Paula Chinick
Author & Business Owner, Russian Hill Press
Originally from Seattle, Paula Chinick has lived in California for over 25 years. She has spent the majority of her career in Information Technology as a project manager working for various Fortune 500 companies and has an MBA in International Business from John F. Kennedy University. In 2014 she published her first spy thriller novel, Red Asscher-Living in Fear, the first in the series. The “Red Asscher” series is published through her independent publishing company, Russian Hill Press. It has published numerous novels ranging from romance to poetry with more than half of the authors winning awards for their novels.
Paula currently freelances for several high-end neighborhood magazines. She has contributed short stories to the Tri-Valley Branch Anthology, Voices of the Valley: First Press, Oakland’s Creative Writing Anthology, Tapestry, and The California Writers Club Literary Review. She is the past president of California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch. Paula was a presenter at the 2019 San Francisco Writers Conference.
What inspired you to begin writing?
Writing takes you into the wonderful world of the imagination. The writer takes a journey where rules and norms don’t apply. It’s liberating to let your fingers fly across the keyboard. I have always loved to write stories, even as a child. Albeit, it wasn’t until I became and an adult that I started to pursue it seriously.
What was your job before you started writing? How did your career evolve from IT and business to writing?
I had a career in IT for over 20 years. Between 2008-2010 over 8 million jobs were lost, including mine. I decided at that point I wanted to start my own company. I began completing a novel I had started years earlier and created my own publishing company, Russian Hill Press. Today I have two novels published and over a dozen authors that I’ve helped to get published.
How did you come up with the idea for the Red Asscher spy series? Do you pull upon your own experiences?
To be honest, I overheard a conversation about a woman’s mother who had escaped from Russia to China during the Russian Revolution. I thought it would make a great story. Being a fan of thrillers, I incorporated my own twist. Because of the time-period I had to do a lot of research, fortunately I love reaching facts.
What were some of the challenges you faced on the road to publication?
Traditional publishing is a challenge. You must first get an agent and then hope that agent can get a publisher to accept your work. It can take years in some cases. I chose to self-publish. Self-publishing is not intuitive. You must be willing to put a lot of time and effort into all the steps involved in getting your book on Amazon and in libraries and bookstores. To publish a professional looking book, you need to hire a cover designer, editor, and formatter. It can be costly in some cases. A writer should write for the love of it—not for the money.
Are you working on anything now?
I am hoping to complete the third in the “Red Asscher” series, Living in War, this year. At the same time, I am starting on a prequel about my protagonist’s parents in 1898 Russia.
If you could tell your younger self anything what would it be?
Embrace your failures and learn from them. You will grow as a better person and writer if you can heed that lesson.
What advice can you give young aspiring writers of today?
Same as what I would tell my younger self plus … life may get in the way but don’t give up on your dream.
All art/photos belong to Paula Chinick and are used with her permission.