Today I’d like to welcome author Pauline Baird Jones to the blog! She’s been gracious enough to subject herself to the Preternatura interview and talk about her new book, Kicking Ashe, the final book in her science fiction-romance Project Enterprise series. (And I love that title and very cool cover!) You can also learn more about Pauline and her books--she writes across several genres--by checking out her website.
And...read on to win a $10 gift card from AnaBanana’s Bath and Body Treats. They have ZOMBIE SOAP, people, among lots of other cool stuff. I’m so getting some of that!
ABOUT KICKING ASHE: With hearts and lives on the line, a kiss may be all they have time for... Time has dumped Ashe on a dying planet and she needs to figure out why before she ceases to exist. Or gets vivisected by some Keltinarian scientists. Or worse. Vidor Shan might help-since someone somewhere is trying to hose him, too-if she can convince him to trust her. Probably shouldn't have told him that only someone he trusts can betray him. Also wouldn't mind if he kissed her on the mouth. Vid would love to kiss the girl, but his brother is lost, he's got hostile aliens on his tail, and the stench of betrayal all around him. Can he trust the woman who told him to trust no one? Then a time quake hurls them to a nasty somewhere and some when...
Read on to meet Pauline and comment for a chance to win the Anabanana gift card!
Welcome, Pauline!
What is your favorite scene in Kicking Ashe? There is a scene where Ashe and Shan are entering a dead building in a dead city, but Ashe feels like they are being watched. It was a hard scene to write, to keep the creep factor high without slowing the pace too much. But I finally got to put to good use my cockroach stories from 30 years in the South.
Hardest scene you’ve ever written: I had a hard time with all A Dangerous Dance but there is one scene, where she’s been kidnapped by this really nasty bad guy and he’s basically torturing her. I had a really hard time writing the scene.
What’s on your nightstand or top of your TBR pile? My TBR is mostly digital, so that means that the top book is Wheels by Lorijo Metz and Natalie Bergman, sci-fi YA adventure with mystery and romance and aliens and other fun stuff. I reward myself for good writing production with a chapter or so. It’s a nice, long book (besides the fun stuff), so it makes a good carrot.
Favorite book when you were a child: Anne of Green Gables is still a favorite. My grandmother gave me a copy one Christmas and I read it to shreds. I was a daydreamer like Anne and a big reader. Almost only time I got in trouble in school, it was for trying to read a novel behind my textbook. (Skipped once to go skiing, but that’s another interview.)
Your five favorite authors: I’m going to go back to my old favorites, because I don’t want to risk missing a current favorite (some of whom are also my friends!) and offending. So, in no particular order: Mary Stewart, Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Cadell, Alastair Maclean, and Helen McInnes.
Book you've faked reading:
Red Badge of Courage. This teacher tried to pound into our skulls and I still get an eye twitch just thinking about it. Won’t even read The Cliff Notes for it. (*Suzanne, who loved that book, cries.*)
Book you're an evangelist for: Gifts from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg (I blogged about it not long ago.)
Book you've bought for the cover:
Wow, this is a hard one. I have picked up books for the covers, but the only book I might have bought for the cover (but I won it in a contest) is Mary Jo Putney’s China Bride. Beautiful cover. A cover can only get me to pick up a book (or not). Can’t make me buy unless something inside intrigues me.
Book that changed your life:
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. It was the second writing how-to book I found in my local library. If I hadn’t found it, the first book would have killed my writing hopes before they got started.
Favorite line from a book: From Memoirs of an Invisible Man: One thing everyone insisted upon--and for some reason the assertion seemed to reassure the investigators and compilers of reports despite its rather tautological quality--was that no one had seen any invisible men.
Book you most want to read again for the first time: Lord of the Rings
Most horrifying moment while reading a book: Almost at the big finish of a book and having one of my brother grab and close it. Happened a lot when I was a kid. If I noticed them closing on me (sometimes I was so lost in the story I didn’t notice anything), I’d memorize the page number. Just in case. You’d think this would make me a twitchy reader, but no, still get lost in books.
