The Author’s Story – @Nonnie Jules #RRBC #RWISA

Hi, my name is NONNIE JULES.  I was born in Texas, although am now, and have been a resident of the great state of Louisiana since I was a toddler, therefore, no one can tag me as a transplant.  I am a true child of all things creole and cajun.

I’ve been writing all my life.  I know, we hear people say that all the time, but with me, ’tis true.  I began to write because I wanted to be a tiny part of that beautiful world of words.

Remember being forced by mom to turn off the lights at 10 PM so you could rest for school the next day?  Remember the flashlight under your bed covers so that you could finish those last few pages of  LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott, or TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN?  Yes, I was that girl…still am, although now it’s my husband who’s trying to force me to turn out the lights to rest.  I was so madly in love with the amazing world of words, it’s all I wanted to do!  Literally, all the time!

I remember loving books so much, that each time I would pull one from a library shelf, I would close my eyes and sniff the pages, inhaling the scent of what was once a beautiful, living tree… and, I remember it feeling almost as good as the feeling I get now, when my loving husband wraps his arms around me.  Today, each time I purchase a new book, the first thing I do when I sit down to read, is open it up and sniff the pages.  I fall deeper in love each time, at the performance of this simple ritual.

Poetry was my first love.  I could listen for hours to my mom and her friends swap stories about “life,” and then I would scurry off to my little writing room (which at that time was a mini student desk inside of my closet) to write, in poetic form, about those lives..those stories.  That’s really how it all began.

As a young adult, I would find that, still upon hearing stories of the experiences of others, I had to write about them, all in poetic form.  It was my way of sometimes enhancing the beauty of something as miraculous as the birth of a child, or even turning something as ugly as the abuse of a child, into a positive, moving and uplifting collage, of beautifully spun words, meant to inspire and encourage.   If you believe it so, something good can always come out of something bad.

The poetry that I write usually stems from the experiences of those around me, those I hear about in the news, or even in the glow of being mother to my wonderful daughters, I find words for those moments, too.  I hope that when reading my work, you will enjoy it enough to share it with others…others who might be uplifted by it, who might be touched and encouraged by it – others who might find strength in my simple words.

“How I know I’m a writer:  When I sleep, I wake to write;  when I dream, I rouse to write;  when I eat, I hunger to write;  when I drink, it’s my thirst to write;  and when I write, I write and write and write…until my Muse grows weary of the beating it takes from every keystroke of my hand.” ~ NJ

***

To learn more about Nonnie:

*AUTHOR, NONNIE JULES

*Author Showcase

*Author Showcase #2