#BlogTour Interview with Sherry Jones, Author of Josephine Baker's Last Dance #interview #JosephineBaker @sherryjones

Author and journalist Sherry Jones is best known for her international bestseller The Jewel of Medina. She is also the author of The Sword of Medina, Four Sisters, All Queens, The Sharp Hook of Love, and the novella White Heart.  Sherry lives in Spokane, WA, where, like Josephine Baker, she enjoys dancing, singing, eating, advocating for equality, and drinking champagne.

Her latest novel is Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.

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From the author of The Jewel of Medina, a moving and insightful novel based on the life of legendary performer and activist Josephine Baker, perfect for fans of The Paris Wife and Hidden Figures.

Discover the fascinating and singular life story of Josephine Baker—actress, singer, dancer, Civil Rights activist, member of the French Resistance during WWII, and a woman dedicated to erasing prejudice and creating a more equitable world—in Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.

In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones brings to life Josephine's early years in servitude and poverty in America, her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt, her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington, to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century comes to stunning life on the page.

With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings this remarkable and compelling public figure into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor, a powerful woman who continues to inspire today.

Purchase Josephine Baker’s Last Dance in paperback,  ebook,  and  audiobook  formats on  Simon and Schuster’s website (available on Amazon,  Barnes and Noble,  BooksAMillion,  Indiebound,  Kobo,  and  other sites). Learn more about Sherry’s books  at  www.authorsherryjones.com

Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

When I’m not writing, I’m reading the best fiction I can find, dancing to live music, enjoying the company of my many friends, cooking gourmet meals, or traveling. I also play classical piano and really love the opera.

When did you start writing?

I began writing at age 7, in the second grade. I had a wonderful teacher who said to me, before the entire class, “When you become an author, publish using your given name so I’ll know it’s you.” I’ve lost touch with her, but I hope she realizes what an impact she made on my life.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

When my first novel, THE JEWEL OF MEDINA, attracted international controversy and death threats. I had to make a choice about where I stood and why I am a writer. Today, I understand that, just as when I worked aa a journalist for 30+ years before becoming a novelist, I write to make a positive difference in the world.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

I live in the perfect city to start that book. My next protagonist lived for 30 years in Spokane, Washington, where I live now.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

Clean my house! But alas, it’s not going to happen today. I will ride my exercise bicycle and practice Spanish, make a pot of soup, and read the Sunday New York Times—without the extra hours.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

In Spokane! I envision a roman a clef called HINTERLAND.

Back to your present book, JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE, how did you publish it?

Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, is my publisher, and I wrote this book under contract.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

I traveled to Paris (twice), New York City, and St. Louis, MO, Josephine Baker’s childhood home, to research this book.

Why was writing JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE so important to you?

I hope this book adds to the conversation that we are currently having in America about race.

Josephine Baker, like the protagonists of all my novels, was a woman who found her inner power and used it to make a positive difference in the world. Raised in poverty and abuse, she became a star of the stage and screen at a young age before dedicating her life to fighting racism. She worked as a spy for the French Resistance during World War II, risking her life many times, and became an outspoken anti-segregationist in the United States during her tour of the country in 1951, before the civil rights movement even began. She succeeded in getting many whites-only theaters, nightclubs, hotels, restaurants, and other venues to integrate. I found her inspirational, and knew that others would, too.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

My ideas come from everywhere: books I’ve reading, newspaper and magazine articles, courses I’m listening to, movies I watch. My problem isn’t a dearth of ideas, but a surplus of them. The hard part is choosing!

Any final words?

All my books are about amazing women in history. A’isha from THE JEWEL OF MEDINA and THE SWORD OF MEDINA; the four sisters from Provence in FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS; the French queen Blanche de Castille in WHITE HEART; Heloise d’Argenteuil, the 12^th-century scholar and esteemed abbess in THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE, and the 20^th-century African-American performer Josephine Baker demonstrate with their lives that one woman can make a positive difference in the world. This is such an important message for our times—and writing these books is my way of trying to make a difference, too.