Shirley Jump urges turning life’s struggles into fiction at SIBF

Speaking to a full house in a discussion titled Real Life, Real Stories: Your Journey into Fiction Writing, Shirley Jump shared how her journey from journalism to fiction began during a challenging period in her life. “For years I would get up at 4:30 a.m. to write before anyone was awake,” she said. “Those quiet hours were when I learned how to tell stories that came from the heart.”

A former journalist, Jump explained that it took time to unlearn the constraints of formulaic writing and embrace emotional authenticity: “As a journalist, I was trained to write from the head, prove a point, meet a word count. But fiction comes from the heart. You have to write about things people don’t want to think about — fear, rejection, loss.”

Jump illustrated how deeply personal experiences often fuel her work, including her 2010 novel Around the Bend, a humorous yet heartfelt story about Hilary, a woman fleeing a marriage proposal, and her mother Rosemary, a retired lawyer battling illness. Together, they embark on a cross-country road trip in a cherry-red Mustang.

“That book came out of a time when I was struggling personally,” Jump recalled. “I channelled that emotion into my characters, and readers responded because it was real. Every word came from the heart,” she shared.

Shirley emphasised that readers connect not with structure or style, but with truth. “When someone picks up my book, they’re giving me hours of their life,” she said. “The least I can do is give them something worth that time — hope, truth, and a new way of seeing the world.”

Writing as a form of strength

The prolific author, who has written more than 80 books, often focuses on strong women overcoming adversity. “At a time when I felt powerless, I wrote about women who took risks, chased dreams, and found courage,” she said. “In doing that, I found my own strength.”

Later in the day, Jump also joined fellow authors in a Thrillerfest panel discussion titled Breaking the Spine: Confessions of Bestselling Minds, delving into the craft, discipline, and emotional resilience behind long-term success in publishing.

Her message to aspiring writers was simple yet powerful: “Write from the heart. The stories that scare you to tell are usually the ones that matter most.”