When she is not writing or sticking needles into people, Julia enjoys cooking, sewing, yoga, meditation, health and fitness, gardening, and anything that doesn't involve snow or sports or roller-coasters. Julia loves shoes and harbors a secret fantasy-career as a shoe designer.
She’s also obsessed with true crime shows and researching ways to kill people which makes her husband nervous.
Interview with Julia Madeleine
Alan Kealey (Indie Author News): What is your (writing) background?
Julia Madeleine: I've been writing fiction since I was in my teens. I graduated from media writing in my 20s, wrote for a number of entertainment publications, but fiction has always been my focus.
Who are your favorite writers, your favorite book, and who or what are your writing influences?
My favorite books are Janet Fitch's White Oleander and Mary Gaitskill's Veronica. I read a lot of poetry these days which I think influences my writing.
Tell us about your writing process. Do you have a writing routine?
I'm a night owl so I write late, usually into the early hours of the morning.
What do you find easiest about writing? What the hardest?
Characterization is probably the easiest for me. I love character development. The hardest I think is editing.
When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
That moment was when I was eighteen and read a novel I thought was such garbage I couldn't believe it had been published. It was then I decided that I would write a novel. In retrospect it was equally as bad if not worse. But it made me want to write.
Julia, tell us a little about your novel 'No One to Hear You Scream'.
It's about a former Irish gang member living in small town America selling drugs. When he gets popped in a raid on his house and sent to jail, the bank forecloses on his mortgage and he loses his custom built mansion. When he gets out, he becomes fixated on getting his house back from the nice people who've bought it, at all costs.
"[...] being stalked by the former owner was the inspiration."
What inspired you to write the book?
Living in the country on a 30 acre wooded property we bought in a foreclosure and being stalked by the former owner was the inspiration.
Who do you see as your target audience and where can we buy the book?
My books are available on Amazon. Middle aged housewives are apparently the biggest fiction readers, so I guess they would be my target. Otherwise, anyone who likes psychological suspense with plenty of violence would find my books right up their dark little alley.
How would you describe the success of your book? (Sales, Awards, Reviews)
No One To Hear You Scream is selling consistently well. I set up book blog tours for my books and that helps to garner a number of reviews. The Truth About Scarlet Rose has just come out, so sales haven't picked up yet.
What did you do to promote yourself and your book?
Primarily Facebook and Twitter, and posting on my blog and I do book blog tours.
How long did it take it to write the book?
Usually the initial draft takes me three months to write. Then rewriting is another month or so. But I like to put a manuscript away for a number of months and then come back to it and do another rewrite. Sometimes many rewrites.
Please, tell us where you self-published the book.
I used CreateSpace. [...and probably Amazon KDP Select for the eBook (Alan)]
How smooth went the self-publishing process? Any issues? What are things to look for when self-publishing a book?
I've had issues with working with editors. I've gone through several of them and I'm currently trying out a new one whose been highly recommended. That's my biggest challenge. Everything else hasn't been a problem.
"Hiring an editor is a must."
Did you hire an editor and/or Cover Designer for your book?
Hiring an editor is a must. I do my own cover design.
Can you give some tips for other Indie Authors regarding the writing and self-publishing process?
Read every book you can on the craft of writing before you decide to self publish. It will take your writing light years ahead.
Are you working on another book project? Can you tell us a little about it?
I've recently finished the manuscript for a thriller called, The Refrigerator Girls. It's about a high school girl who orchestrates her own kidnapping to find out where a killer is taking his victims. It's kind of like Lisbet Salander meets a female Hannibal Lector.
Are you planning to move forward as an Indie author or are you looking forward to have one of your next books to be traditionally published?
I think a combination of both would be ideal. But I'm happy to be able to publish my work independently. It appeals to my inner control freak.
Where do you see the book market in 5 or 10 years? Will there be only 99cent eBooks or do you see this just as a marketing phase of the book sellers to move readers into the digital book market in a fight for future market shares?
People are always going to be willing to pay for something if they see the value in it. So, for instance if you hear a book is really good, has a lot of great reviews and is popular, you're going to feel confident spending money on it. I think it's possible there will be both cheap eBooks and the more expensive ones, just like everything else in life.
Do you write full-time or do you have a day job?
I'm a tattoo artist and run a shop with my husband. I write in my spare time.
How can readers connect with you?
Readers can reach me via my Blog or Twitter.[see links below]
Thank you so much for the Interview, Julia. Good Luck with your future book projects.
About the Book 'No One To Hear You Scream'
In upstate New York, Brett and Pamela Jameson find the house of their dreams on twenty acres of land. Bucolic and serene, it is the answer to all of their prayers. But their dream soon turns into a nightmare when violent ex-gang member Rory Madden, the property’s former owner returns, and will stop at nothing to reclaim the home he lost to foreclosure.
Rory unearths the secrets hidden within the Jameson family, and begins to leverage his knowledge to slowly drive wedges between them. When their seventeen year-old daughter Justine falls prey to Rory’s advances, she becomes a co-conspirator, setting about a series of increasingly treacherous events that could forever tear the Jameson family apart.
A terrifying odyssey into the dark side of the American dream, No One to Hear You Scream captures the fear of the modern middle-class, the alienation of those left out, and the heart-stopping terror at the realization that it can all be taken away in an instant.
Links to the Author and the Book
Link to Julia Madeleine's Website
Connect with Julia Madeleine on Twitter: @Julia_Madeleine
Link to the Book 'No One To Hear You Scream' on Amazon with Excerpt
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