Series 3 Episode 2 - The Jacqui Project with Jacqui Lents

In this engaging conversation, Jacqui shares her journey as a debut author and podcaster, discussing her book 'The Daphne Project' and the themes of self-discovery and midlife transitions. She reflects on her experiences with self-publishing, the creative process, and the importance of community, all while navigating the challenges of life changes. The discussion also touches on her podcasting journey, the joy of storytelling, and her unique hobby of axe throwing, culminating in her aspirations for future projects.

Jacqui Lents, a proud Michigan native, is a debut author and the host of an award-winning podcast, Jacqui Just Chatters. When she is not writing, you can find her planning her next trip, solving mysteries with her husband, or tossing axes responsibly.

www.jacquilents.com

IG @jacquilents

FB https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069970208082

Takeaways

Jacqui's journey into writing was sparked by a desire for creativity after leaving a toxic teaching career.

The character Daphne reflects Jacqui's own life changes and existential questions in midlife.

Midlife transitions can be overwhelming, but they also offer opportunities for growth and self-discovery.

Self-publishing allowed Jacqui to share her work with her mother sooner than traditional publishing would have allowed.

Jacqui emphasizes the importance of community and support in both writing and axe throwing.

Her podcast, 'Jacqui Just Chatters', was born out of boredom and a desire to connect with others.

Jacqui's approach to podcasting is centered around storytelling and sharing unique perspectives.

Winning an award for her podcast was a surprising and validating experience for Jacqui.

Jacqui's future projects include sequels to 'The Daphne Project' and exploring new characters.

The conversation highlights the importance of embracing change and pursuing passions at any age.

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Transcript

Hear Me Roar (00:32)

We're freezing. We are absolutely freezing because someone had the idea of getting a new heating system installed. And what happened? It doesn't work downstairs. Yeah, it's not working. It's cold enough. Nips are standing out like chapel hat pegs. So upstairs, roasty toasty downstairs. We're sat here. We've got a lovely

heated blanket over our knees. you're able to see us. And I'm wearing a dressing gown and a fleecy top and a t-shirt. And I'm wearing my cardigan. I might have to put my coat on in a minute, mind. I know. So yeah, doing our best, but it's not great working conditions, is it?

Now, think actually I might have to consult the union on these working conditions. Absolutely. I'd like to speak to the manager. I'd like to speak to the manager and the union boss. that would be us. We'll have to have a word with ourselves. But we're ploughing through it. Like the professionals we are.

Yeah, at least our teeth aren't chattering yet. But we're doing plenty of chattering. Yes, we're just not our teeth. I know, I know. So we're going to be talking to Jacqui Lents and her podcast is called Jacqui Just Chatters. there you go. Getting the chattering in. Jacqui is from Michigan. She calls herself a proud Michigan native and she's a debut author

And when she's not writing, she is planning a next trip, solving mysteries with her husband or tossing axes responsibly. Thank God for that. Yeah. So that's Jacqui. Shall we go and meet her? Let's.

Hear Me Roar (02:17)

Hi Jacqui. Hi Jacqui. Lovely to meet you. you're here today to talk about, well, the title of this episode, The Jacqui Project. So, I mean, we're having a little bit of a sort of play on words there because you've just written a book called The

Jacqui (02:19)

Hello!

Hear Me Roar (02:36)

Daphne project and you're a debut author in midlife. So how did that come about?

Jacqui (02:42)

Okay, first let me say thank you for having me on. I love your podcast. You ladies make me laugh on the podcast, on Facebook. I mean, you guys are just brilliant and clever and witty and so I am so honored to be here. Okay. That's where I take the love in.

Hear Me Roar (02:56)

Thank you.

Yes, we're accepting the love. We are.

Jacqui (03:06)

Okay, so you're asking how my debut novel came to be.

Hear Me Roar (03:10)

Yeah.

Jacqui (03:11)

Well, it began.

