Jacqueline Cross "Keeps Moving..." Visiting The Barn with Great News!

Keeping an Eye on You...

Hello Jacqueline Cross, Author and Friend traditionally publishing under the name Nadia Kilrick  ... Thanks for strolling on down our country road for a visit to the 'Anything But a Tired Barn'. I know you are under the weather, and I sure appreciate you coming on by ... 

To help you feel at home, we brought over a familiar friend to keep a keen eye on you...  I hope our Blog Fans appreciate your effort and to get to know you, and your work a little better... Again, welcome  to the Barn one and all...

JC:  Thank You for inviting me...  You know it was a lovely stroll ... a beautiful day in the country indeed...

GMB:  Jacqueline, what genre is Ziggy Returns? Why write in this genre in particular? What is it you like about this genre? 

JC:  Paranormal/horror. It’s a ghost story. For the most part, I’m not one who thinks too much about genre. I write a story and hope it’s good enough that people will want to read it and tell their friends about it. Once it’s written, I try to put it into the category where it most likely fits. I’ve always liked ghost stories. Perhaps it’s because when I read a good one, memories of sitting on the blue shag carpeting in the living room of my childhood home, listening while my mother told stories of her own childhood, flood my mind and heart. Most of her tales were suspense-filled, creepy and filled with ‘monsters’ found in the backwaters of the Florida panhandle. We couldn’t get enough of them. She should have been a writer.

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Ziggy Returns

GMB:  Please tell us here in the Barn why we will read Ziggy Returns and enjoy the heck out of it.

JC:  Hmm, it’s a short story with a little something for everyone; abuse, betrayal, friendship, secrets, love, remorse and forgiveness. And of course, it’s a ghost story. I tried to write it in such a way that it conveys each character’s emotions without any one being ‘in your face’. It’s my hope that anyone reading about Ziggy and Minna’s relationship will be able to understand Minna’s ability to forgive those who have wronged her and move on with her life.

GMB:  Nice ... Tell us more about Ziggy Returns.  Something to really get us interested in reading and sharing this story with others…  

JC:  Ziggy Fuller is a rough, self-sufficient man who lives off the land and likes to be in control. His generally unkind demeanor is made worse by drinking too much of the moonshine he makes and sells. He is a philanderer who has betrayed his wife more than once during their marriage. That is, until a foolish act leads to his death. Only then does he have regrets...

GMB:  Stop there ... *smiles*  We don't want to give too much away... I believe your description of the story is so intelligently presented. I'm stopping you here because I have  read and reviewed Ziggy Returns and come to know you through the wonderful world of the Master Koda Select Publishing Family...  I want your readers to discover all there is to discover about your stories...

JC: And thank you for the Review Mitch ... I do tend to go on... 

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GMB:  And we are also privileged to be able to visit with you about your September 7, 2013 release, People of Kilmservy Village - The Rough Hewn Trilogy, but I first want to share with our Blog Fans the Five Star Review I published August 2, 2013 and for Ziggy's Return.  In my Book Review, I wrote in part, "By the third chapter I was in love with the writing style conveying a Southern ease on balance with a Back Water sense of urgency. Living in San Diego at the time, I was one of the first in line to see the Blair Witch Project when it broke into popular mainstream. This storytelling continually had me reflecting on what I enjoyed about Blair Witch ... the 'tellin' and'no-telling'. *** An author to be sure to follow into her next project..." 

JC:  Thank you for the kind words...

GMB:  It was a fine read and here we are encouraged and now following you to your next project... *smiles*

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People of Kilmservy Village

 JC:  Yes ... we are here today celebrating the release of my new novel by Nadia Kilrick entitled  People of Kilmservy Village - The Rough Hewn Trilogy.  

GMB: Tell us about the writer you are ... the author producing these wonderful stories (and before we start figuring it all out) *grins*.

