Pauline Baird Jones - Relatively Risky Interview

Pauline Jones had a tough time with reality from the get-go. After “schooling” from four, yes FOUR brothers, she knew that some people needed love and others needed shooting. Pauline figured she could do both. Romantic suspense was the logical starting point, but there were more worlds to explore, more rules to break and minds to bend. She grabbed her pocket watch and time travel device and dove through the wormhole into the world of science fiction and even some Steampunk.

 

Now she wanders among the genres, trying a little of this and a lot of that, rampaging through her characters' lives like Godzilla because she does love her peril (when it's not happening to her). Never fear, she gives her characters happy endings. Well, the good characters. The bad ones get justice.

 

That is how The Perils of [this] Pauline came to be. Do you love books, too? If you do, I hope you'll keep reading because books make the world worth living. (Smiles)

 

Pauline is currently at work on her 13th novel, not because she is superstitious, but because of the whole loving/killing thing that needs to be done. Doing it fictionally is just better for everyone. And for Pauline, who hates the thought of getting strip searched and jailed. Ahem.

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When an aspiring illustrator attracts the attention of a New Orleans mob family, and secrets long hidden are unearthed from the past, a handsome homicide detective may be her only chance of surviving the Big Easy.

 

The oldest of thirteen, Alex Baker does two things: he solves murders and avoids children.

 

Until the day Nell Whitby foils a carjacking, knocks Alex off his feet and turns his life upside down. When the shots start flying and every rock he turns over reveals another wise guy, Alex decides he needs to stick close to the quirky yet captivating children’s book author while he discovers who is behind a series of mob hits. But can he resist the urge to kiss the kid magnet now in the crosshairs?

 

A relative newcomer to New Orleans—with no family but her college friend Sarah—Nell spends her days in seeming obscurity, sketching tourists in the French Quarter and serving canapés for Sarah’s catering business. When a chance encounter makes Nell the target of a mob hit, the only silver lining is meeting the cute cop who is determined to protect her.

 

But when she finds herself at the head of a second line made up of goons and gangsters, and secrets start bubbling up out of her own past, Nell must figure out what she's made of so she can live long enough to kiss the cop again…

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Hi Pauline. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions for me. First off, congratulations on your latest release, Relatively Risky.

Thank you so much, Kim. I’m excited to be here. Let’s do this. (smiles)

I have to say this, I don’t know why, but I was surprised to say the least to find that you have written SO many books. Your books span several different genres (Non-Fiction, Lone Gothic, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal, and Humorous with some of the previously mentioned genres). If someone told you that you could ONLY write one genre, which one would it be and why?

My head would explode. LOL Seriously, way back when I was writing my first novel, I did try to stick with one genre. I was going to write a contemporary romance novel. It was going great until the bullets started flying and the guy dove through the sunroof…(blink, blink) I seem to have been born to mash stuff together. (grin) But evil overlords locked me in a room and said I’d die if I didn’t stick to one genre…yeah, my head would probably explode. (grin)

Please tell me about your latest book, Relatively Risky (The Big Uneasy).

You take one, quirky artist—who attracts kids like sugar attracts ants--throw in a homicide detective—who helped raised TWELVE siblings and is done with kids forever and ever—have the bullets start flying, toss in some mob guys and their goons, and stir in lots of unanswered questions and murky motives. Then just for fun, set it in the amazing—and amazingly crazy—New Orleans and you get a gumbo called Relatively Risky—which I hope readers will enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Please tell me more about Alex Baker and Nell Whitby. And what do you love about them?

Poor Alex. He had a tough gig, being the eldest of the Baker’s dozen. It left its mark. His “I’m done with kids” stance ended his first marriage. And he’s a homicide detective in a city with a rising murder rate. His dad wants to set him up. The one thing he does not need in his life is a woman trailing clouds of kids and the mob. If only he didn’t kind of like her…

And then there’s Nell, the most person LEAST likely to attract anything but kids. She’s a former librarian. From Wyoming. A sketch artist and newly minted children’s book author. A wait in her friend’s catering business. Why on earth would the mob be interested in her?

