Interview With Author Elizabeth Jaeger
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19 is Elizabeth Jaeger’s first book. Her essays, short stories, book reviews, and poetry have been published in various print and online journals, including Margate Bookie, Caustic Frolic, The Blue Nib, Capsule Stories, Watchung Review, Ovunque Siamo, and Italian Americana. Newtown Literary published “The Treehouse,” which is a chapter from her novel in progress. Jaeger earned an MFA in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MA in history from William Paterson University. Currently, she teaches history at Perth Amboy High School. She lives in New Jersey with her wife, son, and three cats, though she is always happiest when traveling and exploring new places.
Even though Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19 is my first published book, I’ve written seven books in total. My writing is a mix of novels for all different ages, memoirs, and essay collections. I’m am still hoping to find a home for my unpublished work.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Stolen: Love and Loss in the Time of COVID-19. For me, writing has always been an escape, a way to vent my feelings. During the COVID shutdown five years ago, I thought my son and I could keep a Pandemic Diary. Each day, we’d write our own separate entries and use the space to complain about everything that pissed us off: boring assignments, having to be quiet while my spouse was teaching, being trapped in a place too small to even pace, the loud landscaping equipment outside, and not being able to go to Taekwondo. When I presented the idea to my son, I emphasized the fact that I intended it to be fun, that I wouldn’t monitor his words or in any way tell him what he could or couldn’t write about. He can be very funny when he is frustrated or furious, and I thought a written record of his thoughts during the pandemic might be fun to look back on in the future. A friend of mine often says that adversity makes for good writing. That the more miserable you are in the moment, the better story you will have to tell. I just didn’t realize at the time the degree of adversity that we would face or how miserable we’d become. As for myself, I had hoped to produce a record that would make me laugh when the pandemic ended. Instead, I wrote a story saturated with tears.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any unusual writing habits. I work full-time and I’m a full-time mom so I have to squeeze writing in when I can. If I’m lucky, I can usually get in about an hour of writing before bed. I do, however, have an unusual reading habit. I have ADHD which makes sitting still and concentrating extremely difficult for me. Therefore, I do most of my reading while I am walking.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I was deeply influenced by Laura Ingall’s Wilder as a child. She is the reason I wanted to grow up to be a writer. I also really enjoyed reading Mark Twain. I know Huck Finn is controversial, but I loved concept of coming of age while traveling and getting a better sense of the world through experience. I am also a big fan of Margaret Atwood, especially Oryx and Crake.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a novel dealing with mental illness. A young woman is struggling to move forward with her life because she never fully processed her mother’s suicide two decades earlier. It’s not until she discovers her mother published writing that she learns more about who her mother was the mental illness that destroyed her.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first published book so I’m still learning as I go. For now, I’ve been posting a great deal on TikTok and YouTube to promote my book.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
It is a long game. Write if you love writing and if you want to publish, keep at it. Persistence is key to success.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Keep Swimming.” I think it’s a quote from Finding Nemo, but a friend of my used to quote it to me all the time when I was feeling down about my writing. “Keep swimming,” she’d say, “because as long as you stay in motion and keep writing, you won’t drown.”
What are you reading now?
I am reading March which is John Lewis’ graphic memoir. I did a history video on TikTok last week about Selma. (I am history teacher so along with plugging my book I also discuss history on social media.) One of my followers highly recommended the book. I was just finishing “Big Sex Little Death,” and looking for something different. So after it was recommended to me I stopped off at the library to pick it up.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m going to keep writing, and keep submitting to agents and publishers. I am also going to continue marketing my book, which comes out in September.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If I were stranded on a desert island, I would bring the first four books in the Game of Thrones series. I don’t watch much television so I’ve never seen the show. But I have friends who loved the books. I just haven’t had time to commit to reading them. Being suck on an island would be the ideal circumstance to finally read them.
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