September is New Voices Month at the LA Books Examiner. For the last few months, I intentionally sought out four unique new voices to share with the community this month, two nonfiction and two fiction authors, whose personal stories are as fascinating as their writing.
Up first was former University of Tennessee football player turned author Chris Treece, whose new nonfiction book Driven is helping readers find their passion and change their business and personal lives for the better.
Next we met fiction writer and photographer Gint Aras, whose debut novel Finding the Moon in Sugar, is a funny and beautifully written picaresque novel that you don’t want to miss.
This week, the LA Books Examiner is pleased to introduce Jackie Hooper, a musician and writer from Portland, Oregon. Ms. Hooper, a recent college graduate, has been working on an amazing nonfiction writing project that has so much power and significance to offer the community that I wanted to do everything I could to bring more attention to this incredible new voice.
Her project is a future book called The Things You Would Have Said, a collection of unsent letters from people of all ages and walks of life, which she currently chronicles on her website. In each of these letters, the writers are given the opportunity to say what, for whatever reason, they haven’t been able to say before – be it a confession, an apology, gratitude, even admiration – whatever it is they need to get off their chests.
Of all human emotions, regret has to be the most painful. We’ve all written these unsent letters ourselves at one time or another, haven’t we? That’s what’s so powerful about this project. I think Hooper has tapped into something that is potentially both comforting and cathartic for readers and for the letter writers alike. Her website is like a small virtual space where regret doesn’t exist, where it’s never too late to make peace with the ones you care about regardless of how many years have passed.
The many letters Hooper has collected deal with every subject from a prison inmate’s apology to his kids to an 85-year old woman’s admiration of her mother’s strength during the Holocaust. On her website, Jackie shares some of the letters and excerpts she has received and answers questions from visitors and fans about her amazing project.
If you’re interested in learning more about The Things You Would Have Said, and maybe even contributing a letter of your own, visit Jackie’s website. More importantly, support Jackie’s quest for publication by becoming a fan of The Things You Would Have Said on Facebook.
I had the chance to meet up with Jackie Hooper recently and ask her a few questions about her book and her life. Please take a few more minutes to check out the interview below – and be sure to visit the LA Books Examiner every week this month for more New Voices.
Read the full interview at LA Books Examiner.
