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Thanks to Donnie Wahlberg and Jonathan Knight, I have acquired a whole mess of new people poking around my internet life. That’s a Southern phrase, by the way. A whole mess of ____ means a lot of ____. I decided it might be helpful if I posted a blog introducing myself since I have hundreds of people who only know me as “the girl Donnie watched in the pool on the cruise”. There is a lot more to me than New Kids on the Block.

Shocking, I know. Hahaha!

So I hope this little blog gives you an idea of who I am since I’m all about developing friendships that encompass all aspects of life, not just one.

To start, there is my inner circle. You will see me talking to and about them the most. There is Sissy (SissyHand), Maryka (MMBoxy), Abbie (abblielicious613), Michelle (4everddubangel), Diane (di181), Wendy (gwenid1701), Dena (Denaaaa), Susannah (SmittenKitten4D), Codie (GingerFierce), Katy (Dannys_Woodshed), Tina (JonsTubeGirl), Angela (JKsWhoppergirl), Kimmy (BigUps2NKOTB) and a few other people. These are the ones who have been with me the longest and know me the best. They are all wonderful people who deserve love too. I often refer to Sissy as my wifey and I make jokes about playing with her boobs and stuff but we are not gay, lol. We just play around!

My legal name is Jessica Jones but you’re going to see me call myself Jessica Jewett too. I use Jewett as like a stage name in my professional life because a publisher told me a long time ago that Jones is a very forgettable name that won’t leave an impression on anyone. At that point, I adopted Jewett as my professional name. I am a Jewett on my maternal side and it’s an important name in New England and American history. My ancestor, Sarah Orne Jewett, was also an author in the nineteenth century. So you can call me Jones or Jewett. I answer to both.

My disability is called Arthrogryposis. I get a lot of questions about it. Basically, I have very limited flexibility, low muscle tone, some nerve damage, and my tendons and ligaments are mostly too short, causing my hands, feet and knees to be bent. My form of Arthrogryposis is pretty severe and rare. Usually people with this condition can walk with crutches or a walker but I was born before doctors really understood how to treat it. Since I can’t use my hands, I do everything with my mouth like typing, writing, art, reading books, etc. I can feel everything and I can move my body, so this is not a spinal cord injury. It’s not true paralysis. It’s just a very limited range of motion and strength. I’ve had almost 20 surgeries in my life and I’m facing major foot surgery as soon as doctors figure out how to go about it. Think of Jon’s foot surgery but more intense.

I’m an author and an artist. I have been doing both since I was a small child. My mother says I wrote my first poem when I was 6-years-old and I started drawing and painting when I was 3-years-old. I published a novel when I was 25, a Civil War story called >From the Darkness Risen http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LX0FFW and a few years later, I published a nonfiction book about reincarnation called Unveiled: Fanny Chamberlain Reincarnated http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MDLSUC … I want to get into screenplays next. I’ve written a few for fun but I think I would like doing it for real. Regarding my art, I usually prefer charcoal pencil because it’s easier to handle without hands but I have begun teaching myself oil painting this year. I like it a lot more than I expected. Some of you may know that I did a charcoal portrait of Jon a few years ago that he kept. Here’s a picture. Below that are a few other pieces I’ve done.

Jon in charcoal before he was finished.

Me with Jon in charcoal. The camera kind of washed out the details.

Lovers in charcoal. I did this in high school.

The goddess in colored pencil. I did this in high school.

Maine in colored pencil. I did this in high school.

Another thing you should know about me is that I’m a historical researcher and genealogist as well. History is my biggest interest. I have something like 300 books on the Civil War and the nineteenth century. I even prefer reading authors from the nineteenth century as opposed to modern authors. I do a lot of things with historical preservation, battlefield preservation, etc. I’m a Civil War reenactor as well and I have been doing that since 1994. One day I hope to be able to afford a wheelchair from the nineteenth century to make my portrayal more accurate and educate the public but antique wheelchairs usually start around $3,000. Crazy expensive. Here is one of my Civil War photographs. I went to a photographer in Gettysburg who was the principle photographer on movies like Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. This photograph was done on a glass plate using the exact same methods used in the 1860s.

I sat for an 1860s glass plate photograph.

At a ball in Gettysburg conversing with a nice Union soldier.

Another 1860s photography session in Gettysburg, although this is just a color picture my brother took.

My brother and I putting an American flag on the 20th Maine monument in Gettysburg.

The next thing you should know about me is what people get weirded out about sometimes. It doesn’t bother me though. I have gotten used to people being that way and it’s okay. The truth is I am an intuitive. That means I have extra senses that allow me to read things about people like their past lives (yes, I believe in reincarnation) and spirits that might be hanging around them. I have been an intuitive since I was born. All of the women in my family are intuitives as well, going back a few hundred years in our genealogy. My house is haunted as well. I live in an area that burned in a great fire in 1917 and there were Civil War soldiers killed here in the 1860s too, so my entire neighborhood talks about our spirits. I have some regular spirits that have followed me on and off since I was born. Some of them are famous. Some of them are not. I work at home doing different types of readings for people to supplement my income. To read about that, go to this page. The most important thing to remember is I don’t care if you believe in these things or not. Disbelief is not going to make me hate you. Some of my friends are not believers and it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes I do talk about reincarnation and spirits but you don’t have to participate if you’re uncomfortable. I am not a Christian. I am a Wiccan. As long as you don’t force Jesus on me, I won’t force the goddess on you, and we’re cool! Read about my reincarnation case as Fanny Chamberlain and Lady Amy Robsart Dudley by clicking on their names.

There you have it. Now you know me a little better. Visit my website at www.jessicajewettonline.com if you feel so inclined. My other blog is http://fannysparlor.blogspot.com and that is where I teach everything about living in the nineteenth century.