Today I am super excited to welcome to RFTC author Stephanie Julian. Stephanie will be a featured author at the Olde City, New Blood mini-con that is taking place in St. Augustine this coming February and I am super excited to meet her. Stephanie is the author of the the Forgotten Goddess series and she is here today to answer some questions. Please give Stephanie a warm welcome.
Stephanie Julian is the author of the Forgotten Goddesses, Magical Seduction, Lucani Lovers, The Fringe and Darkly Enchanted series. A former reporter for a daily newspaper, she enjoys making up stories much more than writing about real life. She’s happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons who love her even when they don’t have any clean clothes and dinner is a bowl of cereal.
Places to find Stephanie:
First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Well, I’m a wife and mother of two teen sons. I love to run, which I do very slowly, and I love hard rock and metal music and taking my guys to see our favorite bands, like Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Halestorm (hubby has a serious crush on Lzzy Hale) and Slipknot.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Except for a brief period in elementary school when I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones, yes. I was blessed with parents who never said no to a trip to the book store and I was a voracious reader. By the time I hit high school, I’d already been hooked on Kathleen Woodiwiss and Bertrice Small after I found my mother’s stash of romance novels under her bed when I was in sixth grade.
What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
A little bit of both. Now that I sell on proposal, I have to plot. Or at least pretend to plot. I have to have a working synopsis so an editor can look at it and see if it’s a story that she wants to buy but if I’m writing for myself, I usually just start the book and see where it goes.
Where do your ideas come from?
It can be as simple as seeing a guy pushing a toddler in a stroller with another baby strapped to his back or it can be an abstract thought like “I want to write a story with witches.” That last idea led to the several Etruscan themed series I’m writing. I wanted to write about witches but I didn't want to do Celtic. I wanted to do something that involved my Italian heritage so I did a ton of research and found a rich history of Italian folklore and, even older, the Etruscans, who historians don’t really know a lot about but who left a whole lot of interesting ruins in Italy to fantasize about.
A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
Obsolete sucks. Forgotten Goddesses Rule. Finding the love(s) of your life: Priceless.
What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I love paranormal romance. Hot paranormal romance, the hotter the better. I also love a good, hot romantic suspense and really, really erotic contemporary romance. Sensing a theme?
Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
I have a keeper shelf by my bed and I have a keeper page on my Nook. Just some of the books include Tara Janzen's Steele Street series, JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, Samantha Kane’s Brothers In Arms, Lora Leigh’s Breeds and Bound Hearts and Nauti Boys and Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series.
What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
The love scenes, because they have to work on so many levels. They have to advance the plot, they have to advance the love story, they have to make your heart stop and they have to make you want the hero just as much as the heroine does.
If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
I’d love to be at the table with JR Ward, Lora Leigh and Jim Butcher so I could sit back and listen to them talk.
Last question, are you working on anything right now?
I’m working on the second book in the Salon Games series, my new erotic contemporary series that starts in January with BY PRIVATE INVITATION. I’m also working on a contemporary erotic novella for an anthology with authors Olivia Cunning, Cari Quinn, Cherrie Lynn and Raven Morris that should be released in December. I’m also working on proposals for the next Goddess book and I just started the next Lucani Lovers story and a spin-off of the DeMarco Investigations series. Now I need a nap!
TOGETHER, THEY CREATE THE MOST POWERFUL MAGIC OF ALL ...
Romulus and Remus are sexy werewolf cousins with an unbreakable bond. When they meet beautiful goddess Amity and save her from an encroaching demon, they discover that the three of them together are way more powerful than any of them could ever have imagined. And they're going to need that power to overcome the forces that are determined to steal Amity's magic and destroy the two men.
As different as night and day, and each an amazing man in his own right, Rom and Remy make all of Amity's deepest fantasies come true ...
Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |
Check out the Forgotten Goddess series:
Click on cover for more info.
Don't miss your chance to meet Stephanie Julian at the Olde City, New Blood mini-convention in St. Augustine, FL this coming February 8-10th. Need MORE of an incentive to come chill out with some awesome authors by the beach?? How about if you win FREE REGISTRATION?? That's right... this week we're having a blog-hop-style contest and you could win your way in!!
To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form, AFTER you answer the blog question in the comments below. All of the featured bloggers for the event will be hosting special guests from Olde City, New Blood this week (September 30th – October 6th) and every post is another chance for you to enter to win. There will be additional chances to enter at some of the featured authors' websites, as well. There will be 3 winners, who will be chosen randomly from all entries, announced on October 7th. (Winners will be responsible for their travel and hotel costs, but their registration fees will be covered by the mini-con!!) For a complete list of blog posts and extra author entries, please see the official contest announcement on the website.
Lots of great goodies up for grabs. Check out all of the great prizes you can win.
Up for grabs:
- 1 lucky winner will win a copy of Goddess in the Middle
- 3 lucky winner's from BLOG HOP will win Registration to Olde City, New Blood mini-con.
To Enter:
- Please leave a comment answering the following question: If you could ask your favorite author any question what would you ask?
