regrets about self-publishing. After losing my grandfather, mother and father in a 15-month period, I needed something positive to focus on, and getting my book in print helped me get through this ordeal.

I thought it was worth the financial risk to put Lakota Moon out there and see what happens. If nothing else, the book is in print now and I can die happy.

If you're serious about turning your self-publishing venture into a business with long-term goals, do your research, save your money and then go for it, but if you just have one book you'd like to publish, use print-on-demand. It's cheaper and easier.

Shyan: Most readers/fans of your book have already heard there are two other sequels to this story. Can you give us a sneak peek of the two?

Jackson: War Cry picks up where Lakota Moon leaves off. You find out what happens to Goes Alone (Mary Eliza's Indian name) and Mysterious Medicine, but her niece and namesake, Liza, also becomes a major character. War Cry follows the Lakota through the years when they were fighting the army and trying to keep the whites from taking their lands. It culminates with the battle of the Little Big Horn and their banishment to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The third book in the series is set on the new reservation. Liza goes there to teach, hoping to find out what happened to her aunt, and to reconnect with the Indian side of her family. I don't think it's giving too much away to say that there's a strong love story in each book.   

Shyan: What other projects can we expect to see from you in the near future?

Jackson: So many people have been asking me when the second book is coming out that I'd better get busy getting it ready for the printer. It's written, I just need to typeset the pages and have the artist create the cover illustration. Oh yeah, and come up with the money. Other than that, I have a couple of romance novels in mind that I'd like to write. And yes, these romances will have steamy sex scenes! I plan to write to fit the genre to make them more marketable to the big publishers. And you can always check my Web site - www.robynjackson.com - for my latest column about writing and publishing. I update it every week. My goal is to help others achieve their creative dreams, so I offer lots of advice and tips on writing. 

Shyan: So many writers have difficulty with Writer's Block. What is your advice on the subject?

Jackson: Always think about your story before you sit down to write. Start working it out in your head - the plot and the dialogue - before you turn on the computer, so that you're not just staring at a blank screen and feeling intimidated.

Read over what you wrote the previous day and revise it to get into your writing rhythm. I always tried to write or revise a chapter each time I sat down at the computer, so the next day or the next week, whenever I got back to it, I would revise that chapter and then start on the next one.

There were times when I wasn't sure what happened in the next chapter, or how I was going to get from one point to another, so I would just take some time off and think about it. Driving is a great time for working out the plot or rehearsing the conversations between the characters. Your mind needs time to wander. That's when the answers come.  

Shyan: What other advice would you give to inspiring authors?

Jackson: You have to make the commitment to write. That's the only way it will get done. And you have to be in it for the long haul, without any guarantee that it will ever be published. You have to do a lot of rewriting and keep challenging yourself to make it better. It can take years to write a novel, especially your first one, but it will be time well-spent. .

Shyan: Any final thoughts or comments you would like to add?

Jackson: The Bible says to everything there is a season, and I believe there are seasons in our lives when we are able to do particular things. If you are raising children or working 60 hours a week or going through some sort of emotional turmoil, you might not be able to find the time or the energy to write. Eventually, you will come to a time in your life when you are able to write, so don't give up on it, but don't beat yourself up if there are outside forces keeping you from writing. Stay open to the possibilities and if you're lucky, a story will find you, and one day you will tell it.

Shyan Marie would like to thank our Author Robyn Jackson for taking the time out of her busy schedule to do this interview.

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