Interview Jaxine Daniels

by

Bill Calabrese

1) I hear great things about your book, A Soft Place To Fall, and plan to get a copy of my own in the near future. Tell us about your new one, A Good Place To Land.

Thanks, Bill. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. A Good Place To Land is the story of Air Force Colonel Rick MacIntyre, who, after dropping his men on the side of show covered mountain, crashes his Pave Low helicopter. Injured and cold, he spends the long hours he must wait for his own rescue talking with Search and Rescue Mission Base, in the person of Lily Atherton. She becomes his lifeline. Forged in the midst of this tragedy, their relationship grows and strengthens even as he takes back his life.

2) As a man, who likes action and suspense stories, do you think I will find a good read in A Good Place To Land? Will women like it too?

This series is military romance. So, lovers of romance will be right at home. However, the men who have read this book have really enjoyed it as well. One is the retired helicopter pilot who worked closely with me to get the details right. He is a former SAR pilot for the Air Force, so also knows what makes the PJ's tick.

3) You refer to the two books I have named as part of the “PJ Series”. What does “PJ” stand for? What makes this a series? Continuing characters? Commonality of theme? Tell us about your future plans for the series

Glad you asked. PJ stands for ParaJumper. They are the elite spec ops team for the Air Force. They are all certified paramedics as well as being as well trained as the SEALs who have the spotlight. This series revolves around one unit who is stationed in Merced, California, the gateway to Yosemite. So, yes there are continuing characters. I could tell you the plan for the series but I'd have to kill you, Bill. :) There are three more books planned after Good Place To Land. They will feature the guys we've met along the way.

4) It sounds like your books are based upon personal experiences. Is that a valid assumption?

That's true, up to a point. As an EMT, I have experience in emergency medicine. I also worked for 7 years in Search and Rescue, both as a medic and as the communications "officer." I have done what Lily does. I know the relationship she has with Daniel Fraser (the SAR Commander). I have worked with PJ's before as well. They are great guys and true heroes.

5) What other writers do you particularly admire? Have they influenced your style, technique and choice of genre or subject matter?

I love Suzanne Brockmann. She has influenced my writing in many ways. But I'm not just a romance reader. I love suspense and mystery as well. So many books--so little time. I could quit everything right now and read for the rest of my days. Sigh. I don't have a TBR (to-be-read) pile, I have a TBR room :)

6) What comes first when you get an idea for a novel? Setting? Situation? A particular character?

That depends. (Great answer, huh, Bill?) For A Soft Place To Fall, the plot came to me first (what if you suddenly "woke up" and didn't know who or where you were). From there, I added characters and why's. However, from then on in the series, I took the characters and put them in situations that would test them to the core. Great characters need to have their beliefs challenged. For the most part, though, I start everything with character. The results are character driven stories through which my readers tell me they have bonded with these people.

7) We are all fascinated with the way writers go about their work. Tell us how you create a book once you have imagined it. Do you outline the entire book before you start? Do you have a daily writing routine? Do you have any tricks that you use to avoid writer’s block?

When I started writing, I was a strictly a seat-of-the-pants writer. However, I am slowly drifting toward outlining more and more. I absolutely hate getting one hundred pages into a novel and having a crisis--not knowing where anything is going. So, I now at the very least list the things that have to happen in Acts One, Two and Three. That helps.

When I am actually in the writing process, I write every weekday. I have a word count goal that I must reach before leaving the computer. That may take an hour or two or all day. I have found that if I keep writing daily, the story perks in my mind all day and all night and I can sit down and get busy. I will not allow the concept of writer's block. That's not to say I haven't written very ugly stuff at times. But I won't allow myself the luxury of being blocked. If I can't make progress where I am, I jump to somewhere in the story where I can make progress.

I have recently moved across the country and have a new job. Back in Colorado I worked for an ambulance service and only "worked" when the radio went off. Here, I'll be working two to three twelve hour shifts per week. It will be interesting to see how that works with writing. I may have to retrain my brain a bit.

Thanks, Bill, for taking the time to come up with great questions. And readers, please check out Bill's September release as well: Tales From Someplace Else.