It's my second book. It's my first published. I was writing one book and I put it on hold and I was thinking about like, okay, what do want to write next? And like I had these ideas. I'm like, okay, there's all of these tropes and some of them I love very much. But I'm like, what if they don't go the way they normally go? And then just this character Daphne

threw open the door and just rushed inside. And she's like, hi, I'm here and you're telling my story. And so I was lucky. mean, sometimes I feel like I'm the laziest writer on the planet because I just have ideas that come to me. And then it's like, ⁓ OK, well, let me just record it. I don't actually have to write. I'm just writing down what you're telling me to write down.

Hear Me Roar (03:43)

Brilliant.

Jacqui (04:00)

And when you've got your characters, you just throw them in a situation and you're like, okay, what would you do? yeah, Daphne was just this beautiful millennial who was going through a major life change. just, she, her life was in free fall and she's wanting to start over, which worked because I was going through a life change as well.

Hear Me Roar (04:00)

Yeah.

Mm.

Jacqui (04:23)

I had left a career of teaching. I taught social studies, is US history, world history, government, economics, geography, from almost 20 years. And it had gotten toxic, really, really toxic. And I wasn't taking care of my health. And so I left and I dealt with some health issues. And I was really missing creativity. And that's what drove me to start.

writing again that I had written when I was younger and then know career happens and you just you stop all that stuff. And I missed being creative in the classroom and so writing was my way getting back in and then yeah Daphne was just a delight because I was going through this well what do I want to do with my life where am I going now I mean you you don't retire

Hear Me Roar (04:53)

Mm-hmm.

Jacqui (05:13)

in your late 40s. I retired from one job, but I'm like, okay, now I have to transition to something else. What is it I want to do? And that was such a big question. It was an overwhelming question. Like, what am I going to do? I didn't plan. I planned on teaching until, you know, I was done working. And so Daphne allowed me to get in touch with that kind of existential crisis. But I just made her

Hear Me Roar (05:15)

No.

you

Mmm.

Jacqui (05:37)

generation earlier because that's where a lot of people go through that first existential crisis is when they're in their 20s and early 30s is what the heck am I gonna do with my life but then we go through it again I'm finding I'm so not alone in midlife that there are a lot of people who are going through this right now and I also realized I'm like ⁓ I'm gonna do this one more time and about another

Hear Me Roar (05:43)

Yeah.

You

Yeah.

Jacqui (06:02)

20-something years when I'm really fully retired, I'm going to have to go through this all over again and figure out who I want to be then and what I'm going to do. And at first it was really, it was scary and it took a lot of my self-confidence away. But now that I'm doing it, the confidence is back and I realize it's not something to be afraid of. It's just a process. It's part of life.

Hear Me Roar (06:16)

⁓ Yeah. ⁓

Jacqui (06:26)

We're not one thing. We're snakes. shed our skins and we come out new and we shouldn't fear it. We should embrace it if possible.

Hear Me Roar (06:34)

But it's uncomfortable, isn't it? Especially when you've kind of had in your head that this is what I'm going to do with my life. And then life chucks you a curve ball. all of a sudden you in your case, you had to change direction for your health sake. But for some people, you know, it's it's a welcome change that, you know, they end up doing something different. But

for you and for many people who face things like redundancy and that sort of thing midlife, it's really really hard. It's throwing you well outside your comfort zone.

Jacqui (07:08)

Right. And I didn't handle it well at first. I mean, I really didn't. Between dealing with health issues and, you know, long-term surgery, healing, all this kind of stuff. I mean, one that that does not put you in the best frame of mind. And I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. And then COVID. There was some time there where I was negative Nellie.

Hear Me Roar (07:28)

yeah a lot of people

Jacqui (07:34)

big time and it was just hard to cope with everything. And I get it. Like a lot of women at this stage, they're dealing with these new selves and there can be a lot of things. It's not their choice. Like you said, they've lost a job. Maybe they're losing a spouse, whether it's divorce or, you know, somebody passes away. The kids are moving on to a different phase of life. So,

Hear Me Roar (07:35)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Jacqui (08:00)

Those are choices you don't choose. Like they happen to you. So it's okay to not be okay for a while. Like you are allowed to throw yourself a little pity party.

Hear Me Roar (08:03)

No.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, while you readjust. So you kind of pulled yourself back from that through your creativity.

Jacqui (08:15)

Right, exactly.

