When J.M. Kidd’s debut novel was released this year, involving a wide variety of creatures and dragons in an intricately planned epic fantasy, I knew I had to dig in and hear about her process and how it went for her. This also serves as the best distraction ever to my own writing, and who isn’t looking for that at some time or another?
J.M. turned out to sound a lot like me in terms of the writing process. She began her novel in 2019, and hearing how she took her time was a relief. I move slower than many writers, and while I know comparing myself to others is a bad idea, it’s hard not to.
It wasn’t just our speed and our patterns in the writing process that we found we shared, but our purpose for writing in the first place. What brought J.M. back to her love of writing was her need to escape the stresses of the healthcare field in 2019. She needed an outlet—a release from reality where her imagination could breathe and fly.
I found myself doing the same thing in 2022, when my father fell ill. Art had always been my escape. Whenever I felt the anxious loops in my mind, creating calmed me. Putting the nervous energy elsewhere, where brushstrokes and color experimentation could take the brunt of my worries and result in something I could be proud of. A beautiful distraction.
But when you have three kids (now 3,5,7), by the time you set up your paints or finish the sketch, someone is screaming for something. Leaving out oil paints and chalk pastels is a disaster lying in wait, and my adorable toddlers always wanted to help mommy with her picture.
And so I did the unthinkable. I opened my computer and began to write. A hobby I thought was reserved only for renowned authors or journalists. Until I lost myself in it, finding a new creative outlet to find my escape in, to pour my nerves into until I could emerge steadier.
J.M. and I found ourselves laughing about how something that brings us so much joy, could also make us want to rip our hair out! But our decisions in the world carry great weight. Problems out there don’t always have quick fixes, and even when a tragedy has passed, moving on isn’t so simple. And so, we both find escape from even the most torturous parts of the writing process—from problems that do not follow us off the page (except our own perseveration over plot holes).
“Believe me, I’m not afraid to crawl down to the deepest, darkest depths of the hole you crawled out of,” is part of J.M.’s favorite exchange in her book, and she hopes her audience will find bravery and an escape through her book. I thought it captured our sentiment perfectly. There’s a bravery involved in knowing your embarking on a journey that will be difficult, that will challenge your mind and your resolve to keep going.
It may be indulgent, to allow myself to fixate over an invented problem in an invented story with fictional people, but it just feels so good to have a challenge that I know, if I work hard, think creatively, ask for help, and seek inspiration—I can solve it. I will solve it. That’s not always the case outside our pages.
I hope you’ll take the time to listen to my “interview” with J.M. and that you’ll go get yourself a copy of the Rise of Isigar!
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