Writers@Work: From Fact to Fiction
An Interview with Jeannée Sacken about her new book, her experience as a photographer, and more.
Today’s tip features my good friend Jeannée Sacken talking about her new novel, The Women Who Stand Between. She appears at Boswell Book Company this Friday at 6:30 PM.
Tell us about your new novel.
The Women Who Stand Between is the first book in my new series. The book is suspenseful women’s fiction and there’s a lovely thread of romance running through the books. Here’s the summary:
Julia Wilde is one of the best wildlife cinematographers in the business. But while on location in southern Africa, she finds herself unfairly blamed for an accident that leaves several crew members dead. Blacklisted by the movie industry, she takes a job in the film department at a midwestern university only to discover that tenure depends on her making a movie.
With a small crew of talented filmmaking friends in tow, Julia heads back to Zimbabwe to make a documentary about the Mambas—a fierce, all-female, anti-poaching unit who risk their lives every day to protect endangered species.
But as Julia soon learns, being behind the lens is no protection from poachers who will do whatever it takes to protect their business and keep this movie from seeing the light of day.
What inspired you to write about the animals in Zimbabwe? What kind of research did you do for the book?
As a photographer of wildlife, I’ve spent a great deal of time in southern Africa, particularly Zimbabwe, which is near and dear to my heart. When I was casting around for an idea for my next book, this part of the world was a natural fit. So was having a cinematographer shooting a documentary about women who fight to save endangered species. Which means having elephants and lions and rhinos in the book. I was keen on making these animals true secondary characters—not just part of the background. Although I don’t name them, these animals do play important roles in the story, featuring as extended metaphors for the storyline and characters’ relationships.
Because I know Zimbabwe fairly well, I thought it would be much easier to write these books than the Annie Hawkins Series, which was set mostly in Afghanistan. I quickly learned how wrong-headed that was, however, and booked several addition photoshoots in Zim to research Hwange National Park and the anti-poaching unit at the Rhino Sanctuary, the rangers and the lodges.
This was definitely not a hardship. It also helps enormously that I have a number of contacts in-country who are more than happy to respond to any question I posed. Google continues to be a close friend, but I haven’t relied on it nearly as much as I did when writing the last series.
What is your writing practice like? How do you stay productive with all of the distractions?
I always hear my writer friends talk about putting in time each day and practicing to hone their craft. That’s my idea of what a good writer should do. I am not that kind of writer. I only write when I’m at home, which means when I’m on a photoshoot, no writing happens. And even when I’m home, I only write when my muse is with me. When she is, I’m all in—for hours every day. The actual drafting of my books happens very quickly. The idea for Women came to me in late May 2024, and I finished a solid draft in seven weeks, writing anywhere from eight to twelve hours a day.
As for distractions? My husband values his life and so steers clear of my studio when I’m writing. Following the advice of Emily St. John Mandel, I pretty much rule out any social life while I’m writing. Basically, I’m very selfish with my time and don’t allow distractions.
Now that you have written five books, what have you found to be the most effective marketing tools?
The Annie Hawkins Series were word-of-mouth books. Readers referred them to friends and relatives, and for that I’m very grateful. I love giving talks at libraries and schools and for private groups, attending book groups, and my publicist is first rate. I have also had the great good fortune to write guest blogs and other articles and to appear on numerous podcasts.
This time around, I’m trying something different that I discovered from one of your guest bloggers, who wrote a short story with a number of characters from her books. (See The Best Swag I Ever Made )
I decided that this is something I could do. I ended up writing a novella epilogue to the Annie Hawkins Series titled, Depth of Field. Anyone who pre-orders the new book from my publisher, Orange Hat Publishing will be able to get a coupon code for the E-book. People who attend any of my events, including the launch at Boswell Book Company, and buy any of my books will be able to get a print copy of the novella. It will also be available for purchase on Amazon.
What are you reading now?
I’m working on revisions on Blessing, the second book in the Julia Wilde Series. I don’t seem able to read very well when I’m in writing mode, although I just finished One Final Turn, an Electra O’Donnell mystery by Ashley Weaver. This is a wonderful series that I wish could go on and on. And now, I’m reading Laura Resau’s Alchemy of Flowers—a book after my heart.
