Joshilyn Jackson
"Never Have I Ever" is Joshilyn Jackson's ninth novel.Joshilyn Jackson has battled autism, raised a family and published eight novels, with another on the way. The New York Times and USA Today best-selling author is in the promotional run up to the July release of her ninth novel, "Never Have I Ever."
In her spare time, the Decatur, Georgia, resident spends time teaching creative writing, composition and literature to women in Georgia prisons as a board member of Reforming Arts, an Atlanta-based nonprofit focused on education for women in prison and those re-entering society after prison.
Jackson's busy, yet she was center stage last Tuesday night at the Catoosa County Public Library's 10th annual One Book, One Community event.
"I have an awfully hard time telling any library no," she said. "If I can possibly find time on my schedule and figure it out, I am going."
The One Book, One Community event is a program of the Catoosa Citizens for Literacy, which started in 1995. The nonprofit started as an adult literacy group but now considers "family literacy" its mission, according to Executive Director Shirley Smith.
In 1995, Smith said, the number of Catoosa County residents without a high school degree or GED was 36.2%. Today, it is 13%.
"We knew back in 1995 that we had to do something to build a workforce to attract businesses," said Smith. "We found out that while we had started out with adult literacy, we had to move over into family literacy. Children have parents, and they need someone to read to them. Our goal is to stop illiteracy, and the best way to do that is to treat the whole family. Events like One Book, One Community help accomplish that."
At the event, Jackson discussed her seventh novel, "Someone Else's Love Story," which is set in a small town in North Georgia. The author often uses small Southern towns in her novels, and said the location in "Someone Else's Love Story" is based on Dahlonega.
"It's one of my favorites because it is very personal," Jackson said of the novel. "I grew up in small towns in the South and have watched the changes. None of the characters in my books are me, but they are all mine. They reflect my relatives and the people I grew up with in the South. I think I can write about the South because I have a deep respect for the South."
Jackson said she hopes "Someone Else's Love Story" leaves its Catoosa County readers "grasping with the idea of miracles." A person of deep faith, she said her novels often explore conflicts in such matters.
"There are several miracles that can be explained by science, but there are small miracles, tiny quiet moments that are miraculous," she told the audience last week.
Learn more about Jackson's novels at joshilynjackson.com. For more information on literacy efforts in Catoosa County, visit catoosacitizensforliteracy.org.