We had the good fortune of connecting with Jamie Lou and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve always had a wild imagination. Before I could even write, my siblings and I would act out dramatic stories and force our parents to watch them. When I was older, my father used to take me out to the Rocky Mountain forests to cut down trees and sell the firewood. I imagined fairies lived in the mountains and made up stories about forest spirits that protected us while we worked. I started writing short stories to help me understand the world around me. When I was around ten years old, I wrote a story about how the god of the night sky fought with the god of the day sky over the moon. They were in a constant tug-of-war, making the moon wax and wane. My teacher liked that story.

As a troubled teen, music and theatre kept me from skipping school. I went from having a horrible attendance record, before I found the theatre program, to being at school every day from 7 am until 9 pm in play rehearsals. It was around the same time that I was accepted into the advanced creative writing program in high school. I was immersed in drama, poetry, music, and art. If it hadn’t been for the arts, I doubt I would have graduated high school. I knew then that I wanted to pursue a creative career.

Now, I work in creative fields because I see how necessary poetry, music, dance, art, and storytelling are. Artists light up the world, give it meaning, provide safe havens for us to come together and feel all the heartbreaking and delicious ways we experience humanity. In all forms, art tells stories. To me, stories are one of the most powerful forces in the universe. They connect us, help us understand each other, remind us we’re not alone in this strange and wondrous place, help us process suffering, feel joy, see beauty, and deepen our sense of wonder.

Creativity has made me a better human and a better mother. When my babies were little, I made up bedtime stories before they went to sleep. Sometimes they were just for fun, but some were to help them process big feelings. I remember my son was nervous about his first day of preschool, so we made up a funny story about a girl who woke up on the first day of school bouncing against the ceiling like a balloon. The whole story was about her trying to get dressed and eat breakfast while bouncing along the ceiling. The stories were so good, I’d try as hard as I could to stay awake until they fell asleep so I could get up and write them down before I forgot them. Now I have a collection of children’s stories, and I’ll never forget the memories of us huddled together in my bed pulling magic out of thin air.

As a book coach/editor, ghostwriter, screenwriter, and filmmaker, I feel fortunate that I am able to use my full creativity every day. I love helping people tell their stories, and I love creating my own. The truth is, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. If only my ten-year-old little lumberjack self could see me now!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I found my storytelling groove in improv class around twenty years ago. We were a bunch of feral theatre rats at this black box theatre in the NoHo Arts District called The Hothouse. We performed with a group of live musicians and got on stage as much as we could. We got used to making up stories in front of a live audience until it was like second nature. The directors, John Thies and Todd Stashwick, gave us a creative home in that theatre. That’s where I was able to really hone my craft and my skills as a storyteller– and a clown. One of my favorite shows we did there was called Mobius American Theatre, directed by Todd Stashwick. We improvised various playwright styles in this Mobius strip sort of way, meaning we’d start the show with the final scene of the play (that we were making up on the spot). Then the lights would go out and we’d start the play from the beginning. The goal was to lead the story back to that final scene and stay aligned with the style of the playwright of the night. We improvised Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, Neil Simon, Moliére, and Shakespeare plays, to name a few. I played a drunken apothecary in the Shakespeare play with a long coat that held a bunch of mislabeled potions. It was the best! My improv training helped me think on my feet, find interesting story angles, and push the boundaries of possibility.

My improv friends would get together outside of the theatre to make short films and sketches. We showed up to do whatever was needed on each other’s sets. If someone needed me to hold a boom, I was there. I was asked to direct a few projects, and I got inspired to create my own web series. We made these productions with incredibly low budgets, but we didn’t care. We were used to making stories work on stage with nothing but a few black boxes and each other. I started to build confidence in my screenwriting and directing abilities, which led me to write a play, a feature film, and a few short films. It was a fertile creative time.

Speaking of fertile, I became a mom in 2010, so my focus shifted away from stage and screen for a bit. But I was still writing. I’d be up in the middle of the night nursing my daughter and writing notes for a play about becoming a parent for the first time, which was later produced at The Secret Rose Theatre in NoHo. It was called “Let’s Have a Baby.” There is so much comedy in the whirlwind experience of becoming a new parent, the play practically wrote itself.

The biggest challenge I’d say I’ve faced was staying afloat financially while pursuing my creative dreams. We got around that pretty easily during the Hothouse days, but that was before I had kids to feed. I had to find creative ways to pay the bills while keeping that spark of creativity alive in myself. Thankfully, I found fulfilling work in book publishing at Rise Literary. I’m still writing screenplays, plays, and working on a memoir, but I also get to help other storytellers put their creations into the world…and I get to keep the lights on and the bellies full at home. I think there’s always a way to express creativity and keep yourself inspired, whether that’s in the middle of the night with a baby, cooking nourishing recipes for your famiily, writing in a journal, or finding other creatives to play and grow with.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Anyone who comes to LA should definitely visit the Santa Monica pier and LACMA. I’d also suggest seeing a show at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown LA and catching an independent film at the Laemmle Theater in NoHo. We hosted a book event at a drag brunch spot called Pleasure Med LA and it was amazing. Highly recommend. It’s right next to the dispensary, so keep that in mind. For wine and live music, Urban Press Winery in Burbank is a great spot. The hiking trails all over the city are gorgeous. I like the Griffith Park trail that leads up to the Observatory, another highly recommended spot. There are various festivals and art walks all througout the city. LA is full of artistic inspiration.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Kristen McGuiness found me in a Facebook mom group. She was starting her story coaching business and needed someone to help her build it. I came on to help her with social media content, but soon she was mentoring me on writing book proposals, ghostwriting, and book editing. She’s been in book publishing for over twenty years, so she has a wealth of knowledge. I was eager to learn about the book world, and she taught me everything. Now, I’m the Editorial Director of her independent publishing house, Rise Literary. We publish books by inspiring authors and coach emerging authors on how to write their books. Kristen is a book virtuoso, a strong mentor, a fellow working mom, an author I admire, and a dear friend. For all of these reasons, I dedicate my shoutout to Kristen McGuiness at Rise Literary.

Website: https://jamieloustoryteller.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamieloustoryteller/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamieloustoryteller/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamieloufilms

Other: https://www.riseliterary.com/

Image Credits
Steph Helguera, Ella Karabatos, Daniel Marks (film still), Kelly Jean Badgley, Matt and Jess, Zoë Moniz, Ella Karabatos, Sam Narvell

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