262: Ann Marie Jackson - Author of The Broken Hummingbird

Our guest this week is Ann Marie Jackson (The Broken Hummingbird, She Writes Press, October 2023). After stints at the US State Department in Southeast Asia and China, Ann Marie and her family immigrated to San Miguel de Allende, a thriving ex-pat town in central Mexico which also became the setting for her debut. Ann Marie has been active in non-profit organizations in the area, first building homes and then co-founding a micro-lending organization and how that desire to give back to her adopted country led to her writing this novel. We discuss the American Dirt controversy which hits the news at the same time she was querying and how that affected her publishing options, her perspective on hiring an outside publicist, and how her job as a journalist at a large news outlet in Mexico helps her spread the word about her book. Ann Marie Jackson is the award-winning author of The Broken Hummingbird and a writer for Mexico News Daily. She's also the co-founder of microlending organization Mano Amiga and former Vice President of Casita Linda, which builds homes for families living in extreme poverty in central Mexico. Early in her career, after earning degrees from Stanford and Harvard, Jackson joined the U.S. Department of State to promote human rights in China and other East Asian and Pacific Island nations. She has worked with Human Rights Watch, A Better Chance, and Internews to further social justice causes and advance respect for human rights. A portion of the proceeds from book sales benefit Casita Linda and Mano Amiga. A native of Seattle, Washington, Jackson resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  To learn more about Ann Marie, click here.