Interview & Giveaway with Julia London

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Julia London to the blog for the first time. 

Julia, can you please share with us a little about yourself

First, let me thank you for inviting me!  I live in Austin, Texas.  When I’m not writing, I like to get out of my cave and run or ride my bike or get Zen with yoga. I recently returned from a bike ride across Ireland and now I can’t wait to plan my next bike vacation.  My running partner is my dog, Moose, a big yellow lab who never met a piece of garbage he wouldn’t eat.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I’ve always written, but I never thought I’d be a writer—I was a public administrator.  But one day I picked up an older Iris Johansen book at a garage sale and became hooked on the romance genre. I started dreaming up stories of my own.  Thank goodness I didn’t know how difficult it was supposed to be to get published otherwise I probably wouldn’t have submitted my first manuscript, which I was lucky enough to sell.  I haven’t looked back since.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

Some people think it is interesting that I work on two books at once.  I don’t find it hard to do at all.  Usually one is historical and one is contemporary, and they are generally in different stages of production.  But I guess in all those years of public administration work, and having to juggle more than one complex project at a time, helped train my brain to be able to turn off one story and turn on another when necessary.

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

THE BRIDESMAID features Joe and Kate, two strangers forced to travel together in order to get from New York to Seattle during a super storm. Kate is traveling for her best friend’s wedding and Joe is rushing to attend a make-or-break meeting in order to secure a dream job. It’s my version of a romance set against the story of Trains, Planes and Automobiles.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I travel a lot.  This idea was born when I was stranded for 8 hours in Chicago’s O’Hare airport one stormy afternoon.  Talk about agony!  Travel delays bring out the worst in people (myself included).

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

Currently I’m finishing up the second book in my Pine River Trilogy, RETURN TO HOMECOMING RANCH, which follows HOMECOMING RANCH and is slated for publication next summer (and then again by THE LAST HOMECOMING in late 2014).  This series is about three sisters who didn’t know each other existed until they inherited a rundown ranch from their deadbeat father.  They have to make the ranch work against their private issues and those that come when you are thrust into an instant family.

I also just completed edits on my new historical, THE TROUBLE WITH HONOR, the first in a new series about four privileged sisters who try and direct the course of their fate in unconventional ways J.  It will be out in late February of next year, and will be followed by THE FALL OF GRACE next autumn.

I’m also writing another novella for Sourcebooks, tentatively titled ONE MAD NIGHT. Rival ad execs, Chelsea and Ian are stranded in their office overnight (thanks to the same storm that forced Joe and Kate together in THE BRIDESMAID).

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

I would love to meet the Irish author, Marian Keyes, because I find her so interesting.  She has publicly battled debilitating depression, and I admire her for that.  And she is a very funny writer.  I would also love, love, love to meet George R. R. Martin.  This man fascinates me because as a writer he never ever pulls a punch.  I find myself thinking about what the reader wants in a book, but I think he could care less (which, if you’ve read or seen the series, you know what I am talking about).  His writing is very powerful because of it and I would love to talk to him about it.  It would be a huge fan girl moment.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

It’s like anything you want to do well—you have to learn it and practice it, day in and day out.  You learn by writing one novel after the next.  You practice it by writing something every day.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

I have this fantasy of living in different parts of the world long enough to understand the culture and people.  I would start in Scotland or Ireland and probably never leave!

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Lianne Moriarity’s The Husband’s Secret is the book I am saving for myself when I meet my deadline.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I hope everyone enjoys my latest novella, THE BRIDESMAID, and if so they might pick up one of my other titles. I love hearing from my readers and they can let me know what they think of my books either on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JuliaLondon, Twitter: www.twitter.com/JuliaFLondon or my website and blog:  http://www.julialondon.com

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Kate Preston just moved to New York, but she has to get back to Seattle in time for her best friend’s wedding. Joe Firretti is moving to Seattle, and has to get there in time or risk losing his new job. But fate’s got a sense of humor.

Kate goes from rubbing elbows on a plane with a gorgeous but irritating strange (doggone armrest hog) to sharing one travel disaster after another with him on four wheels. Joe thought he had his future figured out, but sometimes fates has to knock you over the head pretty hard before you see what opportunity is standing in front of you…in a really god-awful poufy bridesmaid dress