Myrna Jewell loves history and views it as her passion. It helps her with drafting her stories.
Jewell was born near Eston and was a farm girl. When her parents separated, her mom took Jewell and her sister and returned to England. Jewell was around the age of 12 when this happened.
She remained in England for 30 years. She married her husband Martin and had two children, her daughter Holly and her son Alex.
While in England she received her degree in writing. She worked in broadcasting and as a journalist while writing short stories that she sold, but never had time to write a novel.
Upon her return to Canada, her family lived in Wallaceburg, Ont. Jewell worked at the Wallaceburg museum repairing a lot of history files, a job she absolutely loved to do as it gave her insight and knowledge about the past.
Jewell’s husband Martin had fallen in love with the Prairies, and they had family in Saskatchewan, so they returned to live in Langbank.
She admits that she misses living in a big city, where things were just a short distance away. Jewell does not care much for the drives to get somewhere but admits that here it is necessary.
She eventually became the librarian in Wawota and worked there for a year, but decided it was time for her to begin her career as an author, so she focused on writing and has done so for the past several years.
One of the books she wrote was for a young boy in Ontario. Liam Wilson has cystic fibrosis, and he wanted a book about what it is like to go to the hospital and see the doctors and nurses. He felt a lot of children are afraid to go and Wilson wanted kids to know that they should not be afraid. This book, Liam’s Hospital Stay, will launch in Milton, Ont. on May 6.
Another book Jewell wrote was based on the true life of a woman who went through a life of abuse, in and out of care homes, and how she survived. This book is called Phyllis, the Invisible Child.
Jewell loves history and feels her research into the past helps with her humans in her books.
“It is human nature to study other humans,” she said.
Jewell went on to say the world has become a smaller place with social media, but history will always be there.
Her first novel is Army Underground, and she is well underway on book two. Jewell’s books are not serene; she likes the sitting on the edge of your seat kind of thrillers.
Jewell has several books in the works, one being an adult horror story that should be completed in the spring. Another is fantasy fiction.
“Writing is easy for me, and I love to do research,” said Jewell. “Talking about myself I don’t like to do too much.”
