Today, I'd like to welcome Richard Paolinelli, author of “Reservations” to The Thursday Interview. Before we get started, a quick intro!
Richard Paolinelli is the author of several novels and short stories. Betrayals (September 2016) along with Reservations are part of the Jack Del Rio series of mystery-thrillers published by Oak Tree Press. He has also written the sci-fi novel, Maelstrom, and a historical sports non-fiction book, From The Fields. He is also one of a dozen authors who wrote for the Sherlock Holmes anthology, Beyond Watson, published by Belanger Books (June 2016). Richard served as the lead story writer for the first two issues of the Elite Comics series, Seadragon. He is also an award-winning writer for newspapers in California and New Mexico. He still calls his native California home along with his wife, Cheryl, and a mangy hound named Waldo. A father of two, he spends most of his non-writing time devising new ways to spoil his grandson.
OK - HERE WE GO !!
No.1 Would you break the law to save a loved one? .. why?
Yes. I’m very old school (my wife swears I was born about 150 years too late) and I’ve always felt that family trumps all. Now, if a family member had broken the law, I’d urge them to turn themselves in. But if a family member were in jeopardy I would do whatever it took to save them the law notwithstanding.
No.2 What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
Alive is just going through the motions. Wake up, eat, work, sleep and repeat until you die. Truly living is taking chances (even when the odds of success are very low), appreciating the people closest to you and, when you have reached the end of your days, looking back at your life without once saying “If only I had tried that but I didn’t.”
No.3 What motivates you to write?
I love creating the characters and the worlds that my stories are set in and telling their stories in a way, hopefully, that many readers enjoy and want to read again.
No.4 Why do humans want children?
Legacy. We want to know that we have left something behind so that we are well and fondly remembered and our progeny is the best way to accomplish that for the majority of the people – at least those not named Einstein, Shakespeare or DaVinci - on this planet.
No.5 What was the biggest challenge in creating your book "Reservations" ?
Reservations is the first book in a four-book series involving the main character, Jack Del Rio. The biggest challenge was to write it so that it could serve as a stand-alone book as well as set the stage for what is to come in the next three. The second book, Betrayals, is due out this September and I wanted to weave in elements of it into Reservations so the reader is prepared for Betrayals, without bogging down the storyline of Reservations.
No.6 What is the most important thing you have learned in life so far?
To dance. There is a character in a sci-fi TV series who tells the story of finding his father crying while sitting alone in a chair. When asked why he was crying, the father replied, “My shoes are too tight. But it is alright, for I have forgotten how to dance.” Sometimes, in our rush through life, we forget to live our lives. We forget how to enjoy life. We forget how to “dance.” A few years ago I had reason to recall that scene and I have tried very hard since then to never forget how to “dance”.
No.7 How did you come up with the title "Reservations" ?
Since the story is set in the four corners area of the American southwest and involves three different Native American reservations it was a very easy title to come up with and it was in keeping with the one-word titles I wanted to use for all four books in the series: Reservations, Betrayals, Shades (2017) and Endgames (2018).
No.8 How do you handle personal criticism?
Not as well as I would like or as well as I should, but I think we can all say that to some extent. If it comes from a person who is known to be spiteful I pretty much disregard it. But if it comes from a person who I have respect for then, after stewing on it for awhile, I try to see if there is a nugget of truth there and proceed accordingly, at least most times.
No.9 Why should people read your book?
I think Reservations is an entertaining story with a solid plot. And I think you’ll find the characters are diverse and worth getting to know. What I have in store for the main character over the full series of novels will take him down a dark path but I think the reader will enjoy getting to know him and what makes him tick.
No.10 Why is there something rather than nothing?
Because “nothing” is just entirely too dull, boring and unworthy of our time and notice. While “something” is absolutely amazing and well worth the price of admission for the journey through.
Thank you Richard :)
For taking the time to answer my questions
& the best of luck with your new book!
Check out “Reservations” on
Three tribal leaders have been murdered
——murdered in a fashion that suggests the deeds were carried out by the COYOTE, a legendary evil trickster feared by many Native Americans. The tribal president contacts his old friend in the FBI for assistance in solving the crimes and preventing more murders. The FBI selects its star agent, Jack Del Rio, and dispatches him to New Mexico. Del Rio finds a situation tangled in political intrigue, and must work through those issues on his way to solving the mystery. Assisting him in his quest is Officer Lucy Chee. A romantic interest develops between the two. Del Rio identifies the murderer, but not without further bloodshed and loss.
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