#JacquiMurray | The Write Stuff

Happy Wodin’s Day, Everyone! It’s time to share another fun #TenThings post with you guys, and today’s very special guest is author Jacqui Murray. I know you are going to enjoy learning more about Jacqui, so without further ado, let’s get started. Jacqui, take it away!

Thanks, Marcia!

I don’t often talk about myself, but I thought this would be a good way to celebrate the launch of my latest prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection, Book 3 of the trilogy Dawn of Humanity. I haven’t lived around the world or completed any amazing feats, but my life has been full and interesting. Here are some of the unusual tidbits you may not be aware of:

I spoke Russian well enough to travel comfortably throughout the Soviet Union for a summer. Before returning to the US, I bought a lot of Russian language books to get an understanding of their version of history.
I owned a Fred Astaire Dance Studio and danced professionally. I loved it, but the lifestyle didn’t fit me well so I eventually moved on.
I installed cell phone antennas on skyscrapers, church steeples, and water tanks. What a view from those heights!
I loved programming in DOS (Disk Operating System–the precursor to Windows). I did a lot of crazy tricks that annoyed my husband. For example, once, I programmed his computer to play Christmas music before it booted up. I still miss it.
I read California’s entire Uniform Building Code (defining the State’s construction regulations) as part of my job to design/build employer-based child care centers. I also read America’s 1200+ page Affordable Care Act (before it exploded in size) because news channels contradicted each other. I also studied America’s Common Core Standards for K-12 education to guide my teaching. Do you see a trend?
I worked in the recycling industry for years. I collected used cardboard and paper, exported it around the world to places like Japan who don’t have enough trees. What an interesting job.
Because of my background in recycling, I know corrugated is the right name for ‘cardboard’. Because of my background in building, I know people often say ‘cement’ when they mean ‘concrete’.
Both my children are in the military. Their choice–I never was. They both love it. One’s a Naval officer, the other in the Army Signal Corps. Guess which is the boy.
I play(ed) Blue Grass on my mandolin after college, jammed with a group. That was about as much fun as a girl can have. I still have the mandolin, but arthritis prevents me from playing.
I think my dog is sentient. He’s Homo canineafter all!

Truth, I have always had trouble settling down to one endeavor, which explains in part my current obsession with both teaching and writing. How about you?

BLURB:

Survival requires change but can Lucy do that?

In this final book of the trilogy, Lucy and her tribe leave their good home to rescue captured tribemembers who are in grave danger. Lucy’s Group includes an eclectic mix of species–a Canis, a Homotherium kit, and different iterations of early man. Each brings unique skills to the task. More will join and some will die but that is the nature of prehistoric life, when survival depends on a mix of man’s developing intellect and untiring will to live. Based on true events from 1.8 million years ago.

Natural Selection is Available in digital (print soon) at:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Amazon India

Author Jacqui Murray

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Man vs. Nature saga, prehistoric fiction, and Rowe-Delamagente thrillers. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance tech ed journalist.