New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson was a grown adult when she discovered she was on the autism spectrum, and she has her daughter, Maisy, to thank for the diagnosis.
Speaking on the phone last week from her car “somewhere in Ohio” where she was on a book tour for her latest thriller, “With My Little Eye” (William Morrow, $28.99), Jackson explained that autism was prevalent in one side of her family and her son had been diagnosed with it when he was young.
But because medical research focused more on ways autism presents in boys and men than in girls and women, Jackson hadn’t recognized it in herself.
“When my daughter was a teenager, she started reading about women on the spectrum and she came to me and said, ‘Mom, I think I am also autistic.’
“I kind of pooh-poohed her. I said, ‘Why do you think that?’ And she started giving me a list of characteristics of women on the spectrum. She said, ‘I’m like this. I do this. I do that.’ And I laughed at her. I said, Maisy, that is not autism, that is normal. I was just like that when I was your age.”
Jackson’s voice then pealed with laughter at the memory.
“Of course, it’s not normal,” she said. “It is actually classic female autism spectrum.”
Both Jackson and her daughter were diagnosed with the disorder, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the most compelling character in Jackson’s new novel is Honor, a 12-year-old girl on the spectrum.
“With My Little Eye” is about C-list actress Meribel Mills, who had a hit TV show in the ‘90s and has been trying to claw her way back to relevance ever since. She’s also Honor’s adopted mother and the obsession of a stalker she calls Marker Man, because he sends her threatening letters written in scented markers. When Meribel gets a job offer for a role filming back home in Georgia, she and Honor leave Los Angeles and try to start over again in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the stalker follows her and his threats begin to escalate.
The author of 11 novels, Jackson admitted that Honor is the closest character she’s ever written to herself.
“The way Honor thinks is very close to me at 13,” she said. “Honor is a difficult person. But let’s be honest, Meribel is neurotypical, and she’s a difficult person. Most people, if you get to know them, are difficult people. We are all flawed. We all have our baggage.”
According to Jackson, the most common career paths for women on the spectrum are writing or acting, and she’s both a writer and an actor. In addition to being a bestselling author, Jackson is an in-demand talent for recording audio books. And her daughter Maisy, now 21, is a theater student at Kennesaw State University who just had a read-through of the first play she’s written.
So why are women on the spectrum drawn to acting and writing?
“Because (women are) under so much pressure to be empathetic. We’re under so much pressure to be the social smoothers, to read the room and understand relationships and be the caretakers,” said Jackson. “And because we’re under that social pressure as women, female autists are attracted to art forms that teach you how to do that.
“Reading and writing are empathy factories,” she said. “They teach you how to understand what you’re feeling, how to respond to other people, what to do in this situation or that.”
When it came time to record the audiobook for “With My Little Eye,” Jackson insisted an autistic person read the role of Honor. Not surprisingly, Maisy got the part.
Since Honor is proving to be a fan favorite among Jackson’s readers, it begs the question: Might we see her again in another book?
“I think it would be fun in 2025 to check in on Honor as she launches and see what she became,” said Jackson.
“I used to say I’ll never write a sequel, but in more than one of my books, a smaller character has been so compelling to me — Paula from ‘Someone Else’s Love Story’ got her own book, Rosemary from ‘Gods in Alabama’ got her own book.
“I feel that Honor has main character energy,” she said.
I agree.
But for now, Jackson said, “I love being able to represent my community in this character that people are responding with love toward. That makes me feel good because she’s very dear to me.”
Jackson will be in conversation with Wanda Morris at 3 p.m. May 23 at the Alpharetta Branch Library at 10 Park Plaza, Alpharetta. For details go to fulcolibrary.org.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. You can contact her at svanatten@ajc.com.
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