I'm excited to welcome bestselling author
Julia London to our website today. Her latest book, The Trouble With Honor, was just published on February 25, 2014. GIVEAWAY ALERT: Julia
is kindly giving away a copy of her new book to one lucky visitor, so please
leave your email address when you comment in case you are the winner!
Q: Please
share your journey to publication and the story of when you got “The Call’.
A: I’m afraid I was a bit naïve (which turned out to be a good
thing in hindsight) when I set out to write and publish a novel. I was a public
administrator, which was not very stimulating. I did a lot of reading in my
spare time, and I fell in love with a book by Iris Johansen. I didn’t know it
was a romance novel. I had no clue there
were such things as genres in the book world - I just thought a good book was a
good book. And that book was a great book. So, after immersing myself in romance
novels, I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to write one of these myself? I didn’t
know if I could, but I was determined to try. My first was a medieval romance, and
I recognized immediately it was far too rambling. But it taught me what not to
do. So I started on the first book I would submit for publication, DEVIL’S LOVE. Once I finished, I picked up some books on how to get an
agent, and how the publishing industry works. I followed the instructions, sent
out four query letters to agents who represented the sort of book I had written,
had a positive response within a week and a two book contract by the end of the
month. It happened so fast that when I got The Call, I didn’t believe the
person on the other end of the line. I realize now how insanely lucky I was and
feel beyond truly blessed to be able to do what I love for a living these days.
Q: Do you plot your novels in detail or are
you a pantser?
A: I’m a little of both I suppose, although each book really is
different. But I always start with general story outline. It’s no more than the
story arc, and nothing is set in stone. As
I’m writing that first draft the characters become more defined to me, and
sometimes, as I flesh them out, I have to go back and adjust the story to fit
the personality that is beginning to appear on the page. I guess that’s a bit
pantser-y. But for the most part I have a pretty good idea of where I am going
when I start the book.
Q: Do you draw on real life
experiences for your plots and characters?
A: Most definitely! I think everything which ends up in books
have been sparked by something which occurred to a writer at some point in
their life. For instance my last novella, THE BRIDESMAID, came about after I was
stranded at Chicago O’Hare Airport for over eight hours. I even wrote about it
in the foreword and as a bit of ‘author revenge’ gave a shout out to a
particularly rude fellow traveler whom I encountered.
Also,
the backdrop I used for my historical series, The Secrets of Hadley Green, are all actual locations I
visited on my trip to the U.K. a couple years back. I even posted the photos on
my website so readers could envision the homes and estates each story was set
around.
My
characters are composites of people I dream up, and people I know. I can’t say
that any one character is based on any one person in my life, but all of them
have bits and pieces of real vs. fantasy.
Q: Is there a genre you’d like to write in
that you haven’t yet?
A: Straight historical fiction, along the lines of Phillipa
Gregory. I think that is a very unique talent, however, bringing history to
life. The novels I write are historically accurate, but the romance is the
story. In historical fiction, the history would be the story. I love reading
it, but I am not sure I would be the best to write it. But never say never!
Q: Have you made any career decisions you
regret?
A: The only one I can think of is that I might not have gone
with a particular publisher at one point if I could do it all over. But I am
not sure it would have made any difference.
I have been very fortunate in my career and don’t regret any
decisions.
Q: What advice have you got for aspiring
authors?
A: Write something every day. It’s like a muscle—you have to use it to improve it. And don’t get discouraged. This business is equal parts luck and timing as it is talent and perseverance. Keep writing, practice your skill, and be aware that not everyone is meant to be widely read. You have to know what you’re writing for, I think. If you do it to satisfy yourself, than keep at it, keep improving, keep reading.
A: Write something every day. It’s like a muscle—you have to use it to improve it. And don’t get discouraged. This business is equal parts luck and timing as it is talent and perseverance. Keep writing, practice your skill, and be aware that not everyone is meant to be widely read. You have to know what you’re writing for, I think. If you do it to satisfy yourself, than keep at it, keep improving, keep reading.
Q: Which
form of social media do you prefer for book promotion? What is your most
effective form of promotion?
A: Social media has completely changed the way authors promote their
books so it’s impossible to name just one effective form. It used to be
publishers did all of our promotions and writers never really had to do
anything other than show up where we were scheduled and sign books. Now, with
less book stores and more people buying books in e-format I rarely do more than
a couple signings a year. I cross promote through all social media platforms.
Statistics show older generations mostly use email and visit websites for
online information and social interaction, so I send out newsletters and update
my website to reach that audience. People in their 30’s and 40’s tend to use
Facebook for their social interaction and I’m there every day (WHAT? It’s for
work… honest!). So I keep in touch and inform people who use Facebook for their
social media interactions of upcoming books and current projects I’m working on.
