Born in Monmouth, Illinois to Ada Groff and former Senator Regis Groff, Traci L. Jones was raised in Denver, Colorado. After graduating from East High School, Ms. Jones attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Ms. Jones returned to Colorado to attend the University of Denver where she earned a MS in Advertising. Ms. Jones then worked in marketing for two years in the Chicago area, before returning to Denver to work as an Account Executive at an area advertising agency.
She and her husband own and operate a compounding pharmacy. While taking classes to earn a Creative Writing Certificate at the University of Denver a homework assignment led to the writing and completion of her first book, Standing Against the Wind. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) in 2006, Standing would win the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award in 2006, a national award that is occasionally awarded to new authors. Two more books with FSG followed in 2010 and 2011, Finding My Place and Silhouetted by the Blue. In 2018 she signed with Metamorphosis Literary Agency and is represented by agent Patty Carouthers, who is shopping her fourth and fifth manuscripts Dead Certain and A Blossom Within. She is currently working on her sixth manuscript, Vue.
In 2016 she joined the faculty of the Mile Hi MFA in Creative Writing program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches young adult fiction. She joined the faculty of Lighthouse Writing Workshop in 2020.
Mentor Statement
What I hope students can expect from me is someone who supports and encourages them. To write is to be rejected, so while they are studying with me, I try to be a safe space for them. I want them to feel comfortable trying new things, writing a shitty first draft. By the end of the semester I want then to feel like they've grown as a writer. I am a fan of the big mind dump. Write whatever comes to mind. Include characters that pop into your head, plots that seem crazy, subplots that go nowhere. I think everything is fair game especially in that first draft. Then you can edit and sculpt your work from there. Refinement and focus are for the later drafts. I believe that if you are so busy worrying about grammar and perfection, you'll never get a finished work--your creativity will be hamstrung by your need for perfection. Then in the later semesters, it's time for refinement and focus. Your final draft is the time to call upon all the skills you learn during craft sessions during the last three semesters. What is your character growth? How does your setting effect your story line? Does your dialogue weigh down your manuscript? Is your writing voice discernible? As a mentor I try to be 2/3 sounding board/voice of encouragement and 1/3 Personal Nag and Editor.
