Interview with Marie D. Jones

Interview by Amy Brozio-Andrews

Marie D. Jones is the author of PSIence: How New Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena. She lives in California with her husband and son, where she is hard at work on her next book, to be co-authored with her father, Supervolcano: The Catastrophic Event That Changed the Course of Human History (August 2007).

What was your inspiration for writing PSIence: How New Discoveries In Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena? What do you hope to achieve with its publication? Who's your target audience?

I had been reading a lot of books about quantum physics, and with my longtime interest in the paranormal, I was surprised to see so many correlations between the two. And when I get excited about something, I tend to write about it, so that really motivated me to do this book. My hope for the book is to just keep the dialogue going between researchers and scientists and thinkers and expand the possibilities. I think this book presents plenty of solid research and intriguing speculation that will prompt others to do their own seeking and maybe come up with even more exciting discoveries and theories. My audience is really quite large. I've got the paranormal crowd and anyone who is interested in such things, and people who are intrigued by quantum physics and even metaphysics. The movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? has really put these subjects in the public "mind." My book also holds appeal for anyone interested in human consciousness and our role in creating reality. So the book really covers a huge amount of ground!

How did you do your research for the book-- finding experts, exploring and validating theories, etc.? Is the finished book much different that what you had in mind when you started? Do you have any advice for writers doing research for nonfiction books?

I love doing research. I could research a subject for years and never get around to the writing! But what I did was surround myself with books, articles, journals, and websites, watch TV documentaries, and e-mail and call anyone I could think of to pick their brains on the subject at hand. I am a strong believer in asking. You often get what you want, and make some great connections in the process. Many of the people I interviewed for PSIence are now helping me promote the book. And we keep in touch via e-mail. Experts love to help out and offer their ideas and theories, although I had a hard time getting physicists to respond because they are more reluctant to talk about this stuff, and because the ones who are willing are so darned busy, now that this subject matter is really taking off. They are the new rock stars, these quantum physicists!

As far as research, what I did was make chapter folders filled with relevant articles, and also stacked the books I would use for that particular chapter by my desk. Then I would have everything I needed at my fingertips, chapter by chapter. I write in order, too. Chapter one is first… my brain seems to work best in a linear fashion.

I want to warn other new nonfiction writers that you really have to be careful writing nonfiction. Be careful that you don't over-research. That can become very intimidating and scare you away from the work. At some point, just stop and start writing and know that you can always find what you need as you go along. Thank God for the Internet! And also be careful not to get so many opinions from experts that you lose sight of your own opinion!

The finished book is really what I had envisioned when I did my proposal. I do tend to stick to my proposal and suggested chapters pretty closely, yet I am also flexible enough to move things around, add, delete. The end goal of having a great book, and one that is fun to read, is always the brass ring I strive for. I like to include humor a lot, too, when writing about heavily-researched stuff. I find it helps people absorb all the facts and figures. I love to put quotes from famous people at the beginning of my chapters, and I always make my chapter titles fun and kooky.

Please tell us a little about the process of writing and selling your book. Had you completed the manuscript when you sold the book to New Page or were you able to make the sale from a proposal? How long did the various aspects of the project take-- writing the book, the proposal, making the sale? Do you have an agent? If so, do you have any other advice for fellow writers on securing an agent?

I have a wonderful agent, and she shopped my proposal. I am a master of writing proposals! I've done so many! I will never write a complete nonfiction book before selling it. Now I know better! We got the deal in November of 2005, pretty much just a couple of months after we started sending the proposal out, and the book was due in May of 2006, and it's out this November, so it's been a year. I had six months to write this book, and I ended up doing it in five months. That's writing just a few hours a day, because I have a little boy who demands my attention! But I learned a long time ago that you do your best work and often the MOST work when you have a deadline. I've found that when I've had all the time in the world to write, I write very little. I have a love/hate relationship with pressure. I work so well under it, yet I am anxious the whole time. Oh, the life of a writer!

I highly advise writers to find a good agent who believes in their work. I sold my first book without an agent and it was a very eye-opening experience. My book went nowhere, despite some rave reviews. I much prefer knowing I am protected, and my agent can get my work read fast, and read by people I could never get to. Query and find someone you can count on. It's possible. I did it! Oh, and it helps to have published in other formats-- short stories, poetry, essays, whatever. Agents want to know they are signing someone for the long haul and that you are committed to your craft and to your career. My agent expects me to sell a book a year. I am so down for that! It also helps if you can make them aware of your ability to market yourself! I know, you hate the "p" word, but platform is big nowadays. If you don't have one, start working on getting your name out there!

How do you reconcile religion, science, and the paranormal?

I believe it is all paranormal until we come to understand it, then it becomes normal. To me, science describes the structure of a thing. Religion describes the essence of a thing. Yet it is all a part of the same great whole. I think of it like a yardstick, with science at one end, religion at the other, and the paranormal in the middle. All are connected, yet our understanding and perception of each is what places them at certain positions along the yardstick. American philosopher Elbert Hubbard summed it up best when he said, '"The supernatural is the natural not yet understood." I am a firm believer that science can explain everything, but scientists haven't caught up with those explanations yet! The potential for every experience to be explained scientifically is there, waiting for us to figure it out. Paranormal experiences are simply events that we don't quite yet have a law or theory to fully explain, although my book proves that even this is not quite true! Many events are being documented in a laboratory setting, which is exciting, but we must always keep in mind that the scientific method may not always be applicable to every experience, especially when human consciousness becomes a factor.

