Q & A with author Mark C. Jackson and San Diego Writers Festival

SDWF: Tell us about The Great Texas Dance, due for release in April 2020.
MJ: The Great Texas Dance tells a tale of Zebadiah Creed’s continuing journey in understanding what friendship and loyalty means to him.

SDWF: What books are on your nightstand or stacked next to your bed?MJ: The Last Outlaws: The lives and legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by Thom Hatch (research),
Medicine Park: Oklahoma ‘s First Resort by David C. Lott (research),
The Lotus Sutra  Buddha

SDWF: What’s the last great book/play/poem you read?
MJ: Eight Monologues: from the Americana West by Red Shuttleworth,

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

SDWF: If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
MJ: Keep doing what you’re doing, Bud!

SDWF: What writing resources (in San Diego, if appropriate) have been most helpful to you?
MJ: San Diego Writers Ink

Robyn Tung’s class on Writing Flash Fiction, February 2011 got me started

SDWF: How has storytelling changed your life?
MJ: My mother, who collaborates with me on my Zebadiah Creed series, has always been a great storyteller.

SDWF: What was the first piece of writing you shared with someone else?
MJ: Three poems I wrote in third grade. I told my teacher what a great writer I was. She gave me the look like “Hey kid, quit boosting.” I’m glad I kept writing, despite her.

SDWF: Is there a line from your piece you’d be willing to share?
MJ: “The tale I tell is not history, but a portrayal of men and the consequences of their decisions, sometimes made during the savagery of battle, most times made in quiet, their desperate acts allowing them no way out other than through loyalty and friendship, or betrayal.”

Zebadiah Creed

Preface to The Great Texas Dance: The Tales of Zebadiah Creed, Book Two

SDWF: Thanks, Mark!

Find out more about Mark at www.markcjacksonwriter.com and on Facebook