And then the secrets start to bubble up out of her past…

What I love about Alex is that he is a total good guy. He does the right thing, even if it hoses him. Because he’s a good guy.

Nell surprised me as much as she surprises Alex in this story. She looks so unassuming and ordinary and she can’t drive worth crap, but the girl can shoot. And she can think. And she doesn't flinch from hard stuff. And she has a sense of humor—a requirement for my heroines, cause I hose them pretty bad.

Please tell me about their first meeting. Did Nell really knock Alex off his feet?

Figuratively and literally. LOL She didn’t mean to, of course. She was aiming for the carjacker, but crap happens.

One of the hardest things for an author is finding a way to bring unlikely people together. Personally, I thought Nell was a bit crazy to be riding around New Orleans on a bike, but when the Muse calls, she answers.

Relatively Risky is the first book in a series. How many books do you plan to have in the series and do you anticipate them being stand alone? I know Alex has 12 other siblings, are you expecting the series to continue with them?

New Orleans is such a fun place to set a series and yeah, Alex has 12 siblings. So, my plan is to do a mix of short stories, novellas, and novels, matching (and hosing) the various members of the oh-so-law-abiding Baker family to a romantic, significant other. I like to, where possible, make my books stand alone, so that people stumbling on a series in the middle can jump right in, but there will always be small, sort of spoiler-ish elements as a series develops.

And there will be at least one more Alex and Nell book, because I wasn’t able to completely resolve their story (or their issues) in one book.

And, because my Muse tends to take me in unexpected directions, I won’t be surprised if surprising things happen with this series, too. It is what makes writing so fun.

Do you have a favorite scene or passage from the book that you would like to share?

I do! This scene happens shortly after Nell and Alex go down for the second time in a day:

“I know you’re hungry—”

“Nell.”

The insistence in his tone turned her from the fridge and the edible something in there calling her name. It might have been something with mold, but at the moment, she didn’t care.

“I’m sorry, but we need to talk. Could you take a seat?”

She could. Didn’t want to. Her tush was still bitter from the triple slam. If she’d known he’d make her sit down without eating being involved, she’d have taken him to the living room and the soft chairs. She eased down, managed to hide most of the wince. Alex seemed distracted, though, studying her with a frown that had her shifting in unease, which also hurt, by the way. “What?”

He pulled out a notebook and a pencil. The artist saw “cop” drop over him like a shroud. The librarian wondered why.

“Can you think of any reason someone would want to kill you?”

Neither artist nor librarian saw that question coming. Her jaw sagged. The cop who pissed off criminal type dudes day and night thought someone wanted her dead? For a second, she replayed her encounter with the creepy guys on the Moon Walk, but even her imagination failed to supply a reason for that to be life threatening. “Not to be rude, but isn’t it more likely to be you?”
 

“The targeting dot was on your chest.”
 

He had been looking at her chest? She looked down. Targeting dot was most interesting thing to happen there...ever.

When you writing, what are you MUST haves?

I am totally reasonable and have no MUST haves, but my Muse is very picky and cantankerous. She MUST have Diet Dr. Pepper at hand. And something chocolate and something salty. She also likes a book specific playlist and few-to-no people around. She forces me to be a semi-hermit. Really.
 

FUN QUESTIONS:

Morning Person or Night Owl?  Night owl. Morning is evil.

Favorite TV show?  Big Bang Theory

Favorite food?  Pizza

What’s your comfort read?

I tend to cycle through my comfort reads, but I always find my way back to The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart. I love that book.

Obey the speed limit or drive as FAST as possible?

When I’m driving down to see my new grand-babies? I push it as much as I dare. I’m much more bold in my writing, than my real life, though. LOL

Thank you again Pauline. Is there anything else you would like to add about your book or yourself?

I’d just like to thank you for the fun interview. I love talking books and yeah, I love talking about my books. (smiles)

 

Thank you Pauline for stopping by.  I’m really looking forward to reading Relatively Risky.