Hear Me Roar (08:21)

the Daphne project came out in, was it June? July. Yeah. And I've read it. I loved it.

Jacqui (08:25)

End of July.

Hear Me Roar (08:30)

I really genuinely did love it because it's sort of, you've badged it as women's fiction, but it's as much a mystery as anything.

Jacqui (08:40)

I'm now calling it a cozy quest. It's part cozy mystery smashed in with quest for self discovery. It's like the one and then you smash those two together and then I sprinkle a little romance on top and that's cozy quest.

Hear Me Roar (08:43)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jacqui (08:55)

Like if you want to know what the Daphne Project's about, here's the quick summary is Daphne's life is an absolute freefall. And so she's hoping salvation has arrived in the form of this inheritance from her great aunt in the form of a house in a small town in Maine. One of the twists is she hasn't seen or spoken to her aunt in 20 years.

Hear Me Roar (09:10)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jacqui (09:16)

that she spent one summer with her. was magic and then silence. So she's stunned when she gets this inheritance. She goes there and she's like, okay, I'm going to relaunch my life. But then she, she starts remembering her aunt. She starts trying to figure herself out. And then she also starts to question the nature of her aunt's death. Was it what the police tell her?

what happened. And so she's like, OK, I don't want to go back home because she's living with mom at that moment. And her mom, bitch, just a complete bitch. And so staying in Cobb, Maine,

and trying to figure out what happened with her aunt sounds so much better than having to go back home. So she's like, yeah, I'm just going to stay here for a while and figure what's going out there. Which disclaimer, my mom is very insistent on this that I let people know she is not the inspiration for Daphne's mom. My mom is loving and kind and

Hear Me Roar (10:18)

oh

Jacqui (10:19)

Daphne's mom is nothing nothing to do with her at all.

Hear Me Roar (10:24)

You self-published the Daphne project. Why did you go down the self-publishing route?

Jacqui (10:30)

you know what the main reason I did it actually was my mom. That I, yes, my, my wonderful mom. the first book I wrote, I looked for agents and then like, you know, got blah, blah, blah, the rejections. And so I had Daphne, I was trying to figure out, do I want to do that again? And I'm like, I don't, because I want my mom to hold a copy of my book in her hands. And my mom had had a surgery and

Hear Me Roar (10:33)

Alright. You're nice.

Jacqui (10:54)

Her recovery afterwards did not go well. And she was having memory issues and all kinds of stuff. And we were scared. And she's improved. She's better now, but it's one of those things you realize things can change and they can change quickly. My mom is in her late seventies and I'm like, I need to get this out sooner than later. And if I have to go find an agent,

Hear Me Roar (11:01)

Yeah

Yeah.

Jacqui (11:16)

If I have to go through the publishing hassle, all of it. I'm like, from that moment, that was two, three years down the road. like, I'm not waiting that long. This is going to be in her hands in a year. I don't want to wait even more than a year. And I also, that was when I decided that I was dedicating my book to her. And so when I got my author's copies in, I

Hear Me Roar (11:24)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jacqui (11:38)

got my family together, my sister and brother and nephews, nieces, not nephews. Anyway, so I handed out copies of the author proofs and I said, okay, there's the cover turned to them. And then they turned to the dedication page. Everyone else knew that I had dedicated it to my mom except her. And when she saw it, she was just silent. Like she just, she was like so, and she's like, she couldn't talk, which my mom talks more than I do.

Hear Me Roar (11:55)

Aww.

you

Jacqui (12:04)

And ⁓ so

just she was so overwhelmed like she's trying not to cry and yes and and it's so I didn't do it exactly how I wanted to get it out.

I just didn't have that window. but think of that look on her face. I'm like, you know what? Doesn't matter.

because to me, that was just the best gift in the world.

Hear Me Roar (12:24)

you launched in Barnes and Noble didn't you? Which is pretty cool!

Jacqui (12:27)

I did. ⁓

Yes, it was.

Because of my teaching experience, I'm well aware learning is hard, but you can do it. If you're really motivated and you're willing to make the time and energy for it, you can learn it. And my name is on my book. I'm not going to have it be a piece of crap. Like I don't want to have anything that I would be embarrassed to have out there. So when I was

Hear Me Roar (12:53)

Mm.

