Adventures in Reading
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I don't know if I somehow managed to lose this interview or if I never finished it. What has happened, it is gone, so I will try to recapture the events that led to the writing of Pig in a Park.
Me: Well, so. Pig in a Park. Your first book in every way. Can you take us back to 1992 and the writing of this book. Myself: Well, I'll try, but it is, so last century. Me: Well, let's do our best. This book is sort of a synergy of several ideas coming together, right? Myself: That's true. I'd been watching Scarecrow & Mrs. King reruns and thinking what I'd have done differently if I were writing it. And I was watching the first Gulf War on television. Me: Even now, that sounds kind of odd. Myself: I know. It was even odder then. I'd hear people say, "So, did you see the war today?" Patriotism was cool and everyone was talking about smart bombs. I guess it wasn't too surprising that I'd start to wonder what would happen if someone stole some of them. Me: So you started asking questions. Myself: Yeah, I called a military friend who almost had a heart attack. He was sure no one could steal anything, but I knew from stories my dad used to tell that stealing wasn't that uncommon. In fact, a young man was murdered around that time. At first, it was thought it was drug related, but then turned out he worked at a National Guard Armory and it was about thefts of military equipment. Me: Synergy. Myself: Definitely. Then all I had to do was figure out to bring a spy and an ordinary person together. And to figure how to involve a spy in an internal problem. Because I quickly found out the CIA is about foreign spying (though we see how well that worked for us now!). Me: You decided to keep the story in first person, too, despite a lot of advice not to do that. Why? Myself: I knew that the first person POV would be a hard sell and tried a couple of times to change it, but Stan had such a strong, unique and distinctive voice, she just took over. She wasn't me, but I definitely channeled her during the writing of the first draft. And in the end, I just liked it that way. Me: It was challenging, though. Myself: Yeah, it's hard when all the action has to be filtered through a single person. And the romance, well, that was even harder. Plus, the reader never gets to really know what the hero is feeling. But in the end, it worked for this book. You'll notice, though, that so far I've never done that again! Me: Yes, I had noticed. So, okay, this book did turn out to be a hard sell. Myself: Yeah, I pretty much got rejected by all the major, NY publishers, though many sent encouraging comments. I'd read that a writer rarely contracts their first book and I'd put it aside, but then something would happen to encourage me. I entered it in the RWA Golden Heart and it finaled. In other contests, the readers loved it. It felt like it was just editors in the way. Me: So, you decided to wander from publishing's well beaten path? Myself: I'd gotten interested in the internet and realized that it might provide me a way to reach out to readers directly, so I started looking for internet publishers and hit pay dirt. Pig in a Park released in 1998 as an e-book. Me: Despite the difficulties of getting anyone to buy and read an ebook, you had some good things happen, didn't you? Myself: You know I did. First, I sent it into Romantic Times Magazine for review. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I got this amazing and wonderful review. The reviewer went on to nominate it for the Reviewer's Choice Award that year, in company with six NYT bestselling authors. It also won a Dorothy Parker award. I was also able to contract the audio and hard cover rights. It later released in hard cover as The Spy Who Kissed Me. Not bad for a first book/ebook. Me: Not bad at all. Anything you wished you'd done differently? Myself: I wish I hadn't cut it so much during the years of editing! It started out too big (at 500 pages), but ended up pretty short during a period of trying to sell it to a major publisher. I suppose I could have put some of it back in, but you just reach a place where you're done with a book. For good or ill, it is what it is. Me: There is another...odd side effect from this book? Myself: Yeah, the title sort of launched me into collecting pigs. Not live pigs, but stuffed pigs, pig trinkets. I didn't actually start it. My sister started noticing them and now I have pigs all over my house, even an antique pig with wings. Some day I'm going to collect them all together and take a picture of them with the book. LOL! Me: Could that be why you kill a stuffed pig in Do Wah Diddy Die? Myself: Do I look like Freud? Me: In the right light... Myself: Do not go there. Me: Yeah, you're probably right about that. Well, anything you want to add before we wrap this up? Myself: If you're looking for a wild, funny romp of a book, Pig in a Park is still available for sale at Hard Shell Word Factory. Me: Thanks for taking time to talk about Pig in a Park. Myself: No problem. :-) © 1998 All rights reserved. Pauline Baird Jones
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Behind the Book: The (mostly true) Story of the Writing of Pig in a Park