Cartersville optometrist wins Georgia Author of the Year Award for Young Adult Fiction
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Known mostly in the Cartersville area for her optometry skills, Dr. Jennifer Jabaley currently is being recognized on a statewide level for her literary talents. On June 19, the Blue Ridge resident, who has been working at EYEWORKS for the past 10 years, won the Georgia Author of the Year Award for Young Adult Fiction.
"It was a huge honor," said Jabaley, who entered her first novel, "Lipstick Apology," in the competition. "I was not expecting it at all. I know there were a lot of nominations. So, of course, I was really honored. It was a thrill for my debut book to be given such a prestigious award."
Published in August 2009 by Razorbill, "Lipstick Apology" is geared toward youths 12 and older.
"The story is about a girl, Emily, who's 16, whose parents die in a plane crash," Jabaley said. "In the wreckage they find a tray table and on the tray table scribbled in lipstick her mother has written, 'Emily, please forgive me.' So it becomes sort of a mystery. Why is her mother apologizing? But it's also just a story about her moving on. She has to move in with her aunt and move to New York City, kind of leaving a safe suburban home to move to New York City and all of the adjustments that come with that. It's really less about grief and more about moving on, and it's a story of forgiveness of course.
"My inspiration, believe it or not, came from my sister whom I am very close to. ... three years ago she just was really panicked about getting on a plane and not having her kids with her and what would happen, what would happen. I jokingly turned to my husband and said, 'I can see my sister -- the plane will be going down and she'll whip out her lipstick and she'll start writing down -- Joey goes to bed at 8 o'clock.'"
Sponsored by the Georgia Writers Association, the Georgia Author of the Year Awards ceremony distributed 13 accolades at the Kennesaw State University Center. The event drew more than 105 nominations, including about 14 in Jabaley's young adult fiction category.
While authors do not have to be members of the GWA to be nominated, they must live in Georgia and have published their submitted work in 2009.
"It's the oldest literary award in the Southeast. This is the 46th year, so it's been around a long time," said GWA Administrator Lisa Russell, adding previous winners include former President Jimmy Carter and Terry Kay. "[Winning this award] helps their writing career and it is prestigious. It has [become] more and more prestigious as we get really good judges and we've made changes every year."
Jabaley's next novel is tentatively scheduled to be released summer 2011.
"It's called 'Crush Control.' It's about a teen who uses hypnosis to make boys like her. I think I'm just a 16-year-old at heart," Jabaley said about writing young adult fiction. "Although I just compiled a manuscript for an adult novel and my agent has it and we're getting ready to try to sell that soon. So I'm hopefully going to be expanding into new genres, but there is such an appeal of that teenage mindset where everything's new and everything's fresh and you're not really jaded yet."
For more information about Jabaley, visit www.jenniferjabaley.com. "Lipstick Apology," which retails for $9.99, can be purchased through IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million.
"It was a huge honor," said Jabaley, who entered her first novel, "Lipstick Apology," in the competition. "I was not expecting it at all. I know there were a lot of nominations. So, of course, I was really honored. It was a thrill for my debut book to be given such a prestigious award."
Published in August 2009 by Razorbill, "Lipstick Apology" is geared toward youths 12 and older.
"The story is about a girl, Emily, who's 16, whose parents die in a plane crash," Jabaley said. "In the wreckage they find a tray table and on the tray table scribbled in lipstick her mother has written, 'Emily, please forgive me.' So it becomes sort of a mystery. Why is her mother apologizing? But it's also just a story about her moving on. She has to move in with her aunt and move to New York City, kind of leaving a safe suburban home to move to New York City and all of the adjustments that come with that. It's really less about grief and more about moving on, and it's a story of forgiveness of course.
"My inspiration, believe it or not, came from my sister whom I am very close to. ... three years ago she just was really panicked about getting on a plane and not having her kids with her and what would happen, what would happen. I jokingly turned to my husband and said, 'I can see my sister -- the plane will be going down and she'll whip out her lipstick and she'll start writing down -- Joey goes to bed at 8 o'clock.'"
Sponsored by the Georgia Writers Association, the Georgia Author of the Year Awards ceremony distributed 13 accolades at the Kennesaw State University Center. The event drew more than 105 nominations, including about 14 in Jabaley's young adult fiction category.
While authors do not have to be members of the GWA to be nominated, they must live in Georgia and have published their submitted work in 2009.
"It's the oldest literary award in the Southeast. This is the 46th year, so it's been around a long time," said GWA Administrator Lisa Russell, adding previous winners include former President Jimmy Carter and Terry Kay. "[Winning this award] helps their writing career and it is prestigious. It has [become] more and more prestigious as we get really good judges and we've made changes every year."
Jabaley's next novel is tentatively scheduled to be released summer 2011.
"It's called 'Crush Control.' It's about a teen who uses hypnosis to make boys like her. I think I'm just a 16-year-old at heart," Jabaley said about writing young adult fiction. "Although I just compiled a manuscript for an adult novel and my agent has it and we're getting ready to try to sell that soon. So I'm hopefully going to be expanding into new genres, but there is such an appeal of that teenage mindset where everything's new and everything's fresh and you're not really jaded yet."
For more information about Jabaley, visit www.jenniferjabaley.com. "Lipstick Apology," which retails for $9.99, can be purchased through IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million.