10 questions with Alabama novelist Jodie Cain Smith

1. Your favorite novel.

Choosing one novel would be impossible, so I will give you a list of the books (novels and others) that have stuck with me over the years. Rebeccaby Daphne du Maurier is still the best suspense novel I’ve ever read. More recently, Terror at Bottle Creek by Watt Key brought all of my childhood fears into one terrifying novel. I loved it!

Wicked by Gregory Maguire elevated my childhood obsession of OZ to levels I never knew were possible. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner is pure brilliance, as is Bridget Jones’ Diary. I believe both exemplify Women’s Lit and shows how complicated, smart, sexy, and funny we all can be.

From Adrift by Steven Callahan, I know what to do if ever lost at sea and will never forget his detailed account, and Pat Conroy’s Lords of Discipline still breaks my heart. Joshilyn Jackson’s Gods in Alabama is so good I’m a little angry that I didn’t write it. So good, I use excerpts from the opening chapter whenever I need an audition monologue for a southern play.

But, as far as the book I have read and re-read, leaving notes in the margins and underlying important passages, that would be The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie died before I could thank her for sharing her story of heroism and miracles. Her bravery got me through some of the toughest times in my life and reminds me always that my life is pretty good and my challenges are not impossible.

2. What inspired you to start writing?

I first began writing in April 2003. My husband was an Army Lieutenant in Iraq, and I was terrified of his being in combat. After work as a puppet stitcher and performer (truth sometimes is better than fiction), I was driving home through downtown Savannah, GA. A war protester stepped in front of my car with a sign that read, “Who would Jesus bomb?” “Jesus has nothing to do with this, jackass,” I thought as I swerved to miss him. I drove directly to the Savannah Morning News office and demanded to the first person I saw that the families of the soldiers receive the same news coverage given the war protesters. The unsuspecting sports editor challenged me to write a column detailing Jay and my war-spurned separation. Perhaps I was sleep deprived because I accepted the challenge and brought him three column samples the next week. He hired me. In 2005, Chicken Soup for the Soul picked up one piece for an anthology. So, I guess you could say then and now I am inspired by those topics, characters, and voices that get under my skin and into my heart. And, I’ve learned over the years that writing is a much better coping skill for stress than some of the other coping skills I’ve tried.

3. Do you have (or have you ever had) a muse? If so, who/what?

Nope.

4. Your favorite poem.

“The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe. My 7th Grade English teacher introduced me to the world of Poe and changed my life for good. I’d never known writing could be that good, just sink your teeth into it good! That year, I started storytelling competitions searching for any excuse to read or perform Poe.

5. Your favorite Alabama plant.

Any of them that don’t attract mosquitos.

6. Five words which describe you.

Eclectic, humorous, enthusiastic, odd, and kind

7. One way in which AWC changed/impacted your life.

After being away from Alabama, my home, for 15 years, I was afraid Alabama would not accept me as its native child any longer and that the professional writers would not accept me or my work. AWC quickly put that fear to rest as I attended the July 2016 conference in Birmingham.

8. What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the next in the Jubilee Bells saga. Warrior Child occurs over the same time period as Jubilee Bells, but the reader watches an insurgency war through the eyes of a child as Bandit, the protagonist, evolves from favorite son to orphan to child soldier then cherished foundling. My agent is currently shopping Jubilee Bells, so hopefully by the time a publisher is found, I will have Warrior Child finished.

9. Your favorite place in Alabama and why.

My “forever home” in midtown Mobile where my husband, son, and myself moved this past spring.

10. One thing you need right now to help you as a writer.

How about four? Discipline. Energy. Time. Badass-level confidence

To learn more about Jodie, visit www.jodiecainsmith.com or head over to Amazon to purchase her debut, award-winning novel, The Woods at Barlow Bend.

And yes, this writer tweets. Try @jodiecainsmith to keep up with her readings and travels.