Jacqui (12:55)

you know, I'm working on the writing of it, but then it came to the publishing and I'm like, OK, well, I'm not going to publish this in a garbage, quick way. And I hate to say this is where self publishers get a bad name, because you do have people who don't do any research. They don't talk to other people. They don't they don't understand. And I did research and I talked to you, Yvonne and other authors that I knew and just everything.

I looked at what industry standards were for my book. And if this is what a real public, this is what Penguin Random House was going to do, I did it. I hired a professional editor. I hired a proofreader. Before that, I did all the betas. I hired a professional cover artist and my cover came out beautifully and exactly how I wanted it to be. And

Hear Me Roar (13:28)

Yeah.

Jacqui (13:41)

you know, I looked at all of the front material you have to have and I got like the copyright numbers and I got my ISBN numbers

so I can I have complete control of where that book goes, not anybody else.

Hear Me Roar (13:54)

Exactly.

And they're not cheap either.

Jacqui (13:57)

No, no they're not.

They're not, they're not like horribly expensive and they're cheaper if you buy, like I bought a 10 pack So I've got the other ones ready for my, my sequel.

Hear Me Roar (14:02)

No.

Mm-hmm.

Jacqui (14:09)

You

Hear Me Roar (14:09)

So talking about you say you've got for your next one, have you got your next book on the go? Is it just in here or have you started to?

Jacqui (14:10)

right like

No, in fact, I was typing it before I did the interview. This has been a very different thing because this book wasn't supposed to happen. I wrote The Daphne Project. I love The Daphne Project and I love the characters in her town. But I had always planned it to be a one off.

Hear Me Roar (14:18)

Put it down.

Jacqui (14:35)

But then the Daphne project came out and people kept like they'd read it review and then they'd be asked like, OK, when's the sequel coming out? I'm like, there isn't one. And they're like, no, I want the Betty story, which Betty is Daphne's friend, becomes her best friend in the book.

So I thought about it. I was considering it and it was overwhelming me because I didn't. Daphne walked in with her story. Like I knew the whole trying to figure out her aunt, if it was a murder or not from like day one.

Hear Me Roar (15:09)

Hmm.

Jacqui (15:10)

And I'm like, okay, I know Betty, but I'm gonna have to know her on a whole different level to write her book. And then what am I gonna have happened to like, what's her story? And so I asked myself those questions. Then I started like writing and I'm like, okay, well, I need a little romance in there. And cause I like it. And I'm like, who's her ideal guy? And I'm like, woo, that's a tough, it's like setting up a friend and you're like, okay.

Hear Me Roar (15:35)

Yeah.

Jacqui (15:36)

what kind of person would I set them up with? And so

Hear Me Roar (15:41)

She's quite a cookie character, isn't she? She's quite quirky, Betty. Yeah.

Jacqui (15:43)

She is. ⁓ She

is unlike me. She is relentlessly positive. Like that's just and that's been one of the things that's been weird to like work on her story because obviously things are going to happen to her that that are dramatic and she has to deal with. And so it's watching her trying to balance the negative emotions that she's going to have, but they're uncomfortable.

Hear Me Roar (16:01)

Yeah.

Jacqui (16:08)

Like she, that's not how she operates. It's not what she wants to do. I wish I was more Betty.

Hear Me Roar (16:15)

No, I think anyone listening right now, it's probably quite interesting for them that the whole sort of writing process as well as the self publishing process and getting an understanding of what you've gone through there and how much you've had to learn to do it all as well. But on top of all of that, you also do a podcast.

Jacqui (16:35)

I do. have a podcast called Jacqui Just Chatters. That was born out of boredom. ⁓ So I finished my first book and I was writing Daphne, but I just wanted something else. And I was, this was after one of my surgeries. And so I've had surgery, I've torn the tendon in both my ankles, separate times.

