Interview: Sonje Jones, Author of "Chasing"

Today, as promised, I have an interview for you.

I first met Sonje Jones through another writer, and I've followed her blog ever since. She's got attitude and she can write. Recently she announced that Chasing, book one of The Detective Series, was ready for consumption. I have consumed, and I'm here to tell you I enjoyed it and can't wait for the rest. First the book, then on to the interview.

Getting paid is the name of the game, and private investigator Cornelia Osgood—Oz to most—has found a client with deep pockets: the parents of local singer/songwriter Samantha Arden who has been getting threatening notes from what appears to be an obsessed fan. Oz works not only the Sam Arden stalker case but whatever else comes her way. These cases range from following cheating husbands to tracking down a lost cat. 

All work and no play makes for a very boring detective, however, and Oz manages never to let too much time pass between trysts with the women who populate Everton. She probably shouldn’t also be sleeping with Sam Arden, the girl she’s being paid to protect, but if she abided by rules like that, she’d miss out on half the fun.

With Oz’s unpredictable schedule and lack of desire for commitment, she’s only managed long term relationships with three women: her mother, her sister, and her childhood friend, Abby O’Leary. But stress is placed on the relationships with her mother and sister because they are both getting married, and Oz doesn’t particularly approve of either groom. To make matters worse, she’s been wrangled into the role of maid of honor at their joint wedding. This forces Oz to consider the thing that scares her the most: wearing a pink, taffeta bridesmaid’s dress.

As the wedding approaches, the Sam Arden stalker case escalates. Oz enlists the help of fellow private eye (and former apprentice) Adam Erase to help find out who is behind the notes in order to stop the stalker before the threats become a reality.

Chasing is book number one of four in the Detective Series.

--From Amazon.com

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About the Author:
Sonje Jones has spent the last couple of years working on a self-described series of four smutty lesbian detective novels. After signing a contract with a small publisher in July 2011, the two decided to go their separate ways in April 2012, and now Sonje is self-publishing the series. The first book, CHASING, was released last week as a Kindle edition, and she plans on releasing the other three within the next couple of months. In addition, she likes sunsets, single malt scotch and some other thing that starts with the letter S.

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TN: Who or what made you want to write books in the first place? 

SJ: I started creative writing (independent of school assignments) sometime in elementary school. I only remember that because I was praised for my writing, and let me assure you, I was a crap student as a child so any praise that came my way really stood out. When I was 18 years old, I wrote my first novel-length fiction, kind of by accident (I'd meant it to be a short story) which is the best way to undertake something big for the first time. What's that expression? Being too stupid to know you can't do it? That was me.

Anyway, once I'd done it, I had the confidence to write several other novels. All of them had literary aspirations. Eventually I grew tired of my own pretentiousness, and around that time, I took a class on detective fiction. It was such a relief! I felt like I could breathe, reading that stuff. I was a comparative literature major at the time, and let me tell you, comp lit majors don't read many (read: any) light and/or fun novels. If someone isn't going to tragically die and depress the hell out of everyone, they don't include it in the syllabus. I decided that I wanted to write some of that fun detective crap, something that didn't take itself seriously AT ALL, and that's when I started writing CHASING.

TN: What do you enjoy most about this particular genre? Do you think you'll stick with Detective Fiction indefinitely, or are you curious about exploring other avenues?

SJ: As I kind of said above, the main thing that I like about detective fiction is it doesn't take itself too seriously. The main point is to tell a story, and usually the detective/main character has some character flaws that interfere with her/his personal life. I've had a lot of fun with the character flaw aspect for my series.

However, I find writing detective fiction to be challenging. My wheelhouse is character development and personal interactions, and that's all well and good, but detective fiction doesn't actually need that. What it requires is a strong, tight, and compelling plot. Coming up with a hundred different things for my main character to do--not just feel and grow emotionally, but actually do things--has been a struggle for me. And plotting the big case! I'd rather stick pins under my fingernails than figure out another case: what happened, how it happened, why it happened--and let's not forget that I have to think of wrong things for my detective to think because it can't be too easy, can it? Ugh! I hate that shit! So no, I do not think I will continue writing detective fiction. That's why I felt confident calling this series, "The Detective Series." Because I'm not likely to write in this genre again!

TN: What, if anything, do you want readers to take from "Chasing?"

SJ: Mostly I just hope readers have fun reading it. When I left my pretentious literary phase, I also left behind the desire for my readers to "get something" from my writing.

TN: What makes you love your main character, Cornelia Osgood? What did you do to make her really stand out as a distinct, interesting personality?

SJ: She has a confidence in her failings that I find charming. To wit, I love it that she sleeps around and makes no apologies--even hiding under a table at one point to avoid a woman. I also love that her mother never gives her a break for...just about anything. In CHASING in particular, I love that she is who she is and isn't interested in being anything else. As you can deduce, unlike other P.I.s in literature, mine has a personal life and a family. I think she's a more complete person than you usually find in this genre.

TN: "Chasing" seems like it would work well as a standalone. What made you want to write a series, and do you feel like it has more of a global-story-arc feel or more of an episodic feel?

SJ: CHASING could definitely stand alone, and it was something I considered strongly upon completing it. I had originally conceived of the story as being a trilogy, although when I finished writing CHASING I knew the story would either end there with one book or go on to four books. In the end, I had more story to tell, so I told it. Books two, three and four of the series need each other in a way that book one does not. There is definitely a story arc that spans those three books as far the main character's growth and development. The episodic part of those three is that each of those books has its own self-contained "big case."

TN: What were the challenges and benefits of writing a series like "The Detective Series?" What do you feel like you learned that will apply to future projects?

SJ: As I mentioned earlier, the challenge was definitely plot for me, and even though I struggled there, it was a good struggle. Things should happen in books--they're much more interesting that way! One of my fatal flaws during my "pretentious literary" phase was that nothing really happened. The intricacies of plotting the twists and turns of a case, I am looking forward to putting behind me, but what I need to bring to future writing is a strong plot with characters who do things and don't just sit around and think and feel. Wow, I almost nodded off just thinking about my earlier books.

TN: When it comes to your writing and your books, how do you define "success?"

SJ: Finishing. When these books are all out there, that's it, that's success. I know there are a million things to do to promote them, and I'm hoping I can get it up enough to do, oh, maybe four or five of them, but all I want is to put this story out there. I'm certainly not doing this for fame or money.

TN: You've told me that you want to have all four books of The Detective Series released by July. What's next for Sonje Jones?

SJ: Let's be clear here that I want all four books released by the end of July, not July 1. I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy. Speaking of crazy though, I participated in the 3 Day Novel Contest last Labor Day weekend, and while I didn't write a novel, I wrote a 15k word story. I have another story in mind that I think will be about that long, and that's probably what I will write next. If I get another long short story idea, I might go ahead and package the three together for release. Besides that, there's probably 5-10 story ideas flitting around my mind. Which one will get picked? I don't know!

Thanks, Todd. You're a peach for having me on your blog--as well as reading then reviewing my book on Amazon.
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Happy to do it, and more than happy to share it with my readers. 

Speaking of which, what are you still doing here? Get your copy today!