I'm James Cherry.

I'm a poet and writer here.

Born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee.

I always like to say that I'm a local writer with international appeal, [chuckles] I guess.

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If you are a writer, there's a program that airs here: Tennessee Writes.

They feature local writers.

They give writers a chance to expound upon their craft, to talk about their writing.

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I'm James E. Cherry, and it's all about home.

It's all about home.

Straight ahead on Tennessee Writes, we're meeting Tennessee author Jacquelyn Boyd.

She's a wife, mother of four children whom she raises and homeschools in Jackson, Tennessee.

She's also a portrait photographer, certified financial coach, and raises chickens.

She is passionate about her faith and sharing it with others.

She also took a one-year break from all social media.

She's a self-proclaimed sourdough enthusiast, and says she doesn't do fear.

Her children's book is titled What's Stuck in my Butt?

We'll answer that intriguing question and much more straight ahead.

Grab a cup of coffee and find your comfy chair because Tennessee Writes starts right now.

[music] Books about Te.. Books that come from Tennessee authors.

Books and stories with a Tennessee twist.

West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Writes.

Hello and welcome to Tennessee Writes.

We're glad you're joining us for this unique show that goes beyond the book to let you get to know the author in a personal and revealing way.

My name is Peter Noll.

We're about to get up close and personal with another Tennessee writer, finding out about their childhood, how they began writing, where their stories come from, and what advice they have for you if you want to write your own book.

Plus, we put the authors on a stopwatch as they try and answer questions in the Lightning Round.

Today, Tennessee Writes welcomes author Jacquelyn Boyd.

She lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with her husband and four children.

She's also a photographer, financial coach, raises chickens, and is a sourdough enthusiast.

Tennessee Writes welcomes Jacquelyn Boyd.

Welcome to Tennessee Writes.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming.. Boy, I want to let our audience know if they hear some giggles or children, it's-- you're a homeschool mom, right?

I am, yes.

You've got, how many?

Four?

Four chi.. Four children.

They're al.. Yes, they're a.. Yes.

We .. If you hear that during the show, she's a busy mom.

Yes, that is true.

How do you find the time to do it all?

I don't know.

If you find .. You make the time to do what needs to be done.

You put the rest for the next day, and you just survive a lot of it.

You took a one-year break from social media.

I did.

What brought that about?

I wanted to be more present.

I felt like social media was just another distraction, a way to not be present with your family, not to be present with your children.

Not only that, but I just didn't want to find purpose in my day on social media.

It was a beautiful break.

Actually, I still don't have it on my phone.

I got rid of it on my phone altogether.

I just use it now for resources or homeschooling things, different communities and groups that you can get connected with.

It did change your life.

It did change my life.

You altered things by the time you got back.

Yes, absolutely.

You feel like a whole new person because you feel like you're living in the moment and not necessarily watching the moment slip by.

Scrolling, you can get on your phone, and the next thing you know two hours go by, and you're wondering what just happened.

It's like when you fall into those Hallmark movie marathons.

[laughs] You sit down to watch a litt.. and six hours later, you're like, "Where did the day go?"

It's true.

Although those are a little bit more entertaining, I feel like, in the snowy winter days.

Yes, exactly.

Besides being an author, you got a lot on your plate.

I do.

You're a portrait photogra.. I am.

Is it just weddi.. I have done weddings, but honestly, that is more of just a hobby.

It's one of those things that I enjoy to do just because I love creativity.

Because I am a stay-at-home mom, a lot of things are structured, and photography is a way to use your creative mindset.

I mostly do it for my family, and I do it for friends and people local.

I don't necessarily pursue that as much anymore, just simply because, again, my most important role right now is a mom and raising my children to be really good human beings.

You're a certified financial coach.

I am.

You're certified through whom again?

Dave Ramsey.

You did that whole certification process?

I did the whole certification process, yes.

Do you like doing that?

I do like doing that.

I helped a couple just really get their mindset right because either money will own you or you will control your money.

It's a good mindset to have when you're in control, and you're not just mindlessly letting money control you.

I read somewhere where you said you don't do fear- I don't.

-and that nothing-- you just--?

Unnecessary fear.

Now, fear is good and healthy when it's good a.. A lion is running after you.

Yes.

Right.

That is a good.. Not touching a burning stove is a good, healthy fear.

As far as just being intimidated by things that I personally can overcome, if I just try and put my fear behind me, that's something that I've pushed forward in, simply because I feel like if I'm going to love on, especially foster children, which is where that story came from, I want to make sure that there's nothing hindering me from blessing them and showing them that you can be you and just embrace it.

