When I pivoted to travel writing to get my creative juices flowing, everything changed.
Welcome, new readers (and fellow writers).
If you’re just discovering this space, I’m glad you’re here.
My name is Jessica James, and I’ve spent much of my career writing historical fiction and suspense. I’m the author of Shades of Gray—a Civil War novel once called “the greatest love story ever told”—along with more than a dozen other novels.
For a long time, I thought I had writing pretty well figured out.
I knew how to structure a story. I knew how to keep readers hooked. I assumed fiction was where my best thinking happened.
Then I stepped away from novels and into travel writing.
And that’s when everything shifted.
What Travel Writing Doesn’t Let You Do
Travel writing is unforgiving in the best possible way.
You can’t invent tension where it doesn’t exist and you can’t rush past the quiet parts just because nothing “happens.”
If something dramatic occurs, you write about it. If nothing happens at all, that might be the point.
Travel writing forced me to slow down. To notice.
And to be honest, I struggled with that.
What really slowed me down was a trip to an island off the coast of South Carolina with no cars. Transportation moved at the speed of a golf cart.
It didn’t take long for me to actually enjoy that!
Paying Attention Instead of Explaining
Eventually, I learned to stop trying so hard. I started noticing the small things instead.
And in the process, travel writing reminded me of something fiction had always known:
You can’t tell a reader why a place matters. You have to show them—and trust them to feel it for themselves.
The Places That Linger
Over the past few years, I’ve realized that the places that stayed with me weren’t always famous or dramatic.
They lingered quietly. Sometimes (many times) without a clear reason.
Those places taught me something important: The most interesting stories don’t announce themselves.
They wait.
A Question for You
Have you ever visited a place that stayed with you long after you were gone? A place you couldn’t quite explain—but couldn’t forget either?
I’d love to hear about it.
And just so you know—you’re not alone in that experience.
There was one place I visited once that refused to let go of me. (Psst. I ended up writing an entire novel because of it).
Some stories, it turns out, follow you home.
Until next time,
Jessica
P.S. If you enjoy stories about places that whisper instead of shout—about history, travel, and the moments most people miss—you’re in the right place.