Favorite book about books or writing: Playwriting: The Structure of Action by Sam Smiley, awesome book for playwrights and novelists.
What’s next? At present I’m working on an unnamed, steampunk novel, a romantic suspense novel (working title Past Imperfect) and mulling a science fiction romance, also in search of a title. I’ve never tried a three-pronged approach to my writing before, so we’ll see if this ups my creativity or explodes my head. Smart money is on the exploding noggin.
Thanks, Pauline! Want to win the Anabanana gift card? (Zombie soap!) Leave a comment—tell us if what book you’d like to read again for the first time (I’m saying Stephen King’s The Stand, to see if it would still blow me away now like it did way back when), and you know the rest of the drill. One entry for comment, another for blog follow, a third for a Twitter follow @Suzanne_Johnson, and a fourth for a Tweet or Retweet. Now...Go forth and comment!
And...read on to win a $10 gift card from AnaBanana’s Bath and Body Treats. They have ZOMBIE SOAP, people, among lots of other cool stuff. I’m so getting some of that!
ABOUT KICKING ASHE: With hearts and lives on the line, a kiss may be all they have time for... Time has dumped Ashe on a dying planet and she needs to figure out why before she ceases to exist. Or gets vivisected by some Keltinarian scientists. Or worse. Vidor Shan might help-since someone somewhere is trying to hose him, too-if she can convince him to trust her. Probably shouldn't have told him that only someone he trusts can betray him. Also wouldn't mind if he kissed her on the mouth. Vid would love to kiss the girl, but his brother is lost, he's got hostile aliens on his tail, and the stench of betrayal all around him. Can he trust the woman who told him to trust no one? Then a time quake hurls them to a nasty somewhere and some when...
Read on to meet Pauline and comment for a chance to win the Anabanana gift card!
Welcome, Pauline!
What is your favorite scene in Kicking Ashe? There is a scene where Ashe and Shan are entering a dead building in a dead city, but Ashe feels like they are being watched. It was a hard scene to write, to keep the creep factor high without slowing the pace too much. But I finally got to put to good use my cockroach stories from 30 years in the South.
Hardest scene you’ve ever written: I had a hard time with all A Dangerous Dance but there is one scene, where she’s been kidnapped by this really nasty bad guy and he’s basically torturing her. I had a really hard time writing the scene.
What’s on your nightstand or top of your TBR pile? My TBR is mostly digital, so that means that the top book is Wheels by Lorijo Metz and Natalie Bergman, sci-fi YA adventure with mystery and romance and aliens and other fun stuff. I reward myself for good writing production with a chapter or so. It’s a nice, long book (besides the fun stuff), so it makes a good carrot.
Favorite book when you were a child: Anne of Green Gables is still a favorite. My grandmother gave me a copy one Christmas and I read it to shreds. I was a daydreamer like Anne and a big reader. Almost only time I got in trouble in school, it was for trying to read a novel behind my textbook. (Skipped once to go skiing, but that’s another interview.)
Your five favorite authors: I’m going to go back to my old favorites, because I don’t want to risk missing a current favorite (some of whom are also my friends!) and offending. So, in no particular order: Mary Stewart, Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Cadell, Alastair Maclean, and Helen McInnes.
Book you've faked reading:
Red Badge of Courage. This teacher tried to pound into our skulls and I still get an eye twitch just thinking about it. Won’t even read The Cliff Notes for it. (*Suzanne, who loved that book, cries.*)
Book you're an evangelist for: Gifts from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg (I blogged about it not long ago.)
Book you've bought for the cover:
Wow, this is a hard one. I have picked up books for the covers, but the only book I might have bought for the cover (but I won it in a contest) is Mary Jo Putney’s China Bride. Beautiful cover. A cover can only get me to pick up a book (or not). Can’t make me buy unless something inside intrigues me.
Book that changed your life:
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. It was the second writing how-to book I found in my local library. If I hadn’t found it, the first book would have killed my writing hopes before they got started.