There was a story I read where a little girl asked you to sing, and you were deathly afraid of singing, and you thought, "This is stupid."

Yes.

Are you going to ask me to sing?

Because I will.

No, that's okay.

[laughs] [?]

[crosstalk] That's okay unless you really want .. No, I'm just kidding.

Yes, that is exactly right.

I was mentoring her-- I took to that story because I'm not mu.. and I'm afraid of that.

Me as well.

It was one of those things that was important to her.

She loved to sing, and all she wanted was for me to sing with her.

As I was mentoring her, I just felt in my heart, "She is worth so much more than my fear of singing in front of people."

I still see her seven years later, and we sing together.

Again, it changed my life.

It just put things into motion that I wouldn't have done otherwise.

Talk to me about your faith.

That seems to be the center of everything.

You are very proud of it and want to share it with others.

Talk to us about that.

I do, but I feel like the most defining moment for other people, especially when you live out your faith, is the living part.

As much as I do love the Lord and He's changed my life for so many reasons, in so many ways, and He still is very much a prominent part of who I am, I will say that it's just me trying to get alone with Him and be like, "How can I be a better human?"

so that if anybody is wondering out there, if the Lord is real, then I want to give them every reason to believe that He is, simply by my lifestyle.

It's a lot of refinement.

It's getting a lot of things out that you harbor in.

My hope is that if somebody sees me living my life, that they know that there is a reason that I live differently than other people simply because of the way that I choose to live.

You're originally from where?

Where were you born?

I was born in St.

Louis.

How did you find your way here to Jackson?

It's my 13th place living.

There's a big traveling journey in between that.

My husband and I were married.

We lived in Kentucky.

He's an engineer.

Once he reached a professional status, we had a job opportunity here.

I landed in Tennessee just seven years ago.

Work brings many people to the city they live in.

They don't choose it.

It's sort of God chose it for them, per se.

Right.

That's exactly what .. Yes, we were actually looking at any location and applying all over the United States.

For some reason, I was looking up houses in Jackson, Tennessee, just for fun.

I saw one, and I felt like the Lord was like, "That's where you'll live."

Sure enough, every offer on that house fell through until we got here.

It was like a year's worth of offers that fell through.

What were some of your first impressions of Jackson and West Tennessee?

I thought it was a lot more accommodating to raise a family.

Where I come from in Kentucky, it was an extremely big city.

It's beautiful.

It's horse country, but .. and do a lot of nature things, I guess, as easily as I am here in Jackson, with all of the state parks local and nearby and things like that.

I found it enjoyable as far as raising a family, just a little slower pace than what I was used to.

One of the reasons we started Tennessee Writes is because there are so many people you meet every day that you don't even know; you're just doing your thing, and you're like, "Oh, you wrote a book?"

That's how we met.

Baily Luther, our producer of this show, and I were shooting segments at the Jackson International Food and Art Festival on food.

We must have had so much food with us because we didn't want to throw any away.

We came across Jacquelyn sitting at a card table on this hot day.

We had arms full of food, but she had books.

I'm like, "Oh, are you from--?"

"Yes, I'm in Jackson."

She had this book called What's Stuck in my B.. That made us stop because we're like, "What's going on here?"

[laughs] Right.

Totally relatable.

The next thing you know, you're here.

How did that come about?

How did you become a writer and think, "I've got to do a book"?

The children's book is my second book.

Originally, I felt like the Lord put it on my heart to write a book about freedom, and so I did that as my first book.

You have multiple books out.

I do.

Just two, though.

Just two.

This one, I had already published, but I remember just wanting to write a book dedicated to my son.

If you are a mom of boys, they're very high-energy and hilarious.

I was literally just sitting one day, and the next thing you know, the entire book just came into my mind.

I wrote it out really fast and then turned it into a book a year later.

That's really what happened.

I didn't even sit and think about, "This is the topic I want."

I make a lot of jokes with my children.

We joke a lot in our house.

It just came naturally from several of our jokes.

[music] Jacquelyn, let's dive into What's Stuck in my Butt?

I bet the title stops a lot of people in their tracks, like it did us.

Yes.

Yes, it does.

You call it a silly book,- It is.

-but I don't wan.. It is something that, again, it just pretty much encompasses —if that's the right word— the relationship of my son and myself, just because when he was younger —he's older now— just a lot of silly conversations, a lot of family things.

The whole concept of it is just really a running joke that we had when he was younger.

Of course, now he's older.

Ms.

Booth did the artwork.

Is she local to Jackson, Tennessee?

She's not.

She was my college roommate.

She was a wonderful artist.