If you think about how our lives might look to someone living two hundred years ago… jet planes and iPods and TV and Hummers and Howard Stern… they would think we were made of magic and paranormal and really "out there"! So it's really all relative and a matter of perception, and the human mind is the key to perceiving the paranormal and seeing its connections to the quantum world.

Can you comment on authors' adoption of technology for promotion of their work-- i.e., podcasts, blogging, and MySpace pages? Have you always been an early adopter of technology and do you believe that writers should maintain a certain core competency when it comes to new ways of promoting and marketing their work? Have you noticed a difference in adding these new marketing and promotional techniques to the traditional techniques available to writers?

I am a technological dork. I know nothing. I rely on my husband to help me with that. He is great with computers and techno stuff. My sister-in-law did my website (www.mariedjones.com), and my hubby does some of my graphics and helps me e-mail and do podcast recordings, but I am worthless myself. Although I am proud to say I did put up my own blog, psience.blogspot.com, and MySpace page! People who know how to do this stuff can really market themselves in a BIG way, especially with podcasts and e-mail newsletters and really cool websites. Now there are book trailers, and I want to make one of those-- short "movie trailers" for books. I don't know Flash animation or anything. So again I have to find someone willing to do it for me cheap! The more a writer can control her website and know how to maneuver in this technological world, the more she can do for herself. Marketing on the Internet is priceless, and it is something you can do any time of day or night, unlike doing radio and TV shows, which are still important.

You're co-writing your next book with your father-- are there special challenges inherent with collaborating with a parent? How are both of you working on the book? Is every step taken together, or do you pass work back and forth? Did the two of you work out any ground rules before starting the project?

We had always talked about writing something together, but we were always so busy. My dad just retired and my publisher had asked me for another "science" book, so we finally got our chance! The fact that we are a father-daughter team is really cool, and will add to the marketability of the book.

I do not advise collaborating unless you really know the person you are writing with is committed. Also, styles must match. I think it's easier to collaborate on nonfiction, though, because it's research-heavy. In our case, we are writing about supervolcanoes and one in particular, Toba, that almost wiped humanity off the map. We are dividing chapters between us. My dad is doing the more intensive stuff, since he has the Ph.D. and the expertise. I am doing chapters I know I can handle, then we will put it all together and I will smooth out the style so everything meshes. So far, I've been surprised at how our styles work so well, because my dad is not a "book" writer, although he has done a ton of writing for scientific journals. But he's coming through and the publisher is so excited about this book that it really gets us excited.

We are e-mailing chapters back and forth, and both of us are approaching experts for quotes and interviews, and finding images and graphics we can use. Sure the work goes twice as fast, but you lose some control of it, so that is why it is essential you know the person you are working with is as committed as you are.

I also collaborate with a screenwriter, and that experience is much different. With screenplays, we have to write together, to really keep the flow and the style cohesive.

Fiction is probably the hardest thing to collaborate on. I would seriously think twice about working with anyone. If you really feel you cannot do the book alone, go for it, but have some agreements about who will do what. Ground rules are critical, and should be discussed before any contracts are signed! Preferably the moment you begin working on the project. With my dad being my dad, it still applies, maybe even more so working with a family member. So we have had to talk about everything from how we break down the work to how royalties will be divvied up! The more formal you can make it, the better both parties will feel and take it more seriously, and there will be less hostility and grief all the way through the entire process!

How do you balance the challenges of writing and raising a family?

I don't know how I do it. I shock myself sometimes with what I am able to accomplish in the little time I have. I have friends who want to write who have all the time and freedom in the world, and they get nothing done. I have my writing career, and a little boy in kindergarten who is disabled and requires a lot of therapies and work at home on his walking and I am a committed mom first and foremost. Writing gets done when he is not around, or when I can get my mom or husband to be with him so I can work. But I really try to get my writing done while he is in school. Weekends are family time, unless I have a killer deadline. I have a very supportive and understanding creative spouse and also a really loving and cool mother who only lives three minutes away, so that helps!

I am also doing NaNo this year. That's National Novel Writing Month, [starting] November 1^st and you write an entire novel in one month. I did it last year and loved it. I will do that writing at night, after my son and husband are asleep. Despite my growing success as a nonfiction writer, fiction is my dream. I completed a novel last year during NaNo and hope to edit it and then I will have this new one for 2006. My goal is to be successful at both fiction and nonfiction. And maybe sell a script or two as well. I am very ambitious, voraciously so, I should say, so that is what keeps me going even when I am exhausted. Plus I am a glutton for punishment!

If you have a family and you write, join MomWriters or an online support group for writing dads and get help and find other writers you can commiserate with! It helps to know you are not alone and you can do this and stay sane! Oh, and get a great writing coach, or creative coach. Mine is Lisa Collazo of WriteWhatYouKnow.com. She is priceless. She keeps me on track and focused. I highly recommend a writing coach, because it's like therapy for writers and it has helped me overcome so many fears and get things done. Ultimately, though, if you are meant to write, you will write. It's just that simple!

Amy Brozio-Andrews is the managing editor of Absolute Write.

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