Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Jaer Armstead-Jones, author of My Invisible Father. I found his novel entertaining, and I loved that a few surprises were worked into the story. You can find my review of My Invisible Father – here.
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
I was in the 7th grade (12-13 years old) when I realized I wanted to be a writer. Around that same time, I would listen to St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball games on the radio or watch on television and then write a news report about the game. I tried to emulate the stories I read in the local newspapers or magazines such as Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. At school, I was thrilled whenever my English teacher pushed and encouraged me to be a writer. From that moment on, I realized I wanted to write, but at the same time, I thought I’d want to be a teacher because of the influence of my 7th-grade English teacher. I wanted to inspire others the way she inspired me.
My first year of college was at a teacher’s college, but after my freshman year, I decided I wanted to pursue writing. I transferred schools and earned an associate degree in general education while taking creative writing and journalism classes and writing for the school newspaper. After transferring from that community college in Illinois, I returned to St. Louis, enrolled, and majored in Media Communications while taking courses in media and journalism. I wrote for the campus newspaper and was convinced I wanted to be a journalist. Even before graduating, I had a stringer job with a local weekly newspaper.
What inspired you to write My Invisible Father?
After college, I quickly realized that earning $30 per story wasn’t enough to support myself, let alone my family, or pay the bills. I took a job as a church custodian, which later led to a role as the church’s media director, overseeing audio, video, and print media. Eventually, I became the teen director. During this period, I had the idea to write a nonfiction book about parenting—drawing from my experience as a young father figuring things out on the fly.
However, as I started researching and drafting the book, my marriage began to fall apart. After a separation and eventual divorce, I took a break from writing altogether. I left my job at the church and found work at a juvenile facility. During this time, I decided to return to school and pursue a graduate degree in education.
Working at the facility, I realized that most of the young men locked away there had two glaring issues: fatherlessness and illiteracy. This realization inspired me to shift my writing focus. Instead of the parenting book I had originally planned, I decided to write a fictional young adult novel about teens dealing with the harmful effects of fatherlessness.
Can you tell me a little bit about your writing process?
When writing My Invisible Father, I used a method known as “pantsing”—writing without a structured outline and letting the story unfold as I went along. While I had a general idea of where I wanted the plot to go, I wasn’t stuck to it, allowing the story to evolve as I wrote. However, when I submitted my first draft to my editor, she pointed out that it was obvious I hadn’t used an outline. She also noted that the plot would not appeal to my target audience—teens. Instead, it felt geared toward adults, as the adult characters dominated the narrative.
With her feedback, I started a second draft, but this time with an outline. I used only two chapters from the original draft, while the rest of the story was almost entirely rewritten. I kept some of the same characters but introduced two new main characters, allowing the story to be told from three different perspectives.
I outlined the first 20 chapters for the sequel of My Invisible Father, then drafted and edited them. Whenever new ideas came to me (and they still do), I added them to a designated section in my outline for later evaluation. My next step is to outline and draft the following chapters, continuing this process until the story is finished.
How much input did you have with the audiobook production?
I had significant input in the audiobook production for My Invisible Father. After finding a production company I felt comfortable with, they asked for my vision regarding the characters’ voices. They then selected a handful of voice actors from their talent pool to audition, each reading a scene I had chosen from the book. I listened to samples from over thirty actors before selecting three to voice the novel’s main characters.
Once the recordings were complete, the company sent me the proofs of the audiobook. I carefully reviewed them, noting any mistakes or mispronunciations, and sent back my revisions for correction. After receiving the final proofs, I listened through once more to ensure everything was perfect. I also had the creative freedom to include music, an author interview, and to decide the order of the elements included in the project.
Do you have plans for future projects?
My Invisible Name is the sequel I’m currently working on. I plan to publish it as a book, an ebook, and an audiobook. If possible, I plan to work with the same production company and voice actors for the follow-up novel.
I am glad you found that you loved writing that early and kept going
This was a good interview.