She helped me quite a bit on a lot of the content of it, the illustration content, and then a lot of editing on my part.

We partnered together to bring the book to life.

She was my college roommate.

Where'd you go to college?

Eastern Kentucky University.

What did you study?

Office Systems Technology.

This has nothing to do with office systems or technology; what's stuck in my butt.

It does not.

I'm telling you, every year loo.. I guess it would depend on what is stuck in your butt for the office technology.

Right.

Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, imagine you would be a mom of four children, writing children's books, writing books, taking pictures, a financial coach, living in Jackson, Tennessee?

No.

Not at all.

I actually was against writing for a very.. Why?

Because of my faith, I felt like I didn't have anything else to say.

I felt like if you're already not reading the Word of God—and this is just from my faith—then what's the purpose of producing more books just to distract people from the Book that can change their lives?

I had rebelled against that idea for a very long time.

I had a gentleman that I just adore.

He became like a father figure.

He was praying for me one day and said, "I just feel like the Lord wants to encourage you to write some children's books."

I looked at him, and I said, "Probably not."

That was it.

That was about 11 .. It's funny that this came to be eight years after that.

It was never something I wanted to do.

What's been the most surprising thing you've learned through this journey of writing this children's book: What's Stuck in my Butt?

The most surprising thing is probably the process.

It's a very fun but very elaborate process.

A lot of patience and a lot of learning is necessary if you're going to be a self-publisher.

Otherwise, I don't know if I knew what to expect, and I still don't know if I'm prepared for the next one.

It's a great learning curve.

Great [?]

[crosstalk].

Your first book was a different genre.

It was about relationships?

It was freedom.

Freedom.

Living in fr.. Healing from past bondage and stuff like that.

It was nonfiction.

This is a totally different genre.

Which did you have more fun doing?

This one, for sure.

This one was fun.

You said you were working on another book?

I would hope to produce one for all of my children, yes, at some point.

What topic?

A children's book?

Just a children's book, yes.

Then hopefully, at some point, whenever motherhood slows down, do some suspense, because that's my favorite genre.

Is this actually a photo of your son on the front?

It looks identical to him, yes.

[laughs] Yes, that would be him, my little blondie.

Yes.

[music] Now it's time for the Tennessee Writes Lightning Round where we ask authors a series of quick book-related questions and see how many you can answer in two minutes.

Oh.

If you don't know.. We'll put two minutes on the clock, and it starts ticking down after I ask my first question.

Jacquelyn, are you ready to play the Tennessee Writes Lightning Round?

Yes.

If you could have any celebrity narrate the audio version of your book, who would it be?

Oh, my gosh.

Channing Tatum.

[chime] What animal best repres.. Oh, skunk.

[chime] What book took you the longest time to finish readi.. The Bible.

[chime] How long?

Six months.

[chime] If you could have a book signing in.. where would it be?

Ooh, Florida Keys.

I don't know if that counts.

[chime] What's one thing you would change about your book cover?

I wouldn't.

[chime] What author, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with?

Ooh.

Probably Paul.

[chime] Where would you go f.. Probably Mexican.

[chime] How many books do you hope to write before you die?

Oh, probably four more.

[chime] Do you own more paperback books or hardcover books?

Paperback.

[chime] Who did you give the first copy of your published book to?

My son.

[chime] What is the name of the font used in your book?

I have no idea.

What's the first book you could remember reading as a child?

Go, Dog.

Go!

[chime] What book has most influenced your life?

The Bible.

[chime] How long did it take you to write your book?

To write it?

10 minutes.

[chuckles] [chime] What is the first book that.. Oh my gosh.

I have no idea.

Pass.

When is the last time you checked out a book from a public library?

Ooh.

Two weeks ago.

[chime] What's your favorite movie based on a book?

A Walk to Remember.

I think that's based on a book.

[chime] If you could have any world leader read you.. Donald Trump.

[chime] Do you prefer paperback books or e-books?

Paperback.

[chime] Do you prefer to write with pens or pencils?

Pens.

[chime] [buzzer] [lightning sound effect] [music] Jacquelyn, we always love to hear our authors read the words off the pages that they wrote.

Joining you is Benjamin, who is on the cover and the back and sort of a joke.

You guys must just have so much fun in your family.

A lot of energy.

We do.

Remember, .. are with you today because it's busy mom.

Busy mom.

Yes.

Would you read from What's Stuck in my Butt?

Yes.

All right.

What's Stu.. [speaks to Benjamin] You ready?

"What time is it?

I'm late!

I'm late!

School's about to st.. "Benny jumped up from his bed and ripped a big ol' fart!"

