Every person understands the experience of getting embarrassed, and debut author Kristy Jackson hopes people with that shared experience can identify with her work Mortified.
Mortified, set to be released on May 21, tells the story of a shy 12-year-old girl who gets accidentally cursed and has to go through a series of embarrassing moments.
Jackson says many of the situations are based off her own life experience. She says the idea for the book came about when one of her sons came home from school upset because he felt embarrassed. In an effort to cheer him up, Jackson started retelling her own embarrassing stories to both her sons with one of them eventually quipping ‘you must be cursed or something.’
“That really was a seed that planted what I thought was a great idea for a story,” Jackson told MBC Radio News. “So I decided to right that down and here we are.”
Kristy Jackson is a member of Whitefish Lake First Nation in Alberta and currently resides near Saskatoon.
She says it has been her dream to publish a book since she was a kid.
“There is really no feeling to describe the feeling of holding a copy of a published book with my name on it and my story inside it, it’s just a dream come true for me,” said Jackson.
She also encouraged young writers to keep practicing.
“Get those stories out there,” she said. “The more books by Indigenous authors we can have is better for everyone.”
Mortified is set for a book launch party at McNally Robinson on May 21. It will be available online and in store going forward from that day.
(Photos provided)