Hello again! I warned you, I haven't had someone asking questions about my historical novel, MEMPHIS IN OUR HEARTS (available in print from ZUMAYA PUBLICATIONS, Amazon/BookSurge, bookstores and their web pages as well in e-book format from ZUMAYA too) so here goes-hope some lurkers are out there and hanging on every click of the keyboard) - I can dream, can't I? Waaaaaay back about 1966 or 67 my husband and our little family was living in east Memphis, our daughter was 3+ years old and our son was 9+ years old. Jimmy was a cub scout - it was summer - he and a friend had gone to a nearby wooded area on a project to collect leaves and identify trees in the area for a merit badge. (I was always a firm believer in the buddy system even though they weren't going to be far from home.) They hadn't been gone too long when Jimmy ran in the back door, headed for the bathroom and threw up! After getting him calmed down and cleaned up (or maybe during all that) I learned they'd come upon 'a lot of dead bodies!' I got a neighbor to sit with my children, got on my broom and went up there, mad enough to go bear hunting with a switch and not knowing what to expect. By the time I got to the area there had been security posted at the place I knew the boys had gone to gather their leaves. The very professional security guards would not let anone approach more than three or four feet to talk to them but over the guard's shoulder I could see some of the desturbed graves. The one closest was a heart-breaker. From the hole in the ground a leg in a long black stocking stuck straight up. I'm sure the wooden casket had long since disentigrated. The leg stuck up from (still) snowwhite and beautiful lace that looked like cotton eyelet. And I knew what I was looking at. Someone's beloved daughter who had died of yellow fever in the epidemic. It still gives me goosepimples to think about it. There was a lot of new construction in east Memphis then and some contractor who thought he'd done his homework had run into one of the burial grounds for the yellow fever victims. I read everything I came across about that as the years wore on (and the children grew up and life went on : - ) When I retired I joined a writing group (The Penpoint Group in Jacksonville, AR - I'm still a member) and the first book I had published was MEMPHIS IN OUR HEARTS. Those were exciting, heart rending, joyous, interesting times and the research was as exciting as any fiction book could ever be. Come back to our next break & I'll tell you more. Break's over!

Hi! I'm sitting here with my glasses in my hand waiting for some questions or comments. If I don't have any by tomorrow about this time I'll tell you some things about how I came to write MEMPHIS IN OUR HEARTS, a romance-suspense novel published by ZUMAYA PUBLISHING in 2003 (available at Amazon.com, Zumaya, BookSurge, bookstores and their pages as well as in e-book format.) I was born in Arkansas (Hot Springs) but grew up in Memphis so most of my settings are there, rural TN or AR. If anyone reading this has read my books or the reviews posted on Amazon or elsewhere I would love to have your views and comments. If you are someone who wants to write, DO IT! Don't let a blank page frighten you. You have to write something to edit, proof it, and nurture it like a plant in a garden. But first, you have to have something to work with - so WRITE! I'm waiting to hear from someone with some comments or questions.
Break's over!
Jackie

Good morning, writers, readers, browsers, friends, whoever you are! : - ) I haven't received any comments or questions yet so my next blog will be about when I started writing and some of the snags and high spots someone like me encounters. (I didn't have anything going for me except I didn't know what was impossible - don't know if I'd been brave enough to start writing if I had!!)
Back soon!
Break's over!

Well, I warned you I'm new to blogging! I've just seen the announcement we may post images on our blogs. I'm going to try posting a picture of me at work. Please join the fun here at Breaktime and tell me some of your experiences with research et cetera too. The picture will be up shortly (I hope : - ))
Break's over!
Jackie

BREAKTIME with Jackie Griffey
Welcome to Breaktime With Jackie! This is to share fiction, facts, and fun that can be had on the way to writing a novel and doing research. Research will usually put even the most dedicated of writers in their places because some of the research is better and more exciting than a fiction novel! I've been writing for more than twelve years and as far as I know, neither Mary Higgins Clark nor any other fiction writer is even aware of my efforts much less afraid of any competition from me. I'm writing like I read, for the pleasure of it. This is fortunate since I'm still in (probably the lowest) part of the writing force who is 'financially challenged' as my grandson calls it, and prestige alone makes a very thin sandwich :-) Today, I'm sending a special thanks to Kelsy George who helped me out getting started with my blog. My entry into CyberSpace was as scary as Alice's fall down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, but I'm here now, so you will be hearing more from me soon...(Break's over! : - ))