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Article: Jacqueline West Article
Writers: Elizabeth Moua & Hana Soltani
Jacqueline West is a successful graduate of River Falls High School and full-time writer with nearly 15 years of experience who has published eleven books. She has published nine middle-grade novels, two young adult novels, and several poetry collections, and she is known for her New York Times Best Seller series, The Books of Elsewhere which includes The Shadows, The Spellbound, and The Second Spy. The series was inspired by her middle school bus ride that passed by an old house that’s still in RF. It's on a corner near the Montessori school, and it looks creepy and haunted. A sign that states “Dr. Pennington, Physician and Surgeon.” At the old house, people were able to have surgeries in mid-1900s in the basement office which now seems strange.
Growing up, Ms.West was a massive bookworm. Although she always had a passion for reading, she believed her life was not compelling enough to become an author. Becoming an author seemed like a fantasy. Around age nine, her vivid imagination began composing stories, refusing to give up on writing, although she kept them to herself.
Growing up, Ms.West was a massive bookworm. Although she always had a passion for reading, she believed her life was not compelling enough to become an author. Becoming an author seemed like a fantasy. Around age nine, her vivid imagination began composing stories, refusing to give up on writing, although she kept them to herself.
During West's time at RFHS, she found the teachers wonderful in her poetry and drama classes because of the passionate discussions about literature. West also emphasized the role of librarians in fostering a love for learning. The librarian noticed Jacqueline’s hunger for stories and recommended books by Ray Bradbury, including Fahrenheit 451. Jacqueline said she “hopes that librarians can recognize how influential they are”.
West originally planned to become an opera singer, which resulted in her bachelor's degree in music. Later she decided to double major in English and became a high school teacher, only to realize that her love for stories was too powerful. She believed in the power of stories, a belief that encouraged her to follow her heart and become an author instead of a teacher or opera singer. West deeply knew that she wanted to be a story writer in making fantasies and the art of creativity into her work.
Agent Danielle Chiotti (on the left side) and editor Martha Mihalik (on the right) at the American Library Association convention in 2019, where Jacqueline received a Schneider Family Award Honor for The Collectors
West believes becoming a successful full-time author is not about talent, but an “obsessive determination” to succeed. Contrary to popular belief, West says the key to success in writing is not good ideas or talent, but following through and finishing projects. West sees that a lot of people do like coming up with ideas, but never doing the work. The separation of successful authors and others comes from dedication and hard work. “It’s all about putting the words on paper”. For example, her author friends could take up to 10-12 years on their first book.
Lastly, Jacqueline advises “to just write like wild and read like the world. If you do those two things, that’s essentially everything you need”. In other words, write a lot and try reading things from different genres since it's like using ingredients; making things more unique.
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