Interview With Author Dakota Jackson
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an author native to Connecticut. I grew up in the small town of Ashford before moving throughout the state (around eight times now) to land in Windham. Someday I would really love to get a quiet house in Vermont and write there full time. I work as a Book Production Rep for selfpublishing, so I basically eat, sleep and breathe books one way or another.
I write fiction stories that strongly reflect the nonfiction reality — with many inspirations coming from my own experiences. My mission is to shine light upon queer and complicated identities like my own, giving the scary stuff in life a place to find hope.
I published a short story titled “The Office of Eternal Collections” in the Penmen Review in March 2023. “The Other Side of the Looking-Glass” is my first novel, and it will be published November 16, 2023. I look forward to adding more books to the list super soon!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Other Side of the Looking-Glass is a cautionary upper young adult fiction novel, toeing the line between contemporary and literary. It follows fifteen-year-old Naomi, who gets wrapped up in a relationship with a much older man. The complexities of her family and home life are both what lead her to this relationship and what help her crawl back out of it.
Though I have never been in a relationship quite like Naomi’s in this novel, I’ve been a fifteen-year-old girl. As terrible as it may sound, that alone in this world is enough to know what it’s like to be viewed as malleable objects by older men. I was inspired to write this book because of that common thread for young girls, and by how the media industry has historically portrayed relationships like this as ‘cute’ or ‘desirable.’ I want to be a voice working against that so that young girls (and boys, both, or neither!!) know that this is not the case. I want this to be a warning.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write the first and last lines of my books first because I always read the first and last lines of other books before choosing whether or not to buy and read them.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So, so many. Here’s a short, incomplete list of authors and books:
– Rick Riordan (all of his work, to be honest)
– Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games is quite honestly one of my favorite pieces of literature ever created. It never gets old.)
– Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch. I have a soft spot for it.)
– Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner… Life changing.)
– Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray.)
– Franz Kafka (I just like the way he writes… especially casually like in his collected letters)
– James Baldwin (Giovanni’s Room)
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Not everyone is going to like your book (or you, even), but someone definitely will. Even if it’s only one person; that’s enough.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m currently working on a new adult literary fiction novel as my thesis project through my MFA program, and I really hope to have that out in the world someday soon. Aside from that, I’m having tons of fun writing a young adult fantasy series — which is way out of my norm.
Author Websites and Profiles
Dakota Jackson’s Social Media Links