Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Jameson.

Hi Carol, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.

Today, I’m writing and teaching, both of which I’ve been doing for a long time. I think the difference is that my writing has taken on greater depth and meaning since my novel, Adam and Leonora, was published last summer, 2024. Because of this, I’ve done author interviews (live and written), readings at local bookstores, and currently am making the rounds to book clubs. This last activity is very exciting for me. I’m really looking forward to talking with groups who have read my novel and have questions and comments about it. I’m doing the first one locally, here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but see no reason why I can’t expand this to other areas of the country or even internationally via video conferencing.
I think I got to this place today because I was fortunate to have the privilege of university education, both undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, and graduate at Mills College. These years spent at university gave me the degrees to teach at the college level (I teach writing at local Bay Area universities), but also the access to professors and mentors who first guided me as a writer. I will always be grateful to Josephine Carson, my writing professor at Mills. I remember that when I first started working with her, I was writing very short fiction. She suggested I expand and write longer pieces. I resisted at first, but then she said, “Carol, you need to try writing longer stories, something new for you; you can always go back to what you know, to the short ones.” Since then, I’ve written half a dozen novels in addition to hundreds of stories (long and short). I think I owe her for my jump to novelist this last year.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

The road to becoming a published author has not been smooth. Since I was always teaching, I had to carve out time to write between teaching classes, grading essays, and commuting to various colleges. I had little time to pursue the added ‘job’ of trying to find an agent and publisher for my work. However, now that I am working less, I’ve had more time to devote to the publishing end of the business of writing. Frankly, I’m not a fan. I’d rather be writing. However, I am pleased that my novel has gotten out into the world and look forward to publishing a collection of short stories in the next year.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a writer and a writing instructor. My specialty is fiction, lately historical fiction, which I enjoyed writing, but I’d like to go back to more ‘autobiographical’ roots for my next book. I’m currently working on a novel about my escapades as a soda jerk in 1980’s Santa Cruz, tentatively titled, Bad Attitude. Yet, I’m also drawn to historical fiction and the worlds a writer can create from real characters in history. I’m obsessed with Clara Schumann, a pianist and composer from the 1800’s, and her relationship with her depressive husband, Robert, and a young Johannes Brahms, who may or may not have been her lover. What a triangle to explore (and create!)
I think what sets me apart from others is that, because of all my years performing in front of the class (teaching is at heart ‘entertainment’—if I can’t keep their attention, they’re gonna fall asleep), I am adept at spoken word events: readings, interviews, and festivals. Many writers are shy or have little or no experience in front of groups; I have years of experience of expressing myself and persuading groups. Thus, I’m more confident and articulate than many writers.

What makes you happy?

Oh, I love this question! What makes me happy is swimming in a warm pool or ocean and feeling at one with the water. As a lifelong swimmer, I have tailored my schedule to always accommodate swimming. Whether I’m taking those long strokes in the pool and creating a rhythm or floating in the sea next to Diamond Head in Waikiki, there is nothing that makes me happier.
I think I was a mermaid in my former life!

Pricing:

• 19.95 purchase price for Adam & Leonora

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.caroljameson.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carol.jameson.1485/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.jameson.1485/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-jameson-745b08b9/
• Twitter: https://x.com/seajaypurr

Image Credits

Cover art of Adam and Leonora, Rebecca Lown
Karen White Schneider, Author Portrait
Ian Lambton, Swimmer at Keller Cove, Richmond, photo