Hear Me Roar (16:42)

You

Jacqui (16:59)

Each ankle same tendon. Yeah, so after the surgery, like I literally could not put any weight on my foot for like two to three months. And then I had to get it to relearn to walk properly. So that was like another six months. Like honestly, from when the surgery happened to when I could walk without a limp was a year. So yeah, so after I had the surgery, I like was very immobile.

Hear Me Roar (16:59)

you

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah, wow.

Jacqui (17:24)

And I'm like, I can do a podcast. I love podcasts. So I did a deep dive. I must have spent like 10, 12 hours learning how to do a podcast. And so I just recorded. I just put out an episode. Within 24 hours of coming up with the idea, I just did it. Though I find that's all my best stuff. If I don't think and I just leap in,

Hear Me Roar (17:27)

Mm.

Wow.

Jacqui (17:48)

the best things happen to me, because then I don't have time to overthink it.

Hear Me Roar (17:48)

Mmm.

does your podcast have a theme? Are there certain guests that you have? Is there something running through it?

Jacqui (17:57)

It took me many, many episodes to realize what the theme was. It's storytelling. It's always a story. Like, it could be I'm telling a story from my life or maybe I'm telling a positive news story or Yvonne's been on an episode with the hot takes on old news. So I take old news stories and have modern comment. my God, they're so funny.

Hear Me Roar (18:14)

⁓ yes, yes, she told me about that.

Yeah, it was so creative. was just such a brilliant idea for a podcast. Can you explain that more for people who are listening as to what you actually do?

Jacqui (18:23)

And then, ⁓ sure. So I will

take, I will go dive This is the history lover of me. I get to go find old news stories and then I will read them out loud to guests and guests will comment on them with their modern judgment. And then I also will do more research to add to it because there's always, so many times it's a small news article and it gets you asking like all these questions.

Hear Me Roar (18:33)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jacqui (18:52)

So then I have to go find more about that. And so it's we dive deeper into them and they're just really always funny. I did a Halloween episode with a couple of friends of mine and it was at like old style Halloween traditions. Insane. Like some of the stuff they did. There is one thing they did with a candle and a mirror. I don't know how they didn't kill themselves.

Hear Me Roar (19:07)

Mm-hmm.

Hahaha

Jacqui (19:14)

So

part of it is you're walking backwards down the steps holding a mirror and a candle. I would burn my house down and break my neck at the same time. But yes, that was a tradition. Like the weird crap people came up with.

Hear Me Roar (19:20)

Right.

⁓ dear, that is a weird.

Jacqui (19:30)

So yeah, by all means check that out. And then I'll have

guests on, ⁓ some to talk about their story. Sometimes I have authors come on and talk about their books. I had a guy who used to work for the CIA and he wrote a book about this informant that he had and this big case they had taking down some mobsters. And so he wrote this book about that and I had him come on. And there was another woman that she

Hear Me Roar (19:42)

Wow.

Jacqui (19:54)

was part of the Young Women's Christian Association, the YWCA, which I think is now just the YMCA. But in Wisconsin, and she found this treasure trove of letters from the 1930s that a woman who belonged to that organization, she had traveled the world and staying at YWCA's all over the globe.

And she sent back letters to her friends back at her chapter in Wisconsin about her travels. And they had this collection of letters from her of this female world traveler from the 1930s. And so she she turned it into a book. And it was fascinating because we always have this vision that, you know, any woman before like 1970 was

at home with with kids and all you know that they didn't have adventures. Well of course there were women having adventures. We get bored.

Hear Me Roar (20:48)

you

Jacqui (20:49)

So.

Hear Me Roar (20:49)

So

just to say, your podcast is called Jacqui Just Chatters. So that's J-A-C-Q-U-I, Jacqui Just Chatters. And you said you had to learn how to do it. How have you gone about building your audience?

Jacqui (20:55)

Yes.

Yeah.

That varies. Honestly, it's not to the level I would love it to be, but I made a determination. I have decided that my podcast is going to be my hobby. It's something I do for pure love. I will not judge how many listeners I do or don't have. I'm doing it for me and because I like

Hear Me Roar (21:16)

Yeah.

Jacqui (21:31)

having you on as a guest and other people. I have so much fun doing them. That's the joy. So I have learned how to use YouTube, TikTok, Facebook. I had to learn how to make a reel. I use this wonderful software called Descript and it will transcribe the whole entire recording.

