Writers Who Read: Kelly Ann Jacobson

Our Writers Who Read series continues this week with Kelly Ann Jacobson.

Who are you?
My name is Kelly Ann Jacobson, and I am the author of the literary novel Cairo in White and the young adult series The Zaniyah Trilogy. Cairo in White is about a closeted Egyptian teen, Zahra, who finds herself in an arranged marriage to her girlfriend’s brother. The Zaniyah Trilogy tells the story of Zoey, a sixteen-year-old farm girl with magical powers, who does not know the extent of her abilities or how she got them, when her best friend is kidnapped by a wizard named Danger, and she runs away from home and begins a quest to find him.

I live in Falls Church, Virginia with my boyfriend and crested gecko, Stevie. I recently graduated from Johns Hopkins University’s MA in Fiction program, and this summer, I quit my job and made the switch to full time writer! I write mostly novels and short stories, though I do write a lot of poetry and some nonfiction.

What are three beloved books you first read before the age of 12?
Ella Enchanted, A Wrinkle in Time, Dealing with Dragons

What is one book you are always recommending to friends and family (and maybe the local barista) as an adult?
I absolutely love Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. I buy copies of the first book, The Gunslinger, and give them to my friends so that they’ll read it. King is my literary crush (well, along with Ondaatje, for entirely different reasons), I just really admire the way he blends genres and uses his imagination to build believable worlds.

What is your book kryptonite–those unique elements in a book, beyond just great writing and three-dimensional characters, that make you unable to resist reading?
I’m a sucker for dragons, especially dragons with interesting personalities, as you can see by the character Red in The Zaniyah Trilogy. I think there’s not enough magic in adult books, and that we need to do a fantasy/fairy tale/magical realism comeback for adults. I’m actually collecting stories for a new anthology, Get Magical, which will contain such stories (mostly just so I can read them all).

I also love extremely artistic, descriptive, poetic fiction, even if it takes three paragraphs to say something and there’s basically no plot.

What is your ideal time and place to read?
I enjoy reading on the metro, though there will be less of that now that I’m a full time writer instead of an Events Coordinator, and I’m not in school. I am a very energetic person, so I concentrate better when I know I’m both reading and going somewhere at the same time. I also love to read outside in the afternoon on a park bench or my deck.

Which books have had the biggest influence on your writing?
Everything I read influences my writing, even stuff I hate. But in particular, The English Patient is my literary role model, and exactly the kind of writing I strive for in my own novels. The First Rule of Swimming was very influential on the novel I just finished this spring, mostly the blending of different times, places, and points of view successfully (I always switch around, but not quite so successfully). Margaret Atwood’s first person points of view are great examples when I need help writing from that perspective, which I’m trying again in my current novel despite my epic failure at trying to write Cairo in White in the first person six years ago.

How do you balance reading and writing in your life?
I didn’t until this summer. Since I worked full time, went to school, edited for Outside In Literary & Travel Magazine, and wrote my own novels, reading often got pushed to the side. I plan on correcting that, and will read my way through the local library all summer.

I do find it hard to read and write at the same time, since things I read influence my work, especially its tone. I try to read things along the same lines as what I’m writing (so reading literary fiction while I’m writing literary fiction, and reading fantasy while I’m writing fantasy), but that can be hard when you don’t know that much about the book beforehand.

Choose your penned poison: ebook, physical book, or audio book?
Definitely physical books. Though I publish ebooks, I have a lot of trouble reading anything on the computer—I get migraines, and need special (aka huge and ridiculous) computer glasses so I don’t stress my eyes. My kindle, the original, flat kindle without the bright light and fancy gadgets, is better than the computer, but I still prefer actual books. I don’t drive, so audio books are not as convenient, plus I’m a very quick reader.

Do you consciously plan your future reading–i.e., set book goals, keep a TBR list, participate in book challenges or book clubs? Why or why not?
The only planning I do is that I buy way too many novels that I think I’ll have time to read, and then they end up in giant piles in my library. When I need a book, I go to the pile and select one. I don’t really like reviewing books—I read for the pure enjoyment of reading and learning to write. I don’t need any extra motivation to read fiction, because if I have the time to read, I will. I get so caught up in reading that I miss my metro stops and try to read while walking (not very successfully, I might add).

Now, books of nonfiction (even “craft books” on writing) and poetry, depending on the poet, do require a little more motivation. I usually buy the books I “should” read, make separate piles of them, read the first few pages or my favorite poems, and never finish. What can I say…I’m a fiction girl at heart. I also think poetry is harder to read because I already read so much of it for Outside In.

I am in a book club, purely for the social aspect, and enjoy our book discussions over a lot of delicious wine. Those ladies have been like a second family to me over the past few years, and they even read one of my novellas, Three on the Bank (published by Storylandia! this summer) and critiqued it as readers, not writers, which was a very interesting and helpful process.

What are you reading now?
I am about halfway done A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, by Anthony Marra. After that I need to read A Fault in Our Stars.

You can find out more about Kelly on her website, Facebook, or Twitter.