Interview with Katrina Jackson

Welcome Back, Booklovers! We are inching closer and closer to my favorite holiday and the end of the year. I've been lucky enough to interview so many incredible authors this year and I'm happy to introduce those of you who don't already know to Katrina Jackson, an erotica/erotic romance author who has made a name for herself in the world of indie romance.

What inspired you to start writing? And what made you decide to self-publish?

I’ve been a writer since I was a child and I write as part of my job as an historian. Writing is about the only consistent part of my personality.  

I don’t remember my exact decision to self-publish, but I remember first and foremost thinking that it made sense for my life. I have a full-time job and over the past few years I’ve mostly built a schedule that allows me to write and publish when I have time. I also like that there’s always some new facet of self-publishing to learn and make work for my schedule.

What advice would you give some interested in publishing but not sure what direction they want to take?

I always hesitate to give advice because I’m very aware that everyone’s path is different. I would say though that exploring both self-publishing, traditional publishing, and also publishers is the best way to think about the kind of career you might have. And I don’t mean the books. Understandably, most people focus on the books to make sure they’re writing to market or on the right path. But deciding between self-publishing and traditional publishing is about more than the book. It’s probably less about the book than people want to accept.

Do you ever feel pressure to write certain types of stories for money? 

Not really and that, for me, is the benefit of being self-published. I write exactly the book I want to write. If I want a book to make money, thinking about marketing comes later, but I don’t let that change the kind of stories I write. I cannot write to the market and I’m okay with that. This is also why I have a full-time job. Nothing I write has to pay my mortgage. 

How do you balance working as a college professor and being a writer? 

Even though I said I’ve spent years figuring out how to make time for writing with my job, the reality is that this is a struggle every semester. Some semesters are light and I have lots of time to write, but sometimes my job eats up every minute of free time. This semester has been jampacked. 

But when it works, it’s about a schedule. I try and protect my time for both jobs. I like to write in the mornings so I wake up early and give myself a couple of hours before I have to get ready to go to campus or open my work email. I also try not to let my job bleed into my weekends, so if I want to write then, I do.

As someone who is very vocal about the overwhelming whiteness in historical romance, do you have any stories published in the genre or any in the works?

I do. I love stories where the past and present blend and The Tenant and Back in the Day do both. In The Tenant I tell the story of a young man who inherits a Louisiana house haunted by the ghost of a 1930s sex worker who has a long history with his family. And in Back in the Day, I view a family at two moments in time, in 2010, when aging music journalist Alonzo is moving out of his house with his son’s help, and in 1967 when Alonzo met his future wife, Ada, at the Monterey Pop Festival. I have other stories coming, but I’m invested in telling stories that think about Black history in ways we don’t see enough of in the romance genre. 

If you could go anywhere in the world for a writing retreat where would you go and who would be there?

At this point, almost two years into a pandemic, I would literally go anywhere! But I’m hoping to go to Spain next year for a vacation and writing retreat. I would want any of my author friends to come, but technically I did invite Tasha L. Harrison, Lucy Eden, Zaida Polanco, and Jack Harbon. We’ll see if they show up!

What are your favorite types of romance?

I like romances that make me feel some combination of seen and challenged. I also love romances that imagine the world could be better than it is. I don’t read romance to be slapped in the face with more sexism and racism and I’m not personally invested in the thin veneer of watching characters overcome that (assuming they do). I want hope and friendship and that moment when you feel like the people in the relationship have all decided to protect their happiness together.

What’s your favorite part of the holiday season?

Sleep.

What would your power be if you could have any type of magical ability?

Again, almost two years into a pandemic, I wish I could teleport. I want to travel without having to get on a plane!

Can you reveal anything about your next project?

Not really. This year has been beating me and my deadlines up. As soon as I think I’m on the right path and can talk about what I’m working on, I hit a brick wall. So I’m not working on anything. No thoughts, just tweets and writerly vibes. 

Follow Katrina Jackson at @katrinajax on Twitter.