Hear Me Roar (21:36)

Mm. Yeah.

Jacqui (21:58)

and then it'll make a little visual and then I use that visual and I put it into a bigger visual on Canva. So I've had to learn Canva. I've had to learn Descript I've learned Instagram, reel making, editing like crazy. The amount I've had to learn is insane.

that's.

Hear Me Roar (22:13)

So you

say that it's just a hobby, but it has actually won an award. Yes.

Jacqui (22:17)

I know that was crazy. Our local TV station that's Channel 4 Local News every year, they have a best of competition and

there was the podcast category. And so I'm like, well, I'm going to put myself there. And then I'm seeing who else is on there. And there are like these DJs from like popular radio stations. And I'm like, yeah, this is ever going to happen. I'm like, maybe, maybe I'll place like second, third. And by the end, I got best podcast. And for those who are watching on YouTube, here's my award.

Hear Me Roar (22:48)

And that's brilliant. There it is. Yeah.

Jacqui's showing us a plaque.

Jacqui (22:58)

My little plaque, my little plaque that

I got for winning my award and it's for best podcast winner 2023.

Hear Me Roar (23:04)

Well, that's brilliant, isn't

it? That is fantastic. What a proud moment.

So and one of the other interesting things that you do Jacqui is that you do axe throwing.

Jacqui (23:14)

I do. ⁓

Hear Me Roar (23:16)

We want to know more about that, don't we?

Jacqui (23:21)

The best thing for me is it's a women's league. And the camaraderie of everyone.

I have improved from when I started, but I'm not great, especially on the dollies. And so there was one day, it's funny because I wasn't doing very well. And I'm like, you know what? I've got nothing to lose. I'm not gaining points very well. So what the heck? I'll call a dolly and I'll go for it. If I hit any of them, they're worth extra points compared to the center. I hit it right in the middle. I mean, like dead in the middle. And I'm like, how did that even happen?

Hear Me Roar (23:52)

fantastic

Jacqui (23:54)

That's just pure chaos. But what was everyone screaming, everyone shouting, every time a woman got a dolly, everyone stopped what they were doing and we were all cheering and we were all like, and we're taking pictures and how everyone celebrated everyone else's wins was just amazing. And I, I've got three trophies.

Hear Me Roar (23:55)

You

Yeah.

That's lovely isn't it?

Jacqui (24:18)

from axe throwing two are best motivator that the women can vote for in a league. So that's like three, four months. They'll pick whoever they think was the most motivating that helped build them up. Whatever. I've won that twice. And it's part of my throwing style. I find I do better if I become cheerleader for who I'm throwing against.

Hear Me Roar (24:20)

That's brilliant.

Wow.

Jacqui (24:40)

I

so I got my very first sports trophy when I was

Hear Me Roar (24:41)

brilliant.

Jacqui (24:44)

like 49, 50 years old. It's, it's, that's right.

Hear Me Roar (24:47)

It's never too late to win a trophy.

So you are now a media mogul. You've got your own media empire with the self-published books and your podcast. What's next for the Jacqui project?

Jacqui (24:50)

So.

Right now

I am working on The Betty Project, the sequel, and I have even decided that it's going to be a trilogy. There is a character I introduce in The Betty Project and she's going to have the third book.

which will be the Sanya project. That one's going to be at Christmas.

So I'm, I'm yeah. So that's, yeah. I'm like, okay, that's going to be the Betty projects not going to come out until August of 2027. This is one of those things where you need to know yourself and learn how to say no even to yourself. Cause I was talking with my husband. First, I was bitching about how

Hear Me Roar (25:21)

Mmm.

I look forward to it.

Right.

Mmm. Mmm.

Jacqui (25:45)

I'm trying to do too many things at once and it's just stupid. Like I need to take things off my plate. Then in the next breath, I shit you not, I'm mentioning how I'd really like to get the Betty project done by next August of 2026. But

I am spending two and a half weeks in May of 2026 in Scotland and down to London for a little bit.

It's family and friends and it's going to be amazing.

