The Write Stuff with... Jo Jackson

Today it's my pleasure to hand the reins over to author Jo Jackson to talk about her writing journey.

‘Did you always want to be a writer?’ It’s the question I get asked most frequently when giving talks. I always liked to write, but I never aspired to be a novelist. As I was writing my first book, I told myself I was enjoying the process; anything to come of it would be determined when it was finished. One thing I was clear about was that I would only publish if the book, having been professionally edited and copy edited, was as good as it could be, and I was proud of it.

Probably a more important question would be, ‘Did you have a story to tell?’

Too Loud a Silence became a story I needed to write after I had spent two years living in Egypt with my husband and three young children in the 1980’s. Egypt is a wonderful country and the people kind and generous, but there is great poverty. Babies, usually girls are sometimes found abandoned. I met twin baby girls in an orphanage. They had been left on a rubbish dump. It sounds horrendous but their desperate mother would know in choosing such a place it guaranteed they would be found quickly. The waste mountains are scoured by the locals every day and anything useable, edible or saleable is recycled.

One day a week for nearly two years I took those little girls out of the orphanage. Other ex-patriots did the same with other children. When I collected them, they would be wet and usually hungry. Most of their time was spent in their cots with little stimulation. I would bathe them, feed and play with them. Our own children grew to love them as we did. Then suddenly without warning or explanation the orphanage was closed to all outsiders. This kind of unpredictable happening was not uncommon in Egypt but usually with patience and sometimes a little backsheesh things could be put right. Not this time despite all our attempts. The consequence was we eventually came home never knowing what became of those two little children.