Please help us welcome author Jacqui Jacoby as she shares about fiction research and family!
Jacqui Jacoby on the web:
Over to Jacqui now...
I was at one of those parent meetings once. The ones when all the parents meet with the teacher to discuss plans for the coming year. I stayed as long as I could, until my time was up, and I had a Tae Kwon Do class to make.
I gave my vote on the subject and snuck out the backdoor. Half way down the stairs and to the exit, I heard my name called. I knew this wasn't going to be good.
The teacher needed to talk to me. He had something he wanted to show me and called the school counselor out of the parents meeting, turning our "privately" into a threesome.
Sitting in a small room away from everyone else, my Tae Kwon Do class now half over, a folder was produced. It slid across the table toward me. "Do you know what this is?"
Swallowing hard, I picked it up, instantly recognizing my son’s handwriting. I started at the back, flipping each page forward, the knot in my stomach giving way to a smirk that did not please the principle.
Page after page appeared before me. Diagrams taken directly off my library shelves. My son has gotten into my research books, most notable The Anarchist Cookbook and meticulously copied the drawings from within.
"How would your son get a hold of this book?" I was asked.
A fumble for a logical answer and then I decided to go for the truth. "You see," I say with as much confidence as three glares will allow. "It's my book."
A lie might have at least produced another look on those faces.
"No, really," I say. "A couple years ago I had to blow up a car in South America and I got this for purely research reasons."
"You blew up a car in South America?"
"Well, not me," I point out, trying to laugh. "My character did. I write fiction."
When the pencil began to tap, eraser first, onto the table top, I knew I was not getting through.
They are not amused and I spend the next hour trying to convince them that my son is not a threat to humanity. He's just a kid whose seen too many James Bond films. My parenting skills comes into question. Does my husband know what I do?
As I assure them that yes, my husband does know how I spend my days, I'm thinking of ways to make my son pay. Slowly.
The Anarchist Cookbook is now in my safe, under lock and key. But I still talk shop around the kids.
After all, it's important to include the kids in the daily life, to let them know what it is we do while they are at school. Isn't that what being part of a family is all about?
Now how about you? How do you deal with fiction research around your family?
Jacqui's latest releasing in print from April 1st!
WITH A VENGEANCE
The more she wanted out, the more they dragged her back in!
Daughter to murdered CIA officers, niece to a deputy director, Jaime Walsh has never known life outside the world of espionage. Until a high-action case in Buenos Aires leaves her gutted. Physically, emotionally…and professionally.
She’d planned for her long-overdue vacation to be a time to rest and reassess. With her longtime partner Stephen not far behind, it’s a tropical paradise away from work. A paradise where boundaries will be tested.
From their training days, Stephen Reid has watched Jaime kick ass while performing what has become his second job—watching her back. But now his feelings have grown.
As best friends look at each other in a new light, they like what they see. And Jaime dreams of a new life outside “the company”.
Except someone from their past won’t be satisfied until Jaime and the man she loves are hunted to the brink of death. Now Jaime must find the strength to trust her heart and let go of her fear. Before she loses everything…
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Oh my gosh, this sounds like a bit of a nightmare! I guess I kind of take it for granted that people realize I'm a writer and that strange things might happen :) Sounds like the principal and counselor could use a chill pill!
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things you are going through and even as it is happening you are thinking, this is hysterical!! I'm gonna kill him.I just need five minutes alone with him and ...
DeleteAhh, love this! I hope you can look back on this experience and laugh because that is too funny! I can totally picture the facial expressions of the teacher and counselor, especially after you said you had to learn how to blow up a car in South America! That one needs to be written down for future generations! :)
ReplyDeleteHe lived. I think that is what is important!! LOL
DeleteHi Jacqui and Nas - that must have been 'such fun and ghastly' at the same time .. crumbs ... but good for your son- his imagination is going to be great ... and perhaps he'll be a wonderful entrepreneurial designer ...
ReplyDeleteHave fun - great story line .. and good luck with your books - cheers Hilary
I tried to point out to the pencil crew that my son had also copied the copy right page, giving full credit to the author, but they didn't seem amused,
DeleteHilarious! But scary. I'm sure you can laugh now but it was awful at the time. I have often wondered what the government would think of my web search history if they were looking. I'm loading up on Discovery ID streaming videos right now for a book I'm writing and it's one murder show after another!
ReplyDeleteDid your kid every blow anything up after all of that?
ReplyDeleteUm ... no. LOL ... but he and his sister did set fire to the kitchen wall in the shape of a giant happy face about three feet plus round. They did regret it ... they regretted they used my hair spray instead of the Vaseline they first thought of as the Vaseline would have had a longer burn time. That happy face smiled down on us for years until the day we moved. I don't remember which one glued the place setting to the ceiling--plate, glass, knife and fork--but that was there until we moved too. I had unusual children. =D
DeleteLOL! That was epic. I talk shop around the kids too, but I keep all my strange research on my password protected kindle. That's as safe as it gets around here.
ReplyDeleteWeirdest research I ever did ... um ... ... but it was just two or three months ago and I asked my kids for help. Called my son last night about weapons. But then, my kids are all way over adults.
DeleteHaha! We writers can get in a lot of trouble with our research!
ReplyDeleteJust look at the titles on our shelves: guns, poisons, crime scenes.
DeleteWho knew research could be so dangerous! Good thing you were able to explain things to them. :)
ReplyDeleteI explained. I don't think they listened. But to be fair, in today's schools, I do see the concern. This was just a situation easily explained if they wanted to hear. I could produce the "evidence" they needed.
Deletelol,so funny. For all the research I do, I half expect the government to lock me up somewhere. "It's for research. I'm a writer, I swear!"
ReplyDeleteI've had people telling me "They're watching" for years. I figure if they are watching they are more scratching their heads going "Now what is she doing?"
DeletePeople sometimes give me funny faces and ask me questions about the wacky things I look up online.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy it!! LOL ... it's fun to make them guess!!
DeleteOh, that's funny. Too bad the school doesn't have a sense of humor.
ReplyDelete