1)    Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?

Growing up with several disabilities from Rubella (including a hearing impairment) was hard. Reading and studying music helped me understand speech patterns, idioms, and vernacular I might’ve otherwise missed. I started taking writing seriously after I won a themed essay competition in high school, which prompted me to consider an education in writing at Southern Methodist University—where I somehow managed to survive David and Betty Lynn McHam’s school of journalism. Upon graduation, however, my day job was an athletic trainer, and writing remained a side-hustle until my first book was hybrid published when I was forty. I’d decided to indie publish because most of my books color outside the lines—cross-genre and one-off projects that don’t fall within standard marketing comps.

In 2014, I began freelancing as a ghostwriter and editor with Upwork and James Innes Group. I later signed on with Edioak in New York City, an in-house editing partner for fourteen houses across the globe, publishers like Gamahouse Publishing and Simon & Schuster. Currently, I freelance as a developmental editor for authorsassistant.com and my own company, julierogersbooks.com. This type of work opens up literary avenues way beyond my own titles—projects from novellas to novel series, self-help, how-to, inspirational, spiritual, blog, technical, academic, resumes, and LinkedIn profile enhancements. Genres I write include YA, children’s, adult fantasy, stories based upon or inspired by true events, as well as contemporary, paranormal, and sci-fi romance, thriller, horror, and action adventure. I’ve also done some screenplays and screenplay doctoring along the way.

I enjoy helping indie authors from idea to launch, those who want to get quality books on board while avoiding some of the costly missteps I made.

2)    What inspired you to write your book?

Twenty years ago I had a story rolling around in my head, one with the depth and breadth of a classic. That was the goal I had in mind, you know—the situations, characters, and worlds converging into—well, this big book. Not commercial fiction (once again!) Also, I wanted a dilemma that avoided anything gratuitous, just the bare bones of two unbeatable issues: terminal illness and individual mortality. What do we do when we outlive someone, for example? That sort of stuff. These nemeses were challenging for me because they’re not your two-dimensional bad guys. Illness can be a nemesis, and cancer, a monster—but how do we show those in a compelling way?

Another idea came along and paired with the first one, remembering the boy in my third-grade class who was an avid fan of the TV cult classic Dark Shadows. This was in the daytime soap’s heyday after Canadian actor Jonathan Frid joined the show and its ratings went through the roof. I still wonder why my classmate chose live action role-playing, really before LARPing was a thing. I think he did it because he loved the TV show, and his theatrics were fun and games when school got boring.

He could’ve passed for a vampire himself, the complete package with the dark hair and eyes, the long cuspids—and his ability to act the part. He had a flashy cape too, not just any old cheap one, with which he regularly entertained our classroom performing Barnabas Collins impersonations. But it posed a question to me: what if a young boy roleplayed a vampire for a much more serious reason, and where would that take us?

I originally wrote Falling Stars as a screenplay and pitched it at the Maui Writers’ Convention in 2001 to Alison Rosenzweig, one of the producers of Windtalkers. I put it away with all the other pitches that weren’t greenlighted at the time and pulled it out again in 2021. In a novel, I had more room to weave in some of the incredible Eureka Springs’ history and develop the whole Claudius Fallon persona, this vampire-human hybrid who struggles with his own disease process, and how he integrates a successful art gallery into a tourist destination without being discovered.

3)    What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?

A deeper exploration of our own biological mortality and the dilemma of outliving someone you love. I decided to take the risk of stepping outside boilerplate language, even if this created a circuitous narrative of sorts.

4) What drew you into this particular genre?

An education in journalism instills a love of learning and an openness to receive stories of all shapes and forms. Truth be told, Falling Stars is cross-genre—a mixture of urban fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, and family drama.

5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?

I think I’d choose Tommy Lucas because I found myself intrigued with his snarky little personality. As I wrote Tommy, I kept asking what he’d hope to gain from such aberrant behavior. Did it give him an edge? Courage to live another day? And how would he manage to carry on with such an attitude—so annoying, yet so loveable? I think I could easily get caught up in youthful bitterness because that kind of pluckiness seems to carry more innocence and hope.

6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?

There are two: Tina Hogan’s Cuppa & A Natter Facebook group, and Story Origin.

7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?

Trust the stories that inspire and intrigue you, what shows up at your heart’s door. Use all the writing resources available to you both locally and online. Friends and family who will take a first look should never be discounted. If anything, it’s easy for a new writer today to become overwhelmed and confused by the excess of resources available. Every writer will make a different journey, and no one journey is better than the other. All of us are a mix of mastery and mistakes. Study the language. Get used to getting back up and dusting yourself off.

8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?

I’m currently shopping two screenplays, one I co-wrote with Nashville musician Bart Bryars, as well as my own screen adaptation of Falling Stars. An audiobook version of Falling Stars will be available soon, narrated by actor Keith Michael Pinault.

I also feel like it’s time to dust off my backlist with new covers, content, and whatnot. I’m noodling on a trilogy in the magical realism vein and plan to continue working as a freelance editor and ghostwriter. I’ve recently begun hosting the Write Now podcast for the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow. And of course, there’s a new time-management breakout I enjoy sharing with other creatives at workshops, The New Time Paradigm.

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About the Author

Julie is a multi-genre author. Her articles and stories are featured in self-help, inspirational, trade, and fiction publications including Writer’s Digest, Coping With Cancer, Complete Woman, and Daily Meditation.

She is the 1999 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition Grand Prize Winner for her horror short story, “House Call.”

Her seventh novel,  Falling Stars, is an eleven-time award winner, including the 2023 International Firebird Awards First Place in Urban Fantasy, the 2023 Pinnacle Book Awards Best Book in Fantasy, and the 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards First Place in Medical Fiction.

Other awards include Fade In magazine’s 2005 Screenplay Semi-Finalist for the thriller, Grave Jumper, and the 1998 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition First for her stage play comedy, Garage Sale.

Julie works as a remote freelance ghostwriter and editor for julierogersbooks.com and authorsassistant.com in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the setting of her seventh book, Falling Stars. She lives there with her husband, Jim, a primary care physician, their furry children Madison, Kate, Sukie, and mollusks Dewey, Decimal, and System. She has one son, Seth, who works as a video game level designer in Austin.