What have you been working on lately?
I am working on What He Really Feels (Book 2 in the He Feels Trilogy). It’s in the editing stage and set for release on October 3. This one will be from Travis’s point of view because of the huge response to his character from my Book 1 readers. I’ve started writing Book 3, too!
What does your typical writing day look like?
I’m a teacher, so writing comes in at night when I get home from work (after lesson plans and grading papers) or weekends. Summer, weekends, and breaks are the best time for me to write!
What motivates you to write?
A few different things… one would have to be music. Some songs have inspired entire stories for me. There are also songs that inspire shorter scenes in my writing. I am also motivated by my characters and the storylines buzzing through my head.
Are your books drawn from real life experiences or entirely fictional?
Entirely fictional! Even my characters are entirely fictional – there may be snippets of personality traits from people I know, but the characters themselves are made up.
What writers do you feel were influential in your development as an author?
My favorite romance authors are Emily Giffin, E. L. James, and Sylvia Day. I also love Nicholas Sparks, Sylvain Reynard, and millions of others. I should also say that most of my stories started before I read my first book by any of these authors, so while my writing style tends to be purely my own, I love reading what other people have to say to see what makes me feel a certain emotion, and then I try to figure out how to inspire that same emotion in my own readers.
When did you truly feel like an author?
I don’t know if it has entirely hit me yet, but there are a few moments that stick out. The first is when I clicked the “PUBLISH” button on Amazon, the second is when I had my first book sale, and the third is the first time a reader messaged me to ask me when my next book would be coming out because she loved the first one so much!
Do you have a favorite character from one of your books? If so ... why?
My favorite character that I’ve written is in a series that has been put on the backburner while I work on the He Feels Trilogy. His name is Mark, and you’ll get to meet him sometime in the future when I get back to that series. How He Really Feels was initially going to be a standalone novel, and then I had such a positive response to Travis’s character that I wanted to answer the questions that my readers kept asking. So, Travis has become my favorite. He was badly hurt by someone he really cares about, so it’s easy to sympathize with him and relate to him. He’s got a bit of bad boy in him, but deep down
he’s a really good guy, and that makes him lovable.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
The advice I kept hearing for aspiring authors was always the same: Write for yourself. This is totally true, and my husband asked me a question awhile ago that stuck with me: Now that I’ve released my book and readers have spoken out about my characters, would I have done anything differently if I were to do it again? My answer was “No.” While one person may not like what Julianne did, another person will say that she did what anyone would have done. Julianne did what Julianne did, and I can’t go back and change that now. It’s the story, like it or not! So my advice would be this: Don’t change your characters or your story just because one person doesn’t agree with it. Stay true to what your characters do and who they are and
remember that for every one person who doesn’t like it, there’s probably one person out there who DOES like it.
Do you have anything specific you would like to share with your readers?
I’m just scratching the surface of what’s to come. Writing has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, and I can’t wait to share the rest of the He Feels Trilogy with you and my next series, too. And there’s another one after that, too... I appreciate the support I’ve had so far, and I love my readers! Thank you for purchasing my book and for telling me what you love about it and even for telling me what you don’t love about it! The best way that readers can support authors, especially self-published indie authors, is by posting reviews to Goodreads, Amazon, etc., so please post those reviews!