ACADIA PARISH — For Jackie Miller, storytelling has always been about helping children see themselves in the pages they read.
“Everybody has a story, but children don’t think about themselves as having a story.”
That belief is what led Miller, an Iota native, to write children’s books that center curiosity, identity and personal experience. Yet for much of her life, she says she never viewed herself as the main character in her own story.
“I was, you know, in town and meeting all the people, and everybody just knew me as Harry’s little sister; and even at school he was two years older so I was just the little sister.”
Miller describes her early life as a series of roles defined by others. First, she followed in the shadow of her older brother. Later, she became a wife and then a mother, known primarily for caring for her family rather than for her own interests or ambitions.
“I was never the best ball player, I was never the best student, I was always there — but after somebody.”
Despite that, Miller says the questions that would later shape her writing began early. She remembers wondering about the world around her, even when answers were difficult or slow to come.
“My brothers all went to war and I remember that was my first why. Why did my brothers all have to leave like that? It was four of them that went to WWII.”
“A lot of the ‘whys’ you don’t understand and you never understand them until you’re older.”
Miller carried that sense of curiosity into adulthood, though it took time before she acted on her interest in writing. It wasn’t until she returned to school at LSUE in Eunice later in life that she began to see her ideas take shape on the page.
“I always had that idea and when I went to LSUE, of course we had to write things and stuff and I would do well.”
Her deep appreciation for Louisiana culture, particularly Mardi Gras, became the foundation for her first children’s book. That initial project helped build her confidence and encouraged her to continue writing and sharing her work.
“Nobody has a story like you, but that’s your story and that’s who you are.”
Today, Miller has written three children’s books, each beginning with the word “why,” a reflection of the curiosity she sees in children and remembers in herself. She says she now approaches writing by following her instincts, choosing to create only when the story feels right.
“If I think of something I’m gonna do it, but right now, my mind is resting.”