- Please fill out each Rafflecopter form
- International Shipping Available
Good Luck =)
a Rafflecopter giveawaya Rafflecopter giveaway
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ReplyDeleteCongrats on the book release. Goddess in the Middle sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it. Do the books in the Forgotten Goddess series have to be read it order or is each a stand alone? Thanks for the great interview.
ReplyDeleteI would ask my favorite author, Jennifer Crusie, if we will see any more of Nina, Fred, Alex, and Max from Anyone But You.
e.balinski(at)att(dot)net
Hi Joanne and thanks for stopping. The Forgotten Goddesses can actually be read as stand-alone stories but I'm one of those anal readers who can't read a series out of order.
ReplyDeleteI have too many favorite authors so in general I'd like to ask how much research and prepwork do you do before writing your next book?
ReplyDeletei love to ask my fave author darynda jones what is her next series to write, curious :D
ReplyDeletecongrats on the newest release and thanks for a fun post and giveaway!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, great series how many books do you see this series being? Carin
ReplyDeleteMy question for stephanie is: what is your favorite genre to write? And read?
ReplyDeleteMy question for my favorite author is for laurell k hamilton: when is the next meredith gentry book coming out and what is it going to be called? Thanks for the giveaway.
Christinebails@yahoo.com
My favorite author is Patricia Briggs. I want to know where her book ideas come from and how Bran was turned into a werewolf.
ReplyDeleteThanks for both giveaways!
For Stephanie, why did you decide Romulus and Remiss were werewolf cousins?
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome read!! Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteI would love to read GODDESS IN THE MIDDLE thank you. ALL the books look incredible.
ReplyDeleteI'd ask any author which book they have written has surprised them the most, either in the writing of it, or how it was received when it was published.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview! You sound like a cool mom...does your family ever give you story ideas (i.e. guy points or point of view)? You're a new author to me and this series sounds interesting...I'm going to head over to check out all your books?
ReplyDeleteivegotmail8889@yahoo.com
congratulation on the new release,and thanks for the post.
ReplyDeletecant wait to read this book. ^^
sunshine_pinkystar(at)yahoo(dot)com
Trina, Hi. For the Forgotten Goddesses series, I actually did a whole hell of a lot of research. I have bookshelves full of Etruscan history and religion and architecture books as well as Roman and Greek mythology, the Roman army and witchcraft. It helps that I love doing research!
ReplyDeleteEli, great choice! Darynda's a wonderful writer.
ReplyDeleteErin thanks so much for stopping by to read.
ReplyDeleteCarin, there are at least another three books in this series but there are so many stories to tel in the Etruscan Magic world. SPELL BOUND is set in this same mythology, and so is the Magical Seduction and Lucani Lovers series from EC.
ReplyDeleteChrisbails, I love to read and write erotic romance, PNR and contemporary, doesn't matter. I have a slight favoritism to PNR only because I've been a Stephen King fan since I was about 12. Thanks for stopping.
ReplyDeletePhaedra, I love mythology and the story of Romulus and Remus being raised by wolves before founding the city of Rome was too good to pass up. Besides, the Romans absorbed much of the Etruscans way of life when they came to power, so I figured why couldn't the cousins be Etruscan?
ReplyDeleteNatasha, thank you for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteMary, thanks for reading and commenting.
ReplyDeleteShawny Jean, I'd have to say SIZE MATTERS. That the first book in my Lovers on the Fringe series and I wrote it for a particular submission call. It didn't get chosen and I put it away. When I finally decided to submit it to my editor, she loved it which surprised me a little because I wasn't sure anyone would get the book's deliberately snarky, comic tone. That book has become one of my biggest sellers and I wrote a sequel and plan to write several more because I love the goofy, playful nature of those stories.
ReplyDeletethanks pc. my guys provide all the angst I could ever need in my life and yes, that does spill over into my books. they allow me to see the way men's brains really work, which can be scary, and how they react to certain situations. of course, they're smelly and infuriating most of the time but I still love them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Olivia. I hope you enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI have read What a Goddess Wants and really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading the second book and now this one.
ReplyDeleteThank you LisalLJ. So glad you stopped by
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this book. I have the first two books of the series and have been wanting this one. I love the "forgotten goddesses".
ReplyDeleteI guess if I could ask my favorite author any question it would be how I could become a beta reader/proofreader for her (so I could read the stories early, lol). I would still buy the finished book but would love to be able to read them earlier, lol.
June, thank you so much for reading! Writers are always looking for beta readers so make it known to your favorites that your willing. Sometimes that all it takes.
ReplyDeleteVery nice interview.
ReplyDeleteWho's your favorite author?
DeleteStephanie - when did you first get interested in mythology?
ReplyDeleteHi bn100, I have too many favorite authors to list them all but the writers whose books I autobuy include JR Ward, Lora Leigh, Nalini Singh and Shana Abe. I'm chomping at the bit for a new Abe books, love her Drakon series.
ReplyDeleteHey Di, I've been a mythology geek for as long as I can remember. Probably started in grade school but in high school I took four years of Latin and that included reading a lot of mythology. Love those old tales of gods and goddesses, especially because most of them deal with romance in some way. Usually a romance that ends badly, but still.
ReplyDelete