Barb Jones Interview Published on: 21, Jan 2021

I moved to Seattle as a teenager from Hawaii. Being the second to the last child to prepare for college, my parents wanted to have us on the “mainland” so that we could see colleges and expand our horizons from just living in Hawaii. It was a long process to get acclimated to Seattle, to go from an All Girl, Catholic High School to a Co-Ed Catholic High School. Now, I live in Florida and still visit Seattle as I have family there.

The most supportive person overall and not just in my writing, is my mother. She is truly my best friend and without her support, I wouldn’t have the tenacity to be as strong as I am today.

It depends on what you like to do in Hawaii. I have always loved surfing, hiking, exploring. Growing up, we would do just about anything and everything as long as it was outdoors.

I love the way the horror/scary/paranormal stories test your boundaries of what is real and what isn’t. I think part of why I love them is to scare other people, but then again, we also lived in a haunted house in Hawaii and to watch my youngest sister get so scared would just thrill me. I have to say demons are probably one of my favorites. Similar to angels, it’s like there can be a demon (or an angel) for almost anything! A demon that is half child, half demon, a demon that is a soul stealer, you name it. The possibilities are endless which allows my imagination to run wild.

My first book took less than 6 months. That was Queen’s Destiny in the Blood Prophecy Series.

Queen’s Destiny came from a dream I had. And as I started to write it, it took on a life of its own. I tend to suffer from insomnia at times, which has it’s good moments and it’s bad ones. But, what started out as a dream became a full fledged series.

The challenges were to find the right ending. I had so many thoughts on how I wanted this to end but then I would get a thought that this might upset my readers, so I tried a different ending. With that, came the thought that this ending was too cliché! I toyed with it and then I asked a couple of my readers that interact with me a lot, what would they like to see. I had so many different opinions that I finally combined all their thoughts and came up with the best ending.

Chloe was probably inspired by one of my closest friend’s sister. Chloe can be independent and always finding herself in some sort of trouble and I would remember when my friend’s sister would always call me. The call would start out like this: “Well, you know how I am not supposed to leave my room because I got in trouble, can you come get me?”

Oh my gosh, never! I never know how a novel will end. I let the characters and how each chapter plays them out lead me to the ending. I can’t even plan out a novel. I write by the seat of my pants and with feelings. I will write anywhere. Speaking of endings – the ending to Queen’s Ascension was written while ziplining with friends. I just wrote it from my phone and then transferred it later.

I have so many hobbies that I can’t keep up at times! I am a “gym rat”. You can always find me in the gym at least once a day. I am a Certified Master Life Coach, Personal Fitness Trainer in addition to having a successful career in IT. I also volunteer a lot, I’m an advocate for Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking. But I am also an adrenaline junkie! I am always active and love travelling.

To write what your heart tells you to write and don’t give up.

I am all about constant improvement that I don’t think I have a definite true meaning of success. I feel successful when I can write The End for a novel, I feel successful when I see my children accomplish something.

That’s a good one! I always love being asked questions. Maybe being asked out for a date! All kidding aside, I am such an open book that I will answer any question asked of me.

I have several pieces that are in progress at the same time. Let’s see… From the Blood Prophecy Series, these are the next books in line -

Blood Prophecy Four: Rise of the Hunter Blood Prophecy Novella: Machiel and the Stone of the Damned Blood Prophecy Novella: Zaraquel and Temptations of Fate

Then, I am writing something I always wanted to do: Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves: Secrets of the Heart. It’s about King Henry VIII and Anne, his fourth wife, and what happens after the annulment.

Lastly, this is a personal novel. A Mother’s Justice. This novel is about a mother fighting against a system to protect her children from a legal system and her ex husband that found her guilty of alienation when in fact, he is the abuser. She and the children endured domestic violence and her own lawyers couldn’t protect them until she became her own attorney and won.

I’ve really enjoyed it. I have to get another cover in one of your monthly contests again. Queen’s Ascension did well.