MOONLIT author Jadie Jones was an athletic geek. Is that even possible? Come see!
Welcome, Jadie Jones, author of Moonlit! Let’s ask her some telling questions about her teenager years, shall we?
Nerd? Geek? Jock? Snob?
I was an athletic geek 🙂 I was obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I would print out whole episode scripts, and organized them in a massive binder that I toted around with me where ever I went. I didn’t (still don’t) own a brush, and I mostly wore sporty clothes. I have a white-girl ‘fro, a serious set of braces, and I had really bad skin, so I didn’t really feel secure connecting with people. But I did love sports. I ran track and was on the drill team. I was lucky. My high school wasn’t one of those places that made life brutal for quirky people like me. I heard: “she marches to the beat of her own drum” a lot.
If that doesn’t get you interested in this brand new author, check her out at all these other places:
Remember …. in band camp …?
I had my first kiss at a Christian sports camp called crosspoint. I was a tom boy though-and-through, so this came as kind of a shock. Here’s the whole story: I had hit it off with a guy in one of my classes. I don’t remember his name, but I do remember that he always wore a White Sox hat. On the last nights, he asked me to share a pizza with him in the common area after hours. We weren’t supposed to leave our dorms that late, and it was the first time I’d ever intentionally broken a rule like that… Anyways, he seemed really jumpy, which made me nervous. We heard someone coming, so we left the pizza and ducked behind the couch. He asked me to close my eyes, so I did. Then he said he was going to kiss me. Never having been kissed before, I puckered my lips much like my two year old daughter does now. He evidently had a different kind of kiss in mind. His top lip brushed the tip of my nose and his bottom lip nearly swallowed my chin. I remember gasping, and rocking back on my heels. He turned red and then gave me his hat. That’s when a couple of chaperones came in and we bailed, each running to our different buildings. My church group left in the morning, and I never saw him again.
Nothing’s better than being on the _________ team
Nothing’s better than being on the Drill team. The Drill team at Decatur High School was one of the best high school experiences I had. It was very diverse, so I got to know a lot of different people, and I learned how to dance, which is still something I do to blow off steam. We also traveled with the marching band on international tours every other year, so I saw England, Korea, and Japan. We danced on the football field during half-time shows, which made me brave, and more confident when I was in front of people in general. Our school-sponsor pretty much let us self-govern, which was a crash-course in problem solving, coreography, and communication.
My other car was a ________________
I was actually terrified to drive. The first time I drove with my learner’s permit, I confused the gas and the break and smashed my mother’s van into a parked, empty horse trailer. It crumpled the whole front end of her car. She was cool about it, but I was horrified. So I avoided driving at all costs. My parents finally bought me a 1989 Jeep Wagoneer – wood paneled sides and all – at a garage sale. My dad said: “you can’t hurt this.” The jeep was a TOTAL piece but I loved it. The ceiling had come unglued and I stuck it up with thumb tacks. My mother put cow-print seat covers over the front seat because the interior uphosltery was in rough shape. I drove that thing ’til the engine gave out.
Now, before we get to the last question, let’s look at Jadie’s book …
Favorite one-line review about the book
Captivating and beautifully written (Julie N. Ford, author of Replacing Gentry)
Favorite 6 sentences from the book
I glance at the clock on my bedside table. Seven-thirty. Time to get moving. But the simple action of swinging my legs over the side takes everything I’ve got. I blink and John’s face is in front of mine again, smoke and beer on his breath. Another blink and all I see is red. Salty, warm, red that smells like rust and is every bit as corrosive, eating straight through my flesh and deep into my soul.
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But before you go, one last question …
If I could do it all again, I would …
I wouldn’t have given nearly as much time, effort, and heart to a boy who didn’t want to give me the time of day. Oh I wrote that boy so many notes. I kept thinking: if he’d just see me for me instead of my frizzy hair and breakouts, he could really like me. In those notes, I told him how great he was, I talked about my day. He took my notes and used them as a source of jokes for all of his friends. At the time, I thought it was because there was something wrong with me. Now I know the only mistake I made was in giving him so many opportunities to get to know me.
Congratulations, Jadie! Good luck with MOONLIT!
Have more questions for this author? Ask in the comments!
