Born and raised in Northern California, I am truly a west coast girl as well as a full-blown city slicker. By day, I am a high school English teacher (17 years and going strong). I love being around teenagers every day and learning about the new and possibly upcoming trends just from them. They inspire me every day with their heart aches and woes, but also with their excitement and lust for life. I've been writing since I was a little girl. It started when I wrote short picture books on index cards and gave them to my mom. In high school, we were given a short story assignment and a month to complete it. I wrote mine (7 pages single spaced) that night. I was hooked! In college, I majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing where we focused on shorts stories.
Twelve years ago, I had a life changing moment when an author said to me, "There are two types of writers: those who talk about wanting to do it, and those who write. Which one are you?" I'd been saying for years that I wanted to write a book, and couldn't find a reason not to any longer, so I went home and did it. Two months later, I had my first draft of Confessions of a Drama Queen which I thought was genius. I ended up throwing it away four months later. It was a humbling experience. I took a break after that for about a year until I was faced with the biggest piece of inspiration a writer could have. After witnessing someone close to me go through so much heartache, I wrote All's Fair in Love and Texts. It was definitely better than Confessions, but not good enough. I shelved it for two years. Four years, I wrote Keridwen thanks to my husband telling me that I needed to branch out of my comfort zone. Writing a fantasy is nothing to joke about. The amount of research needed was a killer, not to mention the imagination needed to create and mold this world. It's not shelved yet, but we'll see. I came back to All's Fair in Love and Texts after six months of dealing with Keridwen. It's been totally rewritten and I love it, but once again, it's time to move on. I then wrote To Where and Back, which was inspired by great tragedy that struck my school seven years ago.
Four years ago, I moved home to Northern California. It's great being back, but it has taken some getting used to. Since moving I wrote Ticket to Heaven, a YA contemporary. I have also been writing a series of picture books about a baby bird and her adventures. Currently, I am working on my first MG. It's a contemporary with an element of magical realism. It's so fun branching out again. This time I am purely inspired by my own children who are entering into the middle grade ages.
Being a mom, wife, teacher, and writer defines me a whole. I love every aspect and wouldn't change it for the world.
If you are looking for a way to contact me, please email me at jamie.handling@gmail.com
