Black Opal Books Author Spotlight - Julia Joseph

Please tell us about your writing. Can you explain the title without giving too much away?

I write Young Adult Paranormal novels with elements of Romance.  The entire reason I write is to try to help young people.  I was a teacher for nine years, and I watched my students struggle with lives that were more horrifying and more difficult than most of the adults’ around them.  My overwhelming instinct was to help these kids.  But how on earth could I show them that devastation in life didn’t have to translate into a devastating life?  Writing was my answer.  In The Broken, every character is just that—broken—and trying to live their lives with the faith that it can get better.

What are your future writing goals?

The Broken is the first novel in a series of three.  I’m currently writing the second instalment, and I’ve toyed with writing a second trilogy that takes place twenty years after the final book in the first one.  As the long-time spouse of a soldier, I am also considering writing a novel detailing just how agonizing—and beautiful—military life can be.

When you have time, what would we find you reading?

I am an avid reader and have a degree in Literature.  I’ll read just about anything you pop into my hands.  My favorites include books such as Biblical Literacy by Joseph Telushkin, classic Julie Garwood novels like Saving Grace, the Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon (dare I say I love Styxx more than Acheron now?!), and anything by Zora Neale Hurston.  I am very much an equal opportunity reader—if it’s good, I’ll devour it in hours.  (Oh, and of course, I loved the Harry Potter series and Inheritance cycle as well as The Host by Stephenie Meyer—but not the movie…dear Heaven, not the movie!)

What do you learn from your writing?

I’ve learned from my writing that I’m not nearly as smart or as fantastic a writer as I thought I was…

Who has been your biggest supporter?

My biggest supporter early on was my mother.  She told me at age sixteen that I was born to be a writer.  She passed away while I was writing The Broken, and I owe so much of it to her.  Before she died, I told her that I was finally writing that book she’d been pestering me to for over a decade.  In her broken speech (she was dying from a benign brain tumor) she said simply, “It ‘bout damn time!”  I still miss her every day, and, since her death, my husband has attempted to take over a small part of her cheerleading role in my life.

How are you promoting your work?

You can find me on:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/juliajosephauthor?ref=hl
My website:  www.juliajoseph.net
Twitter: @JuliaJoseph7
My blog: http://juliajosephauthor.blogspot.ca

What advice can you give to aspiring writers?

All I can say is, “Write.  Write!  Write.”  Finish that first book.  Work at getting it published.  Then learn how to market yourself.  (And, when you figure out that last one, will you please teach me how to do it?)

Where can our readers find a copy of your work?

Black OpalBooks
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble

And finally, as an author, do you have any quirks or habits that help you write better?

I must have my music.  I cannot write without my music!  I’ve also found, curiously, that I work better in public places.  If I’m at home alone with my computer, I just tend to surf the Internet without purpose or I fall asleep.  Busy public areas energize me and, along with my music, actually help me to focus.

Thank you for being my guest today. I wish you the best of luck with your writing. 

BLURB:

Born into a family of Guardians—extraordinarily gifted humans who fight demons to protect mortal souls—seventeen year old Rose Kazin shows no signs of being blessed with the supernatural talents her family has used for generations to fight demons.  When she and her father figure, an age old celestial Warrior, are horribly wounded in an ambush, Rose awakens to find a younger Warrior, Ouriel, has volunteered to stand in as her protector.  She rails against his presence, but Ouriel seems interested in only one thing—teaching Rose how to protect herself from the demons she was never supposed to fight.