The Story of Author Jeff Lovell

By Jessica Meyer

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Author Jeff Lovell is a native Chicagoan who began writing at the tender age of seven. His book was 2 ½ pages long and was based on The Hardy Boys stories which he read “unceasingly.” Since then he has been writing every day, pushing himself more.

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Jeff has three degrees in Theater from the University of Illinois and earned a doctorate from Vanderbilt University. His specialties in his career included Shakespeare, British Literature, and Writing as well as Computer Science. In his first year of teaching, he directed Midsummer Night’s Dream with 6th graders and then directed Twelfth Night with 8th graders. From there he went into amateur theater, then professional shortly thereafter, and finally taught high school theater for the rest of his teaching career. He sponsored the school paper, Student council and several other activities. While he was teaching, he published a number of articles and wrote a highly creative dissertation for his doctorate, which presented the data in the form of a television screenplay. His mentor, Terry Deal, directed his dissertation at Vanderbilt. Though he was ready to kill him at times, he nonetheless taught him to never stop short of doing the best job he could with whatever task he undertakes.
He has authors many articles such as In Awe of God’s Majesty, Willow Creek Journal; Using Questioning as a Tool for Teaching Literature, Illinois Education Association Journal; The Organization As Theatre: An Aristotelian View (doctoral dissertation); many others. His books include Acid, Emerald, The Coven of the Spring, Ghost of White Island, The Captain’s Daughter, Cherokee Dawn, MC Blue, and The Cape, The Third Day. His Juvenile books center around a Magical Gate located at Walt Disney World. Each book is it’s own adventure: Gina and Colby, Jazz and Ella’s Orlando Adventure, Marina and Dan, and Max and McKenzie.
Jeff believes a good story reaches into the souls of the readers and invites them to consider new ideas and aspects of life, or to take a different view of preconceived ideas. A truly fine book reaches into a person’s soul and alters our view of life, of love, or helps us cope with difficult situations.
What is Jeff’s final message to future authors? “Write all the time. You aren’t going to be any good through your first three to five books. Then, you’ll learn the trade and keep getting better. Don’t give up your day job, but do set aside a time and an area where you can devote your thoughts to your writing. Find an agent that you can be friends with and listen to that agent.”