JC:  Oh gosh, I don’t know if you need to look into those dark corners. I’m sure the padlocks will hold so, we’re good. *snickers* Seriously, though, I live a simple life in the country and split my time between the Emerald Coast of NW FL and the green hills of the Cumberland Plateau in TN. I spend as much time with my grandchildren as possible. There are 10 of them from toddlers to a twenty-two year old. When I have the time (laughs hysterically) I also make quilts and my own soaps. And you thought you were going to learn some deep-dark secrets, didn’t you? *winks*

GMB:  Well there may not be any secrets revealed now, but in your stories, 'Oh My'  *winks back* Which appears first, when contemplating a new project: a character, the plot, or the title? 

JC:  For me, it’s the characters and plot simultaneously. The characters tell me their story and I write it. Then, I rewrite it. The title comes soon after I begin writing.

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GMB:  Now here we have  the blurb for your new release, People of Kilmservy Village - The Rough Hewn Trilogy...  Looks incredible ... Has your own life influenced your novels? If so, please tell us how … perhaps give us an example?  

JC:  Yes. As a writer, I’ve drawn from several personal experiences. That’s not to say that the stories you’ll read are based entirely on my life, certainly not. What a terrifying life that would've been to lead! Like every writer I know, I pick things apart, throw bits out and add bits in to create a world different than most people’s reality. By doing so, I hope to take the reader on a sojourn with me that they will (hopefully) see through the lives of my characters.

GMB:  Who is your favorite character you have created? Why this character? 

JC:  To date, it’s Carolyn ‘Carrie’ Dunsmorrest Breckenship from the ‘Rough Hewn’ Trilogy.  When we first meet her, we question her ability to make informed decisions, as well as, a seemingly ever-present weakness, leaving us to wonder if she’ll ever find the strength to stand up for herself. I like that her strength simmers below the surface where others, either, can’t, or refuse to see it - until her trials are such that she has no choice but to show the world around her how strong she has always been.

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GMB:  Going back to Ziggy Returns, and perhaps Kilmservy Village as well, the settings fascinate me … Tell us more…  

JC:  I love the hills of East Tennessee in the United States. They are a magical place to me - filled with ghosts of many of my ancestors and inhabited by a peace-loving, gentle sort of humankind. Problems between families are generally solved within the confines of the family and I like that there is seldom outside interference where family/friend/neighbor issues are concerned. That is, unless someone is in imminent danger and then the call goes out and the involvement becomes a community effort. Whenever I think of a setting for a story, my mind goes to these hills first. How can I set these characters in the sweet, misty-magical green hills of TN? 

GMB:  So incredible ... I find myself being drawn to certain places in the same way... Jacqueline, Tell us about a time when you, as an author had to slog your way through a ton of work. What was it and how did you get through it?

JC:  While writing & editing Ziggy Returns, I was working on edits of the ‘Rough Hewn’ 1 & 2 novels, writing #3 in the same, working on a book trailer and covers, writing a recipe book, doing research for two books I’m co-writing; one on mental illness and the other on prescription drug abuse. In addition, I was ghostwriting several gardening articles. In order to complete everything with some semblance of sanity intact, I had to break each piece down into its level of importance/urgency. I’m one who doesn’t like to let others down but I did have to drop the web content writing gig and put the two coauthor projects on hold in order to focus on fiction writing. Those simple moves helped tremendously. 

GMB:  So busy in deed ... we develop this passion for writing, and the next thing you know we are all making choices ... assuming priorities... Where do you see your writing career in the next five to ten years?

JC:  I hope to be settled comfortably into a full-time organized writing life within the next five years. I have several novel-length works in progress and notes for many others. The organization part seems to be an issue. So, I would love to find that switch in my brain that locks it in the ‘on’ position.  

GMB:  And for us all Jacqueline ... And for us all ... And I'd like to thank you for coming by the Barn today...

JC:  And I’d like to finish up by thanking you for having me here at ‘Anything But a Tired Barn’, G. Mitchell Baker. It’s been fun!  And I want to leave you with a little something from my 2013 Journals...

From the Journals of Jacqueline Cross, 2013

GMG:  Thank You Jacqueline ... So thoughtful ... And to "Keep Moving..." we will my friend...  Get well JC... We'll get you well-enough to truly enjoy the release of both your fine works... Sincerely... From all of Us in the 'Anything But a Tired Barn'... And Cheers and All the Best with your Latest and New Releases!  Sincerely, Mitch