Tips July 23, 2026 0 Comments

Unlock the Secrets of Storytelling: Jacqueline West Reveals Writing Magic You’ve Never Heard Before

Today’s Write Now interview features Jacqueline West, author of BLACK POINT.

4 min read

1 day ago

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Photo courtesy of Ryan West

Who are you?

Hi! My name is Jacqueline West, and I’m a novelist, poet, and parent living in Minnesota.

What do you write?

I write young adult and middle grade books (along with poems and short stories for adults), most of them of the dark and twisty variety. My first middle grade series, The Books of Elsewhere, is a creepy fantasy about a girl who discovers that she can climb inside of the paintings that hang on the walls of her family’s strange new home, and that those paintings are full of dangerous secrets. Last Things, my most recent YA novel, is my modern-day, Minnesotan, metal reworking of the legend of a musician who may have sold his soul to the devil. And my brand new YA, Black Point, is about a girl who is struggling to save her tiny hometown from the rising tides of change, but when outsiders buy the long-empty (and famously haunted) local hotel, hideous secrets from the town’s past begin to rise to the surface.

Where do you write?

My very favorite writing spot is the corner of a city coffee shop, where I can huddle over a notebook and let the world bustle around me. These days, though, most of my actual writing work happens at home, in the room we call “the study,” like our weird Victorian house is one big Clue gameboard. The study has a fireplace and bookcases on every side, plus a cluttered desk and a chair covered with blankets to hide the duct taped cushions. There’s usually a dog dozing underneath. It’s very cozy. It might be even better than a coffee shop.

When do you write?

With two young-ish children, I’ve gotten pretty good at writing in whatever bits of time I can get. On school days, I try to write in the mornings and leave early afternoon for the admin parts of the job. I’ve learned that if I want to focus on poetry, or if I need to get to that deep, all-consuming, almost unconscious space where I can do the real generative work, I should get up before anyone else is even awake and tiptoe downstairs to scribble in the dark. But most of the time, exhaustion wins.