"Mommy!

Mommy!

Where are .. I need some clothes to.. "Check the laundry beside your bed!

I put your laundry there!"

Benny found a pair of jeans and pulled them from the pile.

Next, he grabbed a baseball shirt as was his normal style.

He pulled his jeans over his legs and straightened out his shirt.

He saw some stains upon his sleeves.

It was just a little dirt.

But when he went to brush his teeth, he noticed something strange.

Something was stuck in his butt, but he didn't have time to change!

Was it an apple that fell off the apple tree?

Or maybe a jar of honey coming from the honeybees?

Did he sit on the rattle his sister left in the car?

Or maybe it was a wrapper from his mommy's chocolate bar?

He didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right.

Something was stuck in his butt, and his jeans were feeling tight!

Was it his lunchbox?

No, that would be too big!

And surely not the shovel he used in school one time to dig.

Maybe it was the soccer ball he kicked around with friends.

Or perhaps it was his dinosaur when he played with Daddy for pretend.

Nothing seemed to fit; Benny was surely in a rut.

He didn't know what it could be, but he had something in his butt!

When it was time for bed, after kissing on his mama, Benny went up to his room to put on his pajamas.

He changed his shirt and then his jeans, then Benny looked inside.

Nothing was there in his jeans.

He huffed and puffed and sighed.

Something was stuck in his butt, but my, what could it be?

Benny turned around and saw he had a big.. WEDGIE!

[music] Jacquelyn, you talked about your journey to writing books.

There's probably some mom sitting out there or someone sitting, "I've got a story to tell.

I want to write a book."

You self-published.

What advice do you have for people that are thinking, "I want to do what she did"?

Emotionally, I would say stick with it and don't give up, and continue to press forward, and learning everything you can learn.

As far as strategically and logistically, I feel like planning is a really good tip.

If you can at least try to get something in order, and a lot of changes are okay.

Just being able to have a plan and stick with it and be consistent.

What's the best way for people to purchase your book?

Where do you send them to?

If people want to own What's Stuck in my Butt?

I typically send them to either Amazon or IngramSpark or straight to my website as well.

What's your website?

Jacquelynboyd.com.

Okay.

Very simple.

Very simple.

Jacquelynboyd.com.

On your website, there's the .. and your other book that you mentioned.

There's also financial coaching, portraits.

It's a great website.

Thank you.

That's where people should start out.

Yes.

They can contact me there.

They can learn more about things that I do.

It's constantly evolving because I'm constantly learning new things and just adding to it.

It's great.

What is the biggest challenge about being a mom of four homeschooled children?

Probably having a sound mind.

A lot of times you are in the process of writing a book, but that process is interrupted about 40 times in two minutes.

Being able to just self-regulate and not lose your mind is a huge thing simply because you don't want to respond out of any type of frustration.

You also want to make sure that you can thoroughly process what you're trying to process.

It's very difficult for moms in general to process a thought from start to finish.

When you're home with children, it makes it even more difficult.

Just keeping a sound mind has been the most difficult thing that I've had to learn, but very beneficial.

It keeps my children knowing that they can continually approach me without being upset about frustrating me.

Is there a good support system for moms at homeschool?

Do you find that there's different groups and other moms that you can--?

I feel like in some areas of the United States there are.

I haven't found that necessarily in Jackson as far as something that's been super impactful for my own personal journey.

I do know there are lots of homeschool families, but I feel like when you homeschool, you have a lot of freedom, so a lot of times you just have to fin.. that do the same thing that you do.

We have sadly come to the end of this edition of Tennessee Writes.

We want to thank you, Jacquelyn Boyd, for coming on and sharing about yourself, your journey of writing, bringing the whole family, taking time out of your very busy schedule to share with our audience and everyone else.

Before you leave, would you sign your book for us?

I will, happily.

[music] Thank you for caring about local authors.

[?].

[music] Thank you so much.

Of course.

As a thank-you gift .. We have this Tennessee Writes-- we call it a writing kit from Channel 11.

It's an organizer, a messenger briefcase, a notebook, water mug, latte mug, and a plethora of pens to help with your future writing.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much.

We want to thank you for watching this edition of Tennessee Writes.

Please join us again as we get up close and personal with another Tennessee author.

You can stream all of our episodes, past and present, on YouTube and the PBS app.

Remember, as Walt Disney said, "A good story can take you on a fantastic journey," so keep on reading, Tennessee.

[music] For comments about today's show or to suggest a Tennessee author for a future program, email us at tennesseewrites@westtnpbs.org.

Tennessee Writes, on air and streaming now.

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