Interview with author Julia London
I had the great opportunity to interview Julia London author of the new book One Season of Sunshine. Here it is. Enjoy!!
Thanks so much for having me here today!
Where are you from? Austin, Texas
When did you first consider yourself a writer? When I quit my day job to write full time in 2002.
What inspired you to write your first book? What inspired me was fear of being a bureaucrat for the rest of my life, LOL. Seriously, I was a county manager, and I couldn’t imagine doing that sort of job for much longer. I thought I could write and decided to try it and see if I had any talent for it. Lucky for me, I had enough that an agent and a publisher were interested in me.
Do you have a specific writing style? I think that I write very character-driven books. I think that’s what you mean by writing style. If you mean what do I wear to write, you really don’t want to know. It’s kind of pathetic.
How did you come up with the title, ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE? It was a collaborative effort between me and my editor. We knew it would be a summer book, and we wanted it to convey summer and a little bit of intrigue.
Is there a message in ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE that you want readers to grasp? I didn’t set out to convey a message, but I took from it that our past influences who we are today, and that the concept of family takes on many different meanings.
How much of ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE is realistic? Hopefully, the reader will identify with the characters in the book and find them real. It’s the story of a woman who goes in search of her birthmother, so the premise is very realistic. I try to make my characters and their experiences as realistic as possible, but let’s face it, it’s fiction, so the story is a little larger than life.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? No. This particular book is based on a woman I read about, who had come to Texas to just feel Texas, because she’d been born here. But that was the only thing she knew about her beginnings. I tried to imagine what that would be like, to want to know something about yourself so deeply that you would come just in the hopes of feeling something in your bones.
Did you learn anything from writing ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE and what was it? I learned about the process of looking for a birth mother with little or nothing to go on, and how that search is so tedious that it can overtake one’s life. I am grateful I know my past because I think I would be curious but wouldn’t have the determination necessary to uncover it otherwise.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE? No.
What books have most influenced your life most? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, just for the beauty and wit of her writing, Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, because I was completely swept away by that book. There have been so many books that have influenced me in so many ways, it is hard to name a few.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? Marian Keyes. I don’t know her, but she is a fabulous writer and she has suffered through addiction and debilitating depression, and still manages to create some of the most entertaining fiction I have ever read.
What book are you reading now? I am reading Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin. It’s Jane Eyre with zombies and vampires and werewolves and is so funny!
What are your current projects? I am currently working on A LIGHT AT WINTER’S END, another novel set in Cedar Springs. It’s about two sisters who have a deep conflict and a lonesome cowboy who steps into the fray.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? I find every day a challenge! Writing is a lonely, hard job. Not only must I have the discipline to sit down and do it (with varying degress of success, I must add), but I try and improve on my craft. Don’t get me wrong—I love what I do, but it’s not easy.
What was the hardest part of writing your book? I think the deadline. I got really behind for some personal reasons, and oh my goodness, I had to cram a lot into a much shorter time frame than normal. I’m still exhausted just thinking of it.
Do you have any advice for other writers? Yes—write every day. Touch some part of your writing every single day to stay fresh and to improve what you do. It’s just like anything else—if you want to be good, you have to practice.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? Thank you, thank you, thank you (my copy editor would reduce the number of thank yous, but I really mean them), for your loyalty and good spirit. You make my life a living dream.
Thank you!!! Thank you so much for having me! I would like to invite anyone who wants to know more about me or the book to check out my website at http://www.julialondon.com/
Thanks so much for having me here today!
Where are you from? Austin, Texas
When did you first consider yourself a writer? When I quit my day job to write full time in 2002.
What inspired you to write your first book? What inspired me was fear of being a bureaucrat for the rest of my life, LOL. Seriously, I was a county manager, and I couldn’t imagine doing that sort of job for much longer. I thought I could write and decided to try it and see if I had any talent for it. Lucky for me, I had enough that an agent and a publisher were interested in me.
Do you have a specific writing style? I think that I write very character-driven books. I think that’s what you mean by writing style. If you mean what do I wear to write, you really don’t want to know. It’s kind of pathetic.
How did you come up with the title, ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE? It was a collaborative effort between me and my editor. We knew it would be a summer book, and we wanted it to convey summer and a little bit of intrigue.
Is there a message in ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE that you want readers to grasp? I didn’t set out to convey a message, but I took from it that our past influences who we are today, and that the concept of family takes on many different meanings.
How much of ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE is realistic? Hopefully, the reader will identify with the characters in the book and find them real. It’s the story of a woman who goes in search of her birthmother, so the premise is very realistic. I try to make my characters and their experiences as realistic as possible, but let’s face it, it’s fiction, so the story is a little larger than life.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? No. This particular book is based on a woman I read about, who had come to Texas to just feel Texas, because she’d been born here. But that was the only thing she knew about her beginnings. I tried to imagine what that would be like, to want to know something about yourself so deeply that you would come just in the hopes of feeling something in your bones.
Did you learn anything from writing ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE and what was it? I learned about the process of looking for a birth mother with little or nothing to go on, and how that search is so tedious that it can overtake one’s life. I am grateful I know my past because I think I would be curious but wouldn’t have the determination necessary to uncover it otherwise.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in ONE SEASON OF SUNSHINE? No.
What books have most influenced your life most? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, just for the beauty and wit of her writing, Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman, because I was completely swept away by that book. There have been so many books that have influenced me in so many ways, it is hard to name a few.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? Marian Keyes. I don’t know her, but she is a fabulous writer and she has suffered through addiction and debilitating depression, and still manages to create some of the most entertaining fiction I have ever read.
What book are you reading now? I am reading Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin. It’s Jane Eyre with zombies and vampires and werewolves and is so funny!
What are your current projects? I am currently working on A LIGHT AT WINTER’S END, another novel set in Cedar Springs. It’s about two sisters who have a deep conflict and a lonesome cowboy who steps into the fray.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? I find every day a challenge! Writing is a lonely, hard job. Not only must I have the discipline to sit down and do it (with varying degress of success, I must add), but I try and improve on my craft. Don’t get me wrong—I love what I do, but it’s not easy.
What was the hardest part of writing your book? I think the deadline. I got really behind for some personal reasons, and oh my goodness, I had to cram a lot into a much shorter time frame than normal. I’m still exhausted just thinking of it.
Do you have any advice for other writers? Yes—write every day. Touch some part of your writing every single day to stay fresh and to improve what you do. It’s just like anything else—if you want to be good, you have to practice.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? Thank you, thank you, thank you (my copy editor would reduce the number of thank yous, but I really mean them), for your loyalty and good spirit. You make my life a living dream.
Thank you!!! Thank you so much for having me! I would like to invite anyone who wants to know more about me or the book to check out my website at http://www.julialondon.com/
Wow, this was terrific! How did you get the opportunity to interview her?...ok, did I say wow already?...
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