Favorite line from a book: From Memoirs of an Invisible Man: One thing everyone insisted upon--and for some reason the assertion seemed to reassure the investigators and compilers of reports despite its rather tautological quality--was that no one had seen any invisible men.
Book you most want to read again for the first time: Lord of the Rings
Most horrifying moment while reading a book: Almost at the big finish of a book and having one of my brother grab and close it. Happened a lot when I was a kid. If I noticed them closing on me (sometimes I was so lost in the story I didn’t notice anything), I’d memorize the page number. Just in case. You’d think this would make me a twitchy reader, but no, still get lost in books.
Favorite book about books or writing: Playwriting: The Structure of Action by Sam Smiley, awesome book for playwrights and novelists.
What’s next? At present I’m working on an unnamed, steampunk novel, a romantic suspense novel (working title Past Imperfect) and mulling a science fiction romance, also in search of a title. I’ve never tried a three-pronged approach to my writing before, so we’ll see if this ups my creativity or explodes my head. Smart money is on the exploding noggin.
Thanks, Pauline! Want to win the Anabanana gift card? (Zombie soap!) Leave a comment—tell us if what book you’d like to read again for the first time (I’m saying Stephen King’s The Stand, to see if it would still blow me away now like it did way back when), and you know the rest of the drill. One entry for comment, another for blog follow, a third for a Twitter follow @Suzanne_Johnson, and a fourth for a Tweet or Retweet. Now...Go forth and comment!
Suzanne, many thanks for interviewing me! Aren't the zombie soaps totally fun?? LOL! You give a fun interview!
ReplyDeleteYou did hooked...If it smells good enough to repell them....Anything for charm....
ReplyDeleteCan't wait...I follow on facebook and signed up on her new website by email...Woo Hoo
Pauline got me started reading steam punk. She writes it so well! <3
ReplyDeleteI'd like to read The Hobbit again for the first time.
ReplyDelete+1 follower
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was magnificent the first time I read it. I want that feeling again.
ReplyDelete@timlewis on Twitter
RT: https://twitter.com/Suzanne_Johnson/status/216170102230482945
His Majesty's Dragon, by Naomi Novik. A great series, and I really fell in love with Temeraire!
ReplyDelete+1 follower
Some reading fun suggestions!
ReplyDelete(Thanks, Lorna! You are most kind!!!)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone again for the first time, to see if it is still just as magical to me (I would think so!).
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+1 twitter follow
I think I would say "Girl Gone Nova" - seriously, I was sad when it was over! Impatiently waiting for the next adventure, Pauline!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great interview. And I also grew up with people (non-readers) who thought it funny to steal my books while I was reading them. The fastest way to make me mad! Or just slap that big hand on the book and say: last word!
ReplyDeleteI would love to re-discover my Thea Beckman books. A dutch childrens book author, perhaps you have seen the movie they made from one of her books: crusade in jeans.
Ehh I don't think I can use a gift card here in Holland though, so don't enter me.
I would love to read The Stand for the first time again myself, but since you already mentioned it I'll go with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon!! Two awesome books, and as different as could be :)
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jwitt33 at live dot com
Oh, I second The Hobbit!
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Jguldy at yahoo dot com
Marilyn, so glad you enjoyed Girl Gone Nova! and Aurian, how funny we both had book snatchers in our pasts. LOL! I have not seen the movie, but it sounds like something I would like.
ReplyDeleteI just downloaded The Hobbit to my kindle. I'm doing a panel for ApolloCon about Tolkien and I wanted to browse it tonight. Would love to read it again for the first time. I found it in high school library. Sigh. Lots of fun books!
I'd like to read Pride and Prejudice again.
ReplyDeleteI follow the blog.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
I would say Outlander. Such a great book!
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Sunshine by Robin McKinley would be my pick.
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lord of the rings series.. they're so good..
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ps, am i late?
LOL You definitely had me at Zombie soap!! :-D
ReplyDeleteThere are so many great books I wouldn't mind reading again for the 1st time: Outlander, Pride and Prejudice, Bitten by Kelley Armstrong or the Anne series by L.M. Montgomery :-)
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Thank you!