Featured Interview With Author J.D. Robertson
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I've spent most of my life in Western Canada: Vancouver Island, Horseshoe Bay, Calgary and Edmonton, but I was born in Montreal–apparently I was bilingual when I was three, not so much now, 57 years later!
I finished my degree in Creative Writing and Journalism late in life and worked as a journalist and then a corporate writer. Prior to that, I did all sorts of things. My first degree was in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology. I also taught fitness for about ten years. I worked in bookstores. I did a stint as a teaching assistant at an elementary school. At one point I even worked in a pig scale factory! I was a single mom to two sons and during their high school years, I adopted one of their friends, whose home life was a mess. There I was, supporting three teenage boys–I just did what I could to bring in the coin.
After a failed attempt at retiring on Vancouver Island (the house prices are ridiculous!), my husband and I returned to Edmonton in 2022, where we are close to family, including seven grandkids. We live in a lovely home now, next to a pond with tons of wildlife to watch. Our puggle, Charlee, is eleven years old, she rules our world.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was fascinated with books right from the beginning. The idea that you could open a page full of words and escape to a different world, where a writer could guide your imagination through a story…it was everything to me. As a kid in Horseshoe Bay, I remember going down to the bookstore and spending the day reading in a corner. Even as a tween, I would choose reading over peopling. Books always seemed much safer.
I wrote my first story when I was in grade four. It was supposed to be a social studies report on First Nations, but I made it a story about a First Nations girl living in her community. I suppose it was an odd choice, considering I hadn't an ounce of Aboriginal blood in me, but at the time I thought it was a good idea. I write four whole pages! The teacher was delighted with it and read it to the class.
In my teen years I wrote a lot of angst-filled poetry. It wasn't until I was in my thirties and I had the two kids that I tried doing some freelance work. I did a few articles for the Calgary Herald and became a regular reporter for a genealogy newsletter. The money sucked. I eventually went back to work full time, despite the fact I hated leaving my kids in daycare.
Doing my degree in Creative Writing and Journalism was the greatest gift I could give myself. My professors were so encouraging. They made me confident in my writing skills and gave me the tools to refine what talent I had. The only thing I've struggled with since, like many writers, is the self discipline to sit and write!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I can't say I have a favourite author or genre at the moment. I suppose I read contemporary literature: stuff that makes more than one bestseller list.
My favourite authors in my twenties and thirties were John Irving and Margaret Atwood, hands down, but since then I've also fallen in love with the talents of Orson Scott Card and Robert Sawyer, who are sci-fi writers. My latest go-to's are Taylor Jenkins Reid and Fredrik Backman, and I had a little throwback moment with Wally Lamb a couple of months ago. But there are so very many great talents out there! In all honesty, I just love to read a good book, no matter who wrote it.
As far as inspiration goes, I have to say Stephen King's book, On Writing, gave me more inspiration than anything I have ever read. It's like he gave me permission to let my characters do what they want, no matter how freaky that might be.
My writing is extremely influenced by whatever I am reading at the time, which is why I refuse to touch sci-fi, fantasy or paranormal at the moment. The novel I am working on right now is about an elderly woman who befriends a sex offender. These characters are wild enough without me dipping my fingers into those aforementioned pies.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
May and Ted is a story about a straight woman obsessed with a gay man. It starts out in the 1970s when May and Ted are kids. They are 'best friends', although May can be a little nasty at times. Fast forward to high school, where Ted falls in love with David, and May's obsession with Ted gets out of control and, well, that's when the bad stuff starts to happen.
I think some of the situations can be challenging for some readers. May does not have an easy life. I also address how horribly the gay population was treated back then. There were kids in my high school who have since come out (it's been forty-odd years), and it breaks my heart to think about how difficult their lives must have been.
I've held true to the language and the social history of the times, though, as I think we need to remember how far we've come, and how important it is that we do not go backwards.
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