Dishing it up with P.J. Jones

Today, I have the joy of dishing it up with PJ Jones!

PJ sits in front of a computer most of the day, writing, deleting, then writing some more, until her butt is numb and her brain is fried. Prior to becoming a full-time chair warmer, PJ Jones not-so-enjoyed a short stint as a journalist and then seven agonizing…eh blissful years as a high school English teacher.



JET: Thanks for joining me today PJ. Can you tell us about your new book, Driving Me Nuts!?



PJ: First off, THANKS J.E. for hosting me on your blog. I have a new release this month, Driving Me Nuts!, but it’s a dark comedy, NOT a parody like Romance Novel.

Smella Rosepetal must find a millionaire husband to finance her baby’s heart transplant. She flies home to her deputy father’s ranch in Pitchforks, Texas, where she falls in love with Deadward Forest, a wealthy environmentalist vampire.

When a deranged murderer is on the loose in Pitchforks, killing romance heroines, Deadward assumes Smella would be safer without him. Smella turns to her childhood friend, Snake Long, for comfort. But Snake doesn’t have the money to save her baby, so Smella places herself in peril in a desperate hunt for a rich husband.

Time is running out for Smella’s baby, and she must escape the Australian Outback, then face down Flabio, an overweight and disgruntled, aspiring cover model, plus enraged vampire wives and their homosexual, vampire, cowboy husbands, a jealous were-gerbil, James Bond, a drunk rodeo clown and Smella’s strange boyfriend who wants to drain her blood, yet is repulsed by her smell.

JET: What drew you to romantic parody?

PJ: I wrote Romance Novel when I was seriously ill. This was my form of comic relief. After getting lots of fan mail and great reviews, I decided to try my hand at a few more parodies.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

PJ: Finding a publisher with a twisted enough sense of humor. When that didn’t work, then figuring out how to do it on my own.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?


PJ: Getting great fan letters and reviews from some well-known romance review sites.

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

PJ: I loved the classics, especially George Elliot’s The Mill on the Floss.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

PJ: When I was nine and started my first magazine subscription, The Dirty Toilet Water Book. I had one subscriber.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

PJ: I rode on a Greyhound bus from Las Vegas to El Paso mostly to character watch. After being stranded in El Paso due to a snowstorm, I vowed to NEVER AGAIN ride a bus! Although, I did meet some interesting characters. I remember the bus picked up a man right after he was released from prison. We talked for about two hours before we reached his hometown. I was the first person he spoke to outside of prison in three years. My main character, Ruckus, in Driving Me Nuts! is loosely based on him.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite?

PJ: My favorite has to be Driving Me Nuts! This book is more from the heart. Funny yes, but there are some pretty deep moments. The struggles of my main characters as they found their way back to sanity, reminds me of my own journey back to health after suffering from a serious illness.

JET: Any advice (from a writer’s standpoint) for the novices out there?

PJ: Always strive to improve your craft. If you’ve been rejected countless times by editors or fail to final in writing competitions, take the comments made by the editors/judges to heart and learn how to strengthen your writing skills.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten. . . starting with: Paper or Plastic?

PJ: I bring my own reusable bags to the supermarket.

JET: Steak or Tofu?

PJ: Steak!

JET: Beach or Mountains?

PJ: Tough decision but I’m more of a sunshine beach gal. I love to go skiing or sledding every now and then, but I’m always up for swimming.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

PJ: Right now, country, but it depends on my mood. I really love good classic rock when I’m feeling like a baaad girl.

JET: Leather or Lace?

PJ: Leather.

JET: Angels or Demons?

PJ: Can’t a nice girl play naughty, too?

JET: Paper or Digital?

PJ: Digital

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

PJ: Definitely cheesy!

JET: Twilight or True Blood?

PJ: Uhhhhh….Dodging tomatoes but NEITHER!

JET: Coffee or Tea?

PJ: Green tea with honey. I’m a dork, I know.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

PJ: I am taking a break right now and focusing on promoting my current books before I plunge into my next novels. I have a short Christmas story coming out in an anthology with my peeps, The Indie Eclective. I also plan to write another comedy and another parody this spring.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about P.J. Jones and her work at the following places:

http://www.pjjoneswrites.com/

http://indie-eclective.com/

http://pjjonesramblings.blogspot.com/

Next week, I have Bob Stewart on tap talking about his new novel Hidden Evil.  I'll be picking a name from the folks that comment next week and giving away an e-copy of Bob's book to the winner next Friday! 

Don't forget to swing in and say happy Halloween to Bob and I!

Until then,
Ciao
JET