Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carol Jameson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Carol thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

When I first began submitting work for publication, I had an ‘in’ to a publisher from a well-known writer. He suggested that I send my collection of short stories to John Martin at Black Sparrow Press, which would have been quite an accomplishment had it worked out. Unfortunately, the press went out of business before Martin could publish my collection. He wrote me a very nice ‘rejection’ letter, saying that the collection was certainly publishable and to not give up.

While this may not have been a ‘failure’ on my part (I had no control over a press going out of business), I felt like a failure. Why hadn’t I sent the collection in sooner? Perhaps if I had, I would have gotten it published and, frankly, the whole trajectory of my career as a writer would have changed. However, since this didn’t happen, I took another route, focusing on my teaching at the Community Colleges while continuing to write.

I have NEVER stopped writing!

I believe the lesson here is that even when faced with obstacles and ‘failures’ that, as a creative person, it pays to never give up. I think after so many years of practicing my craft it has gotten better even without ‘publication.’ Because of this, my first novel, Adam and Leonora, is stronger than the collection I first submitted so many years ago.
One can always get better and stronger with perseverance and a little bit of fortitude.

Carol, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into writing in my mid-twenties after graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Literature. It was a time of uncertainty and self-doubt. I was dating the poet, Owen Hill, who was very serious about his craft. One day, I was bemoaning my lack of purpose in life and he told me, “Why don’t you write!”

I had, in the back of my mind, thought of being a ‘writer’ but it was a big step to take that to the next level and call myself a ‘writer.’ I didn’t do this for years, though I did take his suggestion and began writing very brief slice of life vignettes. I took a creative writing course from the writer Toby Kaplan at Santa Cruz Adult Ed, who gave me my first taste of writing workshops and critiques. From there, I moved to Oakland, was accepted into the MFA Creative writing program at Mills College. It was here that my mentor, Josephine Carson, gave me the push I need to develop my writing beyond short short fiction into longer stories. Now, while I still enjoy writing stories, my focus is on novel writing. I’m very proud of my first published novel, Adam and Leonora, out this summer of 2024.

I often have conversations with people who say to me, “You’re a writer! I’ve always wanted to write” but then wistfully shrug, letting the words and the desire float into the air. I would tell these folks—write! It doesn’t matter what you write—journals, stories, articles, research papers—just put the ideas down. You’ll be surprised at what appears if you give yourself the space and time (it does take time!) to see what transpires.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My ‘side hustle’ is teaching writing at the college level, at both community colleges and private universities in the SF Bay Area. Because this teaching paid the bills, I honed this profession into what amounted to a full-time gig. (Even though I was always a ‘part-timer’.) I honestly enjoy working with students on their writing and have had the privilege to work with writers from all over the globe and from all walks of life. Many of my students have been English Language Learners and so I’ve learned strategies to help improve their writing; others have served in the armed forces with varying degrees of comfort and experience in academia. I have learned much from my students about life and challenge.

The key milestones were obtaining my Master’s Degree from Mills College that enabled me to teach at the college level. And then, landing various teaching jobs early in my career until settling at John F. Kennedy University for a decade of writing center work and Golden Gate University for several decades of teaching. (They often overlapped.)

The publication of my novel, Adam and Leonora, is the biggest milestone of them all. My writing is out there in the world now and I hope to continue writing and publishing as a result.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, writing gives me a sense of purpose and an outlet for my imagination. When I have an idea in my head, it can swim around in my brain and then float out my ears with nothing to show for it. But when I take that idea, put it down in writing, and see where it takes me, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment. Here is something that ostensibly came from nothing.

Before I began writing in earnest, I did have the creative outlet of playing the piano. And while this is my first love, it doesn’t have the concreteness that a story has when written down and certainly not a novel that has been published and is out in the world.

Writing gives me so much. And while I’ll be the first to admit that it is hard work and it often doesn’t come easily, if I do sit down and commit ideas to the page, I am happy I did. Whether it’s worth publishing or not.

Writing is the path, for me, to fulfillment, joy, and accomplishment. I’m proud to finally call myself an author and look forward eagerly to what the future holds for me as one. I have two projects in the works: my collection of short stories, tentatively titled, The Red Dress; and a novel about various shenanigans while working at Polar Bear Ice Cream in 1980s Santa Cruz. The working title for this one is Bad Attitude!

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits

Image 1 and 2, at Far Out Gallery and at the piano, by Ian Lambton
Cover of Adam and Leonora by Rebecca Lown Design