Why Jolie Mason Wrote Home is the Sailor

Does it count if I say “It’s complicated”?

I wanted to write a story based around a ship because I was going through Serenity withdrawals, but, as I wrote, it became something more. These captains became friends, and the Carry Bell became a kind of home.

Home is the Sailor is a second chance romance, as well as a space opera, and that’s because I have a strict policy. Happy endings are won like every battle ever fought, and they need to be realistic. The easy win isn’t enough for me as a reader or an author, and Ari and Caden didn’t have it easy at all.

They are parted as kids, and the moment they see each other the spark is there. There was so much pain and so much struggle tied up in their ending that they never really said goodbye. That’s what I was going for all the way.  I wanted a struggle not just to get the romance back, but the conflict of trying to let it go at first.

Have you ever had that kind of feeling for someone where you walk into the room and the air crackles? You can’t breathe for a second because all you can see are their eyes and all you can wonder is what they’re going to do or say? I have, and it was intense. In my first book, I wanted that kind of intensity between them.

Writing is a lot like painting. Painters spend their lives trying to capture on canvas what they see in the world or in their minds. Well, writers spend a lot of time, or at least this one does, trying to show you a picture of a feeling. In this case, I wanted you to feel the scars of their unseen crushing defeat, then see them older, wiser and getting it together.

Then, there’s my flamboyant pirate mercenary. That was just a character I’d wanted to write for a long time; a real over the top villain who’s almost funny in his arrogance. The things he does are terrible, but you can’t help but laugh at his manners and ambitions. He’s a contradiction, and he gets just what’s coming to him.

So, that’s why I wrote it. It was complicated. I want to thank Pauline for having me as her guest. I tried so hard to keep my feet off the coffee table.

She’s home. Now, what?

Book one in Jolie Mason’s exciting series. Three romances about second chances at love and life. 

Captain Aricka Badu left Taarken Prime twelve years ago for very good reasons, and she seldom goes back. It was supposed to be a short run, but, between the pirates, a brewing civil war and her ex, she may never get to leave.

Caden Carnes hadn’t seen Ari in twelve years, but he’d never stopped thinking about her. Given their past, it wasn’t exactly surprising she stayed away. What was surprising was seeing her back on Taarken…ever, the mining planet she’d abandoned along with her lover and her family.

Her brother’s mining hauler is missing and Caden asks for Ari’s assistance along with her ship to go find it. One discovery leads to another, until all their secrets are out. Caden and Ari don’t have long to discover the most important thing in the universe; You can actually go home again.

You can Home is the Sailor at  Amazon.

I’d like to thank Jolie for stopping by the blog today! Fun story and love the cover! The title really seems to fit the blurb. I love that quote? Poem?

I love comments so much that I pick a favorite to receive my monthly AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value).  (And don’t forget that once a quarter I’ll be tossing in something fun from the Perilously Fun Shop!) Recipient is announced the first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

Pauline