This post is a reprise from January. Julie Rowe
is one of the 90,000 residents impacted by the fire in Fort McMurray
Alberta. Thank goodness she's safe in Edmonton while her hero husband stayed behind
to rescue stranded pets for SPCA.
This is Books,
Chocolate and Wine where I host guest authors. I'd like to introduce
you to my good friend, Julie Rowe. Julie and I have been friends for some time.
We each published our first book with Carina Press and met at the Carina Press
author's party at the 2011 National Conference in New York. When we realized
our books were to release on the same day we declared ourselves book-twins.
We've stayed close even though Julie is from Alberta, Canada and I live in New
Jersey. I know you'll enjoy her post as well as her books.
Inspiration
or Insanity?
One of the most common
questions writers receive from non-writers is: where do you get your ideas?
My short answer to that
question is: That’s not the correct question. The correct question is: How do I
string all the ideas crowding inside my head into one story?
The answer is: I don’t. I’ve had 18 of my stories, of varying lengths,
published since 2011. I’ve got 42,000 more to go.
A writer’s brain never shuts
off the ideas. Never.
What really freaks me out is
when I’m writing and I’m just going with the flow, writing without much of a
plan or outline, and everything I’ve just written in the past few pages lines
up perfectly with a single concluding line. Words that might have been placed
on the page, haphazardly and with no purpose transform into a single coherent
theme.
Out of the chaos comes balance.
Full circle. Closure.
That’s the question I want
answered. How does that happen? How does the mind keep track
of all those small details, characters and plot, and still manage to create
something profound, or at least fun/interesting/thought provoking out
of…nothing?
I look out the window and I see
worlds coming to life that aren’t actually there. I see heroes, villains and
side-kicks. I see mountains, volcanoes and outer space. I hear conversations,
complete with accents, arguments and apologies, and feel the vibrations of
moving airplanes, cars and boats.
There are entire worlds in my
head, whole civilizations and cultures.
I’m just one writer. One. Every
day I sit at my computer and let my fingers translate the worlds inside my head
on to paper. Every day I discover something more about myself, how I see the
world, what matters to me.
I suppose, if I’d been born one
hundred years earlier, I’d have been locked up for talking to the voices inside
my head. Recent scientific studies say that there’s a close connection between
creativity and mental illness (explains a lot!). The characters I create all
have their own set of neurosis, strengths and flaws. The conflicts they have to
resolve are complex and realistic. By the time I’m finished writing their
story, my characters have grown to earn a happy ending (excluding villains),
because at the very core of every story I write is hope.
For me hope is the greatest
motivator, the greatest reward and the one thing that can change someone’s day
from horrible to uplifting.
So, inspiration or insanity, where
do your ideas come from?
Men of Action
A Short Story Boxed Set
All author proceeds from the sale of this
boxed set will be donated to Quilts of Valour.
Supporting Canadian Armed Forces members
past and present with quilts of comfort in their time of need.
Secret Santa
A nurse grieving the death of her twin
brother receives an unexpected gift at the staff Secret Santa party: the bullet
that killed him and a message of hope and love.
Previously
published in the Timeless Keepsakes anthology
A Pirate’s Vacation
A doctor grieving the death of her husband, buys a B&B in the Virgin Islands in need of a lot of fixing. Her old flame arrives to help with repairs, but will she let him heal her shattered heart?
A doctor grieving the death of her husband, buys a B&B in the Virgin Islands in need of a lot of fixing. Her old flame arrives to help with repairs, but will she let him heal her shattered heart?
Previously
published in the Timeless Escapes anthology
Medal of Honor
When a Chicago surgeon is informed her homeless father has been murdered, she’s shocked to discover he won the Medal of Honor years ago in Vietnam. Now the killer has her in his sights, but the detective on the case has no intention of letting anyone hurt her. Ever.
When a Chicago surgeon is informed her homeless father has been murdered, she’s shocked to discover he won the Medal of Honor years ago in Vietnam. Now the killer has her in his sights, but the detective on the case has no intention of letting anyone hurt her. Ever.
Previously
published in the Timeless Treasures anthology
Including all new material in each story!
Buy Links
***
Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab
technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern
Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her
romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical
experiences because, “No one would believe them!”. In addition to writing
contemporary and historical medical romance, and fun romantic suspense for
Entangled Publishing and Carina Press, Julie has short stories in Fool’s Gold,
the Mammoth Book of ER Romance, Timeless Keepsakes and Timeless Escapes
anthologies. Her book SAVING THE RIFLEMAN (book #1 WAR GIRLS) won the novella
category of the 2013 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. AIDING THE ENEMY (book
#3 WAR GIRLS) won the novella category of the 2014 Colorado Romance Writer’s
Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines such as
Romantic Times Magazine, Today’s Parent, and Canadian Living. You can reach her
at www.julieroweauthor.com ,
on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor
