We recently connected with Jessica Hamm and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jessica, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My optimism comes from my faith in a loving God. Through many hardships, including childhood poverty and a broken home, faith helped me overcome dark moments and fear. Without God’s faithfulness and goodness to me, my life would be far different than what it is.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My story is complex but more beautiful than I ever expected it to be.
I married young but after twelve years, we unexpectedly divorced in 2013. I had three sons in elementary school and had started my career as an author with my first historical romance already published. A writer-turned-agent friend approached me about a fiction acquisitions position at a small press. So began my journey into editing, which I enjoyed up to 2018 when the press was sold to another company. During these years, my sister struggled with addiction and so my family and I helped take care of her children while she was in and out of rehab.
Sadly, she lost her fight in 2017 and her five young children came to live with me and my three boys.
Combining our families was challenging in many ways, but it taught me patience and I hope it taught the children what it means to truly love others. There were many fights (as you can imagine) but also great moments of togetherness and beauty. In 2019, I began dating a wonderful man who came from a big family but hadn’t been able to start his own.
Curtis has been an amazing father to all of the children as they’ve grown into teenhood and adulthood. We married in 2022 and a month later, I found out I was pregnant! We had our healthy, gorgeous son in 2023.
Now, in 2024, my oldest is out on her own but within our household live seven boys ranging from age twenty to age two, a dog, two snakes, and three cats. You’d think I’d be too busy to do anything besides run the household, but in 2023 I felt a little bored. I was no longer writing, though I do have seven traditionally published books and three ebooks available online.
One of the authors I’d formerly acquired is still writing and asked me to edit her work.
Her faith in my abilities inspired me to create my business, Blue Pencil Editorial. I made the website and launched. To my delight, clients began contacting me! Some were new authors to me, and others were authors I’ve known throughout my writing years.
I discovered that I love to edit!
Blue Pencil Editorial (me, hahaa) specializes in romance, particularly inspirational romance. But I also have experience editing fantasy and women’s fiction. As the new year approaches, I look forward to growing my business with advertisement and discounts. In 2025 I’ll be offering special pricing as both a thank you to my current clients, and also as a way to reach new authors. I’m passionate about refining words and stories and brainstorming with authors about how to bring their characters to life to create a compelling story that readers won’t want to put down.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Being an avid reader taught me about the structure of story. Different styles of writing, different genres, and yet an author can still create a work that gives their readers a satisfying experience. I also think networking with other writers was helpful. Not only do they share their triumphs, but they share their valleys and I found out that I was not alone. There were other “weird” people just like me! That gave me confidence and hope. Finally, perseverance. If I gave up because of a rejection letter, I would never have had my first book published.
My advice is if you have a goal, don’t give up. Meet other writers. Read craft books. Take critique, enter contests, get rejections. They will hurt sometimes, but it’s okay. Learn what you can from the pain so that you can grow and move forward to accomplish your goals. Persevere and be open to learning from others.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Time management has always been a challenge for me. I’m not a morning person, but at night I’m often too tired to put hours into reading. I have realized that having a toddler at the age of forty-one is quite different than having three toddlers in my early twenties. LOL And my current plan to increase efficiency and productivity is to get up earlier and go to the gym. I’m eating healthier…mostly. Chips and queso are a terrible temptation for me. But I’m determined to lose a little weight, be healthier, and bolster my energy. There are two hours of quiet time when my active toddler plays and doesn’t sleep when I can edit. I clean in the morning, edit during his downtime, and that leaves my afternoons free for playing and possibly editing (which is weirdly fun to me).
So, to summarize, Jessica Hamm is often her very own obstacle. But I’m working to overcome my tiredness with better habits so that I can continue to enjoy and expand Blue Pencil Editorial.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bluepencileditorial.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJessicaNelson/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hamm-729762217/
Image Credits
Lauren Ripple
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