Interview Time with Pauline Baird Jones

Please welcome the fabulous Pauline Baird Jones! Pauline Baird Jones is the award-winning author of nine novels of science fiction romance, Steampunk, action-adventure, suspense, romantic suspense and comedy-mystery. She's written two non-fiction books, Adapting Your Novel for Film and Made-up Mayhem, and she co-wrote Managing Your Book Writing Business with Jamie Engle. Her seventh novel, Out of Time, an action-adventure romance set in World War II, is an EPPIE 2007 winner. Her eighth novel, The Key won an Independent Book Award Bronze Medal (IPPY) for 2008 and is a 2007 Dream Realm Awards Winner. She also has short stories in several anthologies. Originally from Wyoming, she and her family moved from New Orleans to Texas before Katrina.

How long have you been writing? How long have you been published?

I’ve been writing forever, possibly since chisels on stone or maybe papyrus, but have been published since 1998.

How long did it take you to publish your first book, once you started looking for an agent or publisher?

I finished my first novel in 1992 and it was published in 1998. I had two agents, but neither was able to sell my quirky fiction to a NY publisher, so I’ve been indie for most of my publishing span. My story is the “little writer that could and did” variety. When NY failed to fall down in awe for PIG IN A PARK, I started exploring alternative publishing. The internet was just starting to explode and I wondered if electronic publishing might be an option. I found several e-publishers and the rest is history (for me anyway!).

What genres do you write?

I write science fiction romance, Steampunk romance, action adventure/WWII Time travel, romantic suspense, romantic mystery/comedy and have one gothic in my backlist (lost my sense of humor for a book).

What's your writing process?

I’m totally a pantser. When I first started writing, I wrote longhand but as soon as my creative juices got up, I’d switch to the typewriter. When I got my first computer, I was able to phase out the long hand time (since I couldn’t read what I wrote anyway). Now I totally create on the computer and try to avoid writing anything by hand, even checks.

What authors inspire you?

My early author influences were: Mary Stewart, Elizabeth Cadell, Alastair Maclean, Helen McInnes and Georgette Heyer. From them, I learned about creating great characters, pacing, writing action and humor, and how to tell an unforgettable story (at least I hope I do!).

How many books do you read in the average month? e-Book or print or both?

Digital reading dominates my reading, though I do still buy the occasional print book. I find it harder and harder to read print, though. When I’m not writing, I read a lot. I can read a book in a few hours, but when I’m working on my own stuff, I tend to limit my reading, using them as rewards for getting pages, etc done.

What would you like to own/have that would make your writing faster or smoother? (Yes, you can name everything from computer programs to a personal maid here.)

A device that would let me think my book onto the page.

NOTE FROM BRENNA: Wouldn't we all love that?

Introvert or extrovert?

Introvert. Hermit. Live in a gated house.

The #1 holiday or birthday gift to purchase for an author is...

An iPad. It would look so sassy with my iPhone!

Your favorite leisure activity or vacation spot?

Going to the spa with my sister.

Have you ever included someone who irritated you in the book? As what, and what comeuppance did he/she get?

I may have. I may have killed them or something. Maybe.

What is the best reader or reviewer comment you've ever received?

I love this one because she missed me!

"After a multiyear absence, Baird Jones makes a very welcome return by once again visiting the alternate reality first explored in The Key. Time paradoxes run amok in this extraordinarily complex tale. Amongst the densely packed and mind-bending action, there's also some welcome humor. A spectacular ride!" Romantic Times Magazine, Jill Smith, 4 and 1/2 stars!

What's the thing you wish you could hire someone else to do or wish you didn't have to do as a writer?

I would LOVE to have a personal assistant, because what I wish I didn’t have to do changes from day to day. I saw this funny bit on you tube about a personal assistant and I thought, that’s what missing from my life!

If you were the overlord of the world, what would your first decree be?

If you don’t use a turn signal when you are turning, you never get to drive again.

Give us your backlist... with all publishers...Bold things that are currently available. Note the publishers they are with!

(all books are with L&L Dreamspell)
The Key
Dead and Breakfast Anthology
A Death in Texas Anthology
A Box of Texas Chocolates Anthology
The Mystery of the Green Mist Anthology
Adapting Your Novel for Film
Made-up Mayhem
Managing Your Book Writing Business

Tell us about releases you expect within the next year... Remember to say which publishers they are with!

(From L&L Dreamspell):
Tangled in Time, 12/2010
Back list (releasing in 2010 from L&L Publishing)
Out of Time, L&L Publishing
The Spy Who Kissed Me
Do Wah Diddy Die
The Last Enemy
Byte Me
Missing You
A Dangerous Dance

Tell us about the awards you've won...

Romantic Times Reviewers Choice (2)
Dorothy Parker Award
Dream Realm Award
Bronze Ippy
Eppie (now called the EPIC book award)

Tell us about your current release... blurb... link to purchase is a plus!

Girl Gone Nova (don’t have a purchase link yet, but should by the time the interviews start)
Doc--Delilah Oliver Clementyne’s—orders are simple: do the impossible and do it yesterday. A genius/bad ass, she does the impossible on a regular basis. But this time the impossible is complicated by an imminent war between the Earth expedition to the Garradian Galaxy and the Gadi, an encounter with some wife-hunting aliens, and not one but two bands of time travelers.
The only way it could get worse? If the heart she didn’t know she had starts beating for the wrong guy…
ISBN-13 – 978-1-60318-204-1 ISBN-10 – 1-60813-204-7
Ebook: 6.99 Print: 18.99
Give us your URLs (web site, MySpace, Facebook, blog, etc.)

http://twitter.com/paulinejones
http://www.myspace.com/perilouspauline
http://perilouslyyours.blogspot.com/
http://worldsapage.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pauline-Baird-Jones/55567420451