About

Jackie Lea Sommers lives and loves and writes in Minnesota. She is the 2013 winner of the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing. Her first novel Truest was published by HarperCollins in September 2015. She is slowly crafting her next novel into something special. Follow Salt Novel for updates!

Jackie grew up on a hobby farm but has made the Twin Cities her home for nearly 20 years after moving there to study creative writing at the University of Northwestern. She loves curiosity and cranky teens.

FAQs here.
More about my faith here.
OCD resources here.
Contact me here.

21 thoughts on “About”

  1. My girlfriend has OCD so I feel for what you have. It seems silly to me, like she just shouldn’t do it but I get that it’s quite real to the person, even if they know that rituals don’t really help, they have to do it anyway. Interesting trailing through your blog 🙂

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    • Thanksk for checking out my blog! Yes, it seems silly to you– and it probably seems silly to your girlfriend too– but the discomfort is just SO hard to sit with that we obsessive-compulsives are DRIVEN to our rituals. CBT is so killer because it forces us to sit with our raging discomfort without allowing any rituals/compulsions. Imagine– making a compulsive washer sit with human feces smeared on his or her arm. Yowza!

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  2. I look forward to sitting down and reading through this over the coming weekend. Or between classes. Or during my office hours when I should be working but instead procrastinate. Anyway. I heart you, darling, and I’m excited to be able to catch up with you a bit and see what is going on in your life. ❤

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  3. Beautiful, Talented, Lovable JLS-
    WHERE can I buy a copy of your book?!!! I HAVE to have one. It is so real and interesting, and I’m addicted to your blog! ;P
    I want to buy a signed, personalized copy! 🙂 Can you post info on where to buy pretty pretty please??
    Love, Jess

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    • Lovely, wonderful Jess,
      You’re so sweet! I just finished my manuscript, so now I have to play the querying/waiting game as I try to find an agent to represent my story, and then after I (hopefully) find one, that agent has to sell the story to a publisher. I have a long road ahead of me …

      I’m so glad you like my blog! What kinds of things would you be interesting in seeing show up on the blog?

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      • oops. sorry i didn’t reply earlier. I must have accidently sent you to junk mail. :{ oh NO!!! :p
        ummm, what kind of things would I like to see discussed on your blog? Let’s see…hmmm….uhhhhh….can we make this multiple choice?
        LoL. I can’t think right now.
        Oh, I know! How about the difficulty of being still. “Be still and know that I am God.” Who does that? People seem to be worshipers of business. I hate it. But i get caught up in getting things done, being on time, rushing here and there, etc. I love to just take an hour to walk with my kids and let them stop and look at every ant hill or acorn. 🙂 Kids can teach us alot about being still. (even when they’re moving). 😛 They’re always in the moment. I have made a conscious decision to not be in such a hurry, not multitask, not text while around people, etc.
        How’s that for starters? ;P

  4. Jackie,
    I was just thinking about how we who struggle with whether or not we are saved are paralyzed by those fears. I think in a lot of ways those fears keep us from being all God has called us to be and living out the lives He has called us to. I think it’s so cool to see how God can help us rise above our fears and struggles and use them for His glory. I think this is a great tool to help people heal because it allows us to be open. One of the things that is hardest about obsessions, sins and anxiety is that we rarely have a place where we feel safe to talk about it. I think if, together with each other and God, we could rise above those things, we could light the world on fire for God. We could get out of ourselves and just live freely, so in love with Him that He’s all that matters!

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  5. Hey Jackie! It’s been awhile! Well, I happened to click on your link on FB today and just had to tell you how amazing you are! I’m so proud of you! Anywho, just wanted to say that 🙂

    Darby

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  6. Oh, I had to open your post at the glimmer of the tag NARNIA….My boy, at 4 1/2 came to spout lines and scenes from the LWW (thanks to the audio that carschooled him). I like your About.

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  10. Pingback: Delightful post from fellow blogger: ERP | Cupcakes and Whimsy: The Journey to Mindfulness

  12. I just want to say thanks for writing about your struggles and how you got help. I am now on my way to finding the right therapist to start really getting help and not just “talk”. It is encouraging to read about others who have gone through CBT/ERP. The journey ahead of me scares the crap out of me but at least I know there is hope.

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  13. I was actually wondering something ( feel free to not reply if you don’t want to, just out of curiosity ) you said you’ve been dealing with OCD for 20 years … but you don’t look that old!

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