Hear Me Roar (26:13)

Well,

I hope you have a wonderful time. So, Jacqui, you've been fascinating to listen to all these things that we start in midlife and then we just grab them and run with them. That's brilliant. So that just brings us to our last question, really. If you were a cocktail or mocktail.

what would you be called and what would be your ingredients and why?

Jacqui (26:35)

Okay, so I went with a mocktail, um, which is one of the great, I, I don't drink like ever. I don't drink. Um, which was amusing because Daphne does, she imbibes quite a lot. And that was one of the things my mom was like, how, you don't even know about this. I'm like, you observe other people. It's not that hard.

Hear Me Roar (26:42)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

Jacqui (27:04)

Writers make stuff up. That's what we do. Can't trust us. So my mocktail, I'm calling it Modern Vintage because I feel like I live in both worlds. I love vintage stuff. I love modern stuff. And so it's kind of a twist on the classic Shirley Temple. You start with pouring some grenadine over some ice.

Hear Me Roar (27:20)

Okay.

Jacqui (27:24)

And that represents the smoothness, the sweet side of me. And it's got that nice red color. And I love the color red. And then in the traditional recipe, you use a lemon lime. I call it

pop. Other people call it soda. I believe you call it a fizzy drink. ⁓ So traditionally you'd put that in there. I like to use a ginger ale that puts a little spice in there. That's my spicy side. And then normally you'd put in a cherry and nope, no cherry for me. I have to put a slice of orange in there because we all need just that little bit ray of sunshine in our life. And that's because that little citrus fun.

Hear Me Roar (27:42)

Mm-hmm

Yeah.

Jacqui (28:04)

So that's my mocktail, the modern vintage.

Hear Me Roar (28:06)

excellent. Love it. I love the ray of sunshine being a slice of orange. That's brilliant. I've written it all down because we're going to make it. Yeah.

Jacqui (28:11)

You

my goodness, okay, excellent. I can't wait to hear what you guys think of it.

Hear Me Roar (28:17)

Yeah, yeah, we need to actually

get round to the making of these things. We're on the third season and haven't made one yet. I know, but we will. will. yeah, probably. Three seasons worth. You'll be in hospital for a week I will be in hospital for a week if we do that. Yeah. She can't cope. She's like...

Jacqui (28:24)

You guys will do it in one night. You'll do like almost all of them in one night. And please, please take videos of that. I wanna see that.

Okay, long weekend.

Hear Me Roar (28:43)

Oh yeah. She has to have a full day's hangover, two days hangover just to get over one night out. I do, it's true. I'm a lightweight now. You are. Now I'm older I'm a lightweight. She's no fun. Very annoying.

Jacqui (28:55)

You know what sucks?

I get hangovers and I don't drink. If I'm up to like 3 a.m., if I stay up really late and I don't get like enough sleep the next day, I'm like, I'm exhausted, I'll often get a headache. I'm like, I didn't even have any alcohol. I shouldn't have to deal with hangovers. I'm just old.

Hear Me Roar (29:15)

Yeah. Well, listen, it has been absolutely fascinating talking to you. Thank you so much, Jacqui, for coming on and telling us about your book, your writing process, your self-publishing struggles and triumphs. Media company. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your your little budding media empire here that you've got with your podcast as well. And I hope some of our listeners will go on and just have a listen to Jacqui just chatters us because.

It is really good. It covers a wealth of things and just really interesting people. And yeah, thank you so much for coming on and telling us about And it's been lovely for me to meet you because obviously Yvonne knows you.

Jacqui (29:55)

feel like I already know you because I've been watching so many of your videos, Marie, and like reading all your stuff. I'm like, yeah, that's right. I know her. She doesn't know me that well.

Hear Me Roar (30:06)

Which is why it's been lovely to meet you because now I do know you a bit better. Yes. Thank you very much.

Jacqui (30:08)

Yes. And I appreciate

you guys for having me on. This has been absolutely lovely.

Hear Me Roar (30:16)

Well thanks very much Jacqui, thanks a lot for coming on. Thanks Jacqui. Alright, take care, bye.

Jacqui (30:22)

Bye!