Julie welcome to A Romance Review. Thanks so much for making the time in your schedule to stop by and chat with us about you multi faceted writing career.

Thanks for having me!

What made you decide that you wanted to become a writer?

Honestly, the real question is what made me become a lawyer, and what made me study film in college instead of creative writing. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. I used to sit in my dad's study and pound out "books" on the typewriter. This was before I could really read, and waaaaaay before I could type, so the books were, of course, gibberish. And then I used to do the same thing on an IBM Selectric. Now, that was a thrill (really, a computer keyboard just doesn't compare). I guess I'm just addicted to stories ... and always have been.

I know that you have had several careers in your life. Currently you are a practicing lawyer as well as a writer. When you began to write what made you choose the romance genre over say legal thrillers that are also popular right now?

Well, I do have a few ideas for legal thrillers, but if you've read my stuff, you can tell that my natural voice tends toward a more irreverent, quirky tone. I might do a legal thriller someday, but right now I'm having too much fun writing what I love!

Julie, while researching for this interview I discovered that your first Temptation, NOBODY DOES IT BETTER won several writing contests before it was ever bought by Harlequin. Can you tell us a bit about this process? How did you find out about these various contests and did winning or entering lead to the book's eventual sale?

Great question! I always tell aspiring authors to enter contests. It's so difficult to get your manuscript out of the slush pile, and one of the ways to get a manuscript noticed is to final in a first chapter contest. (Let me back up a second -- local RWA chapters sponsor contests, often as fundraisers. Usually authors judge the first round, and editors and agents judge the final round. So if you make the finals, your stuff is getting read by an editor or an agent, and it's not uncommon for them to request a full manuscript.) Brenda Chin at Harlequin requested the full mss of NOBODY DOES IT BETTER and about the same time Chris Keeslar at Dorchester requested the manuscript of THE CAT'S FANCY. Both books eventually sold as a result of those requests.

When you first found that NOBODY DOES IT BETTER had sