The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Mark the Bully Shark by Paula Ruth Jones

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

Mark the Bully Shark by Paula Ruth Jones Paularuthjones.com Mark is the toughest shark in the coral reef, chasing sea creatures and taking what he wants. But when he gets stuck in a hole with no one willing to help, he realizes his bullying has left him all alone. Desperate to escape, Mark makes a promise to change—but will the other sea animals believe him? This heartwarming children’s book teaches the power of kindness, friendship, and second chances. With fun underwater adventures and colorful illustrations, "Mark the Bully Shark" helps young readers understand the importance of treating others with respect. Perfect for kids who love ocean stories and valuable life lessons! The full-page illustrations really make the underwater world really come to life. It's a great way to help kids understand the emotions in the story without needing to explain it all in words. - The Moving Words Review

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It's Amy Mazigan-Leigh on the show to feature her books. She's a multi-book author. Paula Ruth Jones joins us in the show. Her latest book came out March 18th, 2025, entitled Mark the Bully Shark. Welcome to the show, Paula. How are you? Paula Ruth Jones I'm great, thank you very much. Pete Thank you very much for coming. Give us your dot coms. Where can people find you on the interwebs? PaulaRuthJones.com.

It takes you right into Amazon. Pete There you go. And so, how many books have you written? I see quite a few here. Paula Jones- Actually, I've written two that have been actually published. Okay. And I have two more in the wings. Congratulations.

Congratulations. Thank you. So, you wanted to be a teacher. You share not only what was in books, but also your own storehouse of knowledge, learning lessons in life that would support the choices of young people as they approach adulthood. And you moved to New York City, where you became interested in ancient art, numerous opportunities to travel the areas of the ancient world, and you moved to Miami Beach in 1984 and sold the luxury real estate. What made you decide to write this book or get into the authorship business?

I was going with a friend who was a certified shipwreck diver and I was always afraid of the water as a child and I always wanted to do scuba diving and I was always afraid to try it, but I wanted to share that with him. So I went and I got my certification for scuba diving and then I went to Key West and got my certification for ship. Then we went to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. And I just became mesmerized by all the different types of sharks. And I thought about writing a children's book about bullying, which is a worldwide issue with our youth today. But I was doing luxury real estate in Miami. I didn't have the time. I like to focus on what I need to, but I put it on my bucket list. So when I relocated to New York, I also was very, very busy and didn't have time to develop that.

I also was very, very busy and didn't have time to develop that. And then I wound up in Las Vegas doing luxury real estate. The market crashed and it gave me the opportunity to write my children's books. And how did you know you were going to be a good writer at this? What was the gumption? Had you been kind of maybe toying with writing most of your life or storytelling maybe? What was that? Well, when I was a child, I used to stutter and the kids would make fun of me. And what I did, I would bury my nose in a book to avoid them bullying me. And I just grew to have a love of reading.

And that's basically when I got to this point, I felt that I would like to write a book that I think would help our youth understand when they get angry that they should treat others the way they would like to be treated. Pete There you go. So would you say that some of that experience you had as a child helped you shape this narrative and also, you know, want to help resolve those issues for other people. Dr. they may live in an environment where their parents may have an issue with each other,

and they deal with it differently, either physically or verbally, and that rubs off on the kids. You know, I think it really starts in the home. And when they go to school, or they experience their own anger, they think the way to handle it is what they saw their parents do. Pete Slauson Yeah. And you know, it's tough in school. I mean, you're not really designed for, you know, sometimes you're dealing with sometimes parents that are struggling at home, dealing with each other and, you know, trying to provide a parenting environment for you. That's a struggle and then you got the world coming at you. And then, yeah, I remember as a young boy going through elementary school and dealing

with bullies and, you know, you're not really equipped psychologically for a lot of this stuff. I remember I was in fourth grade and we had this huge playground in California. It was an open-air school, as California is able to pull off. So we'd always be out, you know, playing on the thing. And there was a bully with two little kids and they would take everyone's lunch money and they would push everyone around and bully them for lunch money. And I remember coming home after a lot of this and finally complained to my, I think it was my mother and my father. And they said, why don't you just punch

them in the face or beat them back up or just fight them or something. Something to that degree. I don't remember what the comment was, I'm getting faded on it. But one day they came up and I remember thinking, you know, just how, what am I going to do? Just to get their bullies, they're bigger than me technically. Usually, I mean, you know, they're the kids who got more growth hormone going on at that age than not, or maybe they were just sold back. And they said to me, they said, you know, give me your lunch money, they surrounded me. And something just broken me. Like I just cracked, I think they pushed me or hit me or something. And I popped and I attacked the main guy

and bloodied his nose. I had him pinned on the ground and I just lost it. And so, that was the end of the bullying at that point with those people They needed to meet a bully on the street And it kind of taught me a very important lesson in life that sometimes when you deal with bullies you've got to be a bully of bullies and you've got to stand up to them and They'll cower away because cowardice is usually the thing that's driving those folks Or seen security maybe the thing that's driving those folks. Or we're seeing security maybe.

That's true. Mm-hmm. And I even found that in high school we had bullies. And I remember we ended up having a big fight with them. We all ended up in the, whatchamacallit's room, but for months they had been shoving us in the lockers and not shoving us in the locker, but into the outside of a locker, being mean. And we were later told by the vice president, these two twins that had problems with a lot

of people in school, bullying them, they were being beaten and had an alcohol father and having all sorts of issues, of course, in the social life that brings that up. So it's kind of interesting how these things in life end up causing us to hurt. And so you've put this down in a book using a shark as a protagonist, I guess. Would he be called a protagonist if he's the backup? I don't know. I get lost in all those scientific terms. What age group do you have this appealing to? I would say from the womb to seven years old. And I say from the womb because it's a known medical fact that when a baby is developing inside the womb, they sense sounds, very loud

noises or whatever, and music. And that's been proven that usually, a lot of the musicians, that they were influenced by hearing noises while they were still developing of music. Pete Slauson Yeah. Yeah. It's, I mean, I think, and I think we, you know, I'm not a scientist, folks, so please don't start, you know, around whatever I say. But you know, you can if you want to, I suppose, just as long as you get some money for it. I need some tithing, a tax free write off. Anyway, but they say that, you know, we can kind of feel our mother's stress or feel maybe her emotions a little bit or, you know, we can maybe sense

some of that coming and going. My mom used to talk to me when she was in the, when I was in the womb with her. She used to, She used to write letters to me and read them. I think she did music. I don't remember. But yeah, it can make a difference in the world. And it's kind of interesting how you... Do you really love Shark Week? Is that a thing for you because you're into sharks?

I've watched it a few times. I get PR messages from, I think it was the History Channel TNT or something that puts it on every year and they're like, hey, it's Shark Week! It's quite well. Now you have another book that you've written as well, I believe, and it's called Dalton's Dream. Do you want to talk about that maybe a little bit? Dalton Of course. For three years, I spent searching my family history with ancestry. And I had all the family members send me documents from the Civil War, old Bibles where they would enter births and deaths and marriages, etc. And I got a wealth of materials. And I started to write the book, took me, like I said, three years. And I sent

each family member a copy. And so Dalton, it's Christmas time, he's in his soccer outfit waiting for his soccer ride. He read about his family history on the coffee table, falls asleep, wakes up in his dream, met all his ancestors that he had just read about. He told them we had gone to the moon, we had the first black president, which slavery was being practiced. It's just history that is, that would be beneficial for children to read it. And how it all ends is that they went out to the barn to put blankets on the horses and Dalton dropped his phone. When he went to pick it up, the horse kicked him in the head and woke him up from his dream. And when he woke up, he had a better appreciation for the iPhone he just got for Christmas and all his toys,

better appreciation for his family, and better appreciation for living in the 21st century. That's really the moral of the story is family appreciation. Pete There you go. Family appreciation is important because you've got to be, you know, I mean, we all look at the chooser family, but you know, understanding their mechanisms, how they work, all that sort of good stuff, that can be important. And so, this harkens back to the 1700s. You've targeted this to the same sort of age group again. Would that be a good guess? Kirsten No, the age group, I would say, first of all,

the kids are reading much earlier today than way back. And I would say anywhere from six to 15, 15, 16 in that age range. Pete Slauson So, kind of more of an older crime, maybe than your prior book. Debra Larson Correct. Pete Slauson There you go. So, they've got a book for in the womb to technically six and then six and up, You're covering the whole gambit there. What do you like about writing for young people and children? There's a narrative I'm sure you have to shape and of course it has to be kind of targeted them. Maybe it shouldn't be too complex of scientific words that I can't even read at my age because I'm old. I flunked second grade.

I think that's the callback joke on the show. What do you find that motivates you or you find enriching about writing in that format? JG First of all, when you build up a storehouse of knowledge as you go through life and mature on different age ranges, that I think we should have an obligation to hand that storehouse of knowledge down to our youth. And as times go, a lot of them are the ones that I've met, they are confused about a lot of things because it's beyond their comprehension because of their age. And I had the opportunity to travel all over the world and to observe other children in different countries. And basically, children are all the same. And I just think that, you know, we need to mold them, their brain, into making better decisions,

you know, as they grow up. And like I said, not all children have the benefit of living in a healthy environment. And so, I wanted to write a book that hopefully it would get to them, that they could read it, and it would give them, you know, more knowledge how to make better choices in life. Pete There you go. You know, your book, Dalton's Dream, deals with the sea and the ocean and kind of that romanticized, you know, pirates and I don't know if you have pirates in the book. Are there any pirates in the book, Maychance? No, pirates.

I'm just looking at the ship on the cover thinking about, you know, but you know, that whole romanticism in that area, era in the storytelling as well that can drive people to it. And, you know, the journey of our far off places, I suppose. And there was a lot of that that I aspire to when I was young. I used to read a lot of military books, World War II books, stories of generals, and all that stuff that influenced me. So yeah, it definitely has an interest to people. And I think, you know, the minds at that age

still have so much imagination, creativity to them. They haven't been beat up and jaded like the rest of us as we reach adulthood. And what, bills? We have to work. They just have that wonderful, joyous imagination and, you know, stories like this appeal to them, I think. I think also with the technology, I mean, it, I mean, I see young kids like four and five years old on their iPad and it's not a toy.

And using an iPhone, it's unbelievable and they're exposed to a lot of that they actually say that they think that our future generation is going to have a smaller brain because they depend too much on the technology and not enough reading or, you know. Pete Slauson And you tend to use your imagination, I think, more, I suppose you could read a book on the iPhone if you do the Kindle or something. But you know, most kids I know are watching YouTube, they're watching TikTok and stuff. And of course, a lot of that stuff can rot your brain.

It's rotting my brain at this point. And yeah, so most of those things can help develop their brains, it can help them creatively think. And also, what was the point I was getting to? We just had a doctor on last week who was talking about the blue light problem and they're seeing younger and younger people coming in with myopathy and different coma earlier. They're coming in way earlier with eye problems and it's because of the blue light in these computers and a lot of kids are being handed an iPad when they're like, you know, babies, you know, to play with and toy with and, you know, see the images on the screen and stuff. And turns out it's having a massive impact on their eyes. But reading a book doesn't have blue light kids. Welcome to Plug here for anti blue light technology. Reading

a book doesn't have those issues. And there's something about, there's something very tactile and wonderful about reading a book, I think. Maybe I'm, maybe I'm biased because I'm an author, but there's, there's something about the tactile experience. Like I spend a lot of time, I'll go out and read maybe a few pages of Marcus Aurelius meditations or something from stoicism. And I'll just kind of ponder them. And you kind of don't really get that with a YouTube video.

It's just all Ram force fed to you and you don't have time to just kind of consume. And I think that's why a lot of kids watch videos over and over again. What's the future that you see for yourself doing? Do you have more books that you're cooking or maybe other, maybe you want to take some of these books, like maybe the shark book and turn them into a character that moves through several different iterations of books and stories? Mark the Bully Shark, there is a sequel that's coming out very soon. And as far as my other books, I've drafted two other ones. I want to see these through first. And one is, I don't want to go into detail because somebody might steal the idea.

Don't steal her idea. Idea. somebody might steal the idea. But it's then again, a children's book to make them feel special. And then the other one is teaching young children how to get what they want. And how they do that, they have to set a goal. And, you know, whatever they want that to have their mother go to the store, take a picture of it, put it on top of the ladder. And then the rungs of the ladder are the steps that you have to make in order to get that toy. So that probably will be my next one. There you go. That should be interesting. And I mean, do you feel like you really want to do this writer thing? Do you feel

like you got maybe 10, 20, 30 books in you maybe? Kirsten I don't know about that. Pete I mean, we have some authors on the show. Kirsten I know, I am. Pete We have those, what are the one guys who are really prolific? The Tom Clancy authors, we've had all the Tom Clancy authors on the show multiple times, and then they have their own series that they write. And man, they are pumping those books out, I don't know, every three months, six months that they write them. And of course, it takes a while to get added in and to market. But in fact, I had one recently on the show and usually

anytime I have one on the show, I can look on Amazon, the next one gets released like six months. I mean, you have two upcoming books, not one next week. And they're like, oh yeah, yeah. But some of these authors, they're prolific and they can write and story tell like nothing else. And some of us, especially me, you know, I'm about 30 years, I'll make another book. The pace I'm going right now. You know, I'm glad you enjoy it. What advice would you give to people who want to become writers like yourself? You know, you kind of did a whole different life of careers and then settled into book writing.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers or maybe young people who read your books and say, hey, I would like to write like her someday? I have one major thought about that, that so many people have asked me, how did you do that? You know, I tried it and it didn't work. There's so many people who write children's books or just in general write books. How are they ever going to find you? And I said, you can't think that way. What you have to do is make a plan. And if it's, you know, some people may like the subject matter and some people may not. You can't be afraid to try

because I've had people say to me, Paula, you know, you think you're going to be a children's author about it, you know, how many children's books are out there. And I told them I would rather try something and fail than not try something and be successful. So, I believe in what I'm doing and I believe my books will be very successful. Pete Slauson There you go. I think so too. And you're writing for an audience that needs as much help as I can get. You know, we need more kids to read books, we need more critical thinking, we need to stir their imaginations more. You know, that's kind of one of the other problems with, I don't know, we need more kids to read books. We need more critical thinking. We need to stir their imaginations more. You know, that's kind of one of the other problems with, I don't know, I'm not a kid.

I can't really say that. You know, I've been at my friend's house and his kids are watching that Disney Cars movie, like 50,000 times over and over again. And I understand that the reasons why they do that for repetitive is to understand things. And I suppose maybe it spills over in their imaginations. But for me, reading is a book and not having, maybe I'm just jaded because I grew up, I grew up in the area and I'm one of those get

off my lawn kids guys now I'm Clint Eastwood. But you know, there's something just that, when you read a book, you have to draw the pictures in your head. It's an activity, I suppose, is what I'm trying to say. And that engenders your imagination and building characters and thinking about scenarios and stuff and drawing the scenery and the interaction and interplay between the characters. I don't know. Maybe someone should do a study on, if you turn out smarter if you watch YouTube videos or if you turn out smarter if you watch books But judging by the latest generation, I'm pretty sure I'm going with the books So there you go, but and so books are just so important and you're writing them telling your stories Do you now some of the authors that come on my show?

Their characters come to them and talk to them and sit down with them, almost annoy them into writing for them. Do you, I don't have that problem, I don't have that sort of thing. Do you find that your characters come to you or develop, how do you develop your characters, I guess? Dr. Jena Maldonado I think from past experiences and just to animate them And so that children who are reading them, their parents experienced bullying, I'm sure when they were young. Pete Slauson Yeah.

Julie Pate And maybe they can, you know, identify that and have some family conversation. Pete Slauson Yeah. Maybe I need to read it because I do with bullies all the time. I have a YouTube channel for 18 years. Julie Pate I'll send you a signed copy. Just send us some of the bullies. I've been on YouTube for 18 years with our videos. And boy, the things that they say to you, wow. They'll be like, I could tell you're fat because you have fat fingers. And I'm like, you spent a lot of time on this, didn't you? And then you're just kind of, thank you, Mr. Discovery, for identifying something I've

known all my life. Boy, aren't you the wizard of reality there, buddy. I probably have two eyes, two ears, and I'm a human being. Wow. Aren't you Mr. Detective Central? You know, it's just insane what people will say to you sometimes that it's just incredibly mean. And of course, you know they're in some basement basement with their in their mom's house and, and, you know, they're like,

Mom, I need a sandwich, you know, haven't had a job in 20 years or something. I don't know. I tease, I tease. As we go out, anything more you want to discuss or share with people, etc, etc. Paula Ruth Jones Just go on my website, PaulaRuthJones.com. Paula Ruth Jones, And I've done a lot of local marketing as well, and I've gotten a tremendous amount of positive reaction. And so, I'm looking forward to young children buying it and learning something. There you go. So thank you very much for coming on the show.

Tell people your dot coms, where they can find you on the interwebs. PaulaRuthJones.com, Instagram and Facebook, PaulaRuthJones.com. There you go. Thank you very much, Paula, for coming on the show. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And thanks, Monnets, for tuning in. Order up her books wherever you find books are sold. There's Mark the Bully Shark out on paperback March 18th, 2025. And check out Dalton's Dream, third edition. I just noticed the third edition part. Has this been out before or? Yes, it has.

Oh, there you go. So did you add more details and context to it? Revised it. Oh, there you go. So did you add more details and context to it? Revised it. Oh, there you go. Sometimes I have an afterthought and that I think is very important, and then I'll just have it revamped. That's all. I should do that to my book because sometimes I go read my book and I'm like, hey, there's no periods in this thing in commas. They're in all the wrong places. And then I'll read

again. I'm like, they're still in the wrong place. Anyway, thank you very much for coming to very much for coming the show Paul. Thanks for tuning in. Go to Goodreads.com for Chris Foss Thank you LinkedIn.com for says Chris Foss Chris Foss wanted to tick tockety and all those crazy places in the internet be good to each other Stay safe. We'll see you guys next time And that's it was out Paul great