I do shout outs on Twitter and check in several times a day to see what the younger
set are all in a twitter about. So, all in all, I think they’re equally
valuable in reaching all walks of society and a broad range of age groups.
Q: How do you feel about Indie publishing
and the e-book trend?
A: I
think it’s great! It really has broadened the horizons for many authors who
wanted to write something completely different but were told it would never be
published because it didn’t fit a certain mold, or isn’t what is “selling”. As
a reader I couldn’t be happier. There are more books, more unique stories and
different voices which may have never been heard if they waited to be published
by one of the big houses.
Q: What are your top 3 guilty pleasures?
A: That’s easy! I guess I
don’t feel guilty about anything I do other than some of the things I eat,
because they are all food related:
- Cheeseburgers
- Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
- Red Wine
Q: If
you could travel anywhere, to a place you haven’t been before, where would it be?
Where have you been that left a lasting positive impression?
A: I would love to visit Australia and New Zealand. The only
thing stopping me is the distance. It’s
such a long flight and my patience for being in flying cigar tubes is not very
high these days. I would love to go for about a month.
The
place that has left the lasting impression is the U.K. and Ireland. I end up
there a lot. My sister and I enjoyed a weeklong bicycle trip across Ireland
last summer that was the perfect vacation. Pubs open early, the scenery is
incomparable, and the people were among the friendliest I’ve ever met. Just
lovely.
Q: What 3 things are almost always in your
refrigerator?
A: Yogurt, chocolate milk (great recovery after a long
run) and avocados.
Q: What are you reading right
now?
A: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. An amazingly
witty and a truly wonderful read. I can’t recommend it enough.
Q: If
you were stranded on a desert island and could choose one person and one thing
to be stranded with, who and what would they be?
A: Love
this question! A Navy Seal and a fully loaded Kindle with a never-ending
battery life. Not that I’ve thought about this much :-)
Q: Favorite actor, favorite actress, and why?
A: I
absolutely love Colin Firth, for obvious reasons – Hello Mr. Darcy. As for
actresses, I like Jennifer Aniston. She just seems like a low maintenance, down
to earth woman and I’ve probably seen more of her movies in the past few years
than any other actress I can recall. I like Jennifer Lawrence, too, because she
is funny.
Q: Do you prefer Oceans, Deserts, or
Mountains?
A: Mountains.
My family has a place in the mountains of New Mexico. I head there at least
once a year with my dog, Moose. It’s so peaceful. It’s a great place to
recharge. I really feel like it’s a place to exercise my mind, body and soul.
Q: Tell us about your new book.
A: In THE TROUBLE WITH HONOR, four sisters are the
stepdaughters of an ailing earl. The oldest, Honor, is determined to remove her
stepbrother’s fiancé, Miss Monica Hargrove, from his life. She and Monica have
been the bane of each other’s social life for years, and Monica has privately
made it clear to Honor what she would like to do when she becomes the countess—move
Honor and her sisters as far from her and the family fortune as possible.
Honor
knows just the person to help her in her plan—the dissolute George Easton, the
illegitimate son of the Duke of Gloucester. Honor convinces him to attract
Monica away from her stepbrother. But the devil needs coaching to lure Monica,
and only Honor can provide it. As George steadily makes progress with his
lessons and luring Monica into the snare, Honor finds herself envious. The
dashing and scandalous man soon holds everything within his hands: the fate of Honor’s
family, Honor’s future, and more importantly, her heart.
Q: What’s on your agenda in 2014?
A: Thanks
for asking! After the TROUBLE WITH HONOR is
released in March, the second book in my contemporary Pine River trilogy,
RETURN TO HOMECOMING RANCH, will be published in July. Also, I’ve got another
contemporary novella called ONE MAD NIGHT releasing in October. The same super
storm that stranded Kate and Joe in THE
BRIDESMAID will strand a pair of ad execs vying for the agency’s biggest
account the next morning. In the meantime, I will be writing two more full
length novels in The Cabot Sister series, and the last installment of the Pine
River series. And now, after reading everything I’m committed to next year, I should
really go and get to work. I think I’m in need of one of my guilty pleasures. Which
will it be, chocolate, wine, or cheeseburger?
Decisions, decisions.
Thank you very much for inviting me here today! I hope you
enjoy The Trouble With Honor!
JULIA LONDON is a New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author. She is the author of
more than two dozen novels, including romantic fiction, historical romance and
womens’ fiction novels. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Trouble with Honor
Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1cEfuyt
Indie Bound: http://bit.ly/1eUUBQV
Julia London Social
Media Links
Julia’s Website: www.julialondon.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/JuliaLondon
Twitter: www.twitter.com/JuliaFLondon
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/juliaflondon/
For more information about Julia, visit her author page at http://www.romancebooks4us.com.
For more information about Julia, visit her author page at http://www.romancebooks4us.com.
Julia, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us here at Romance Books '4' Us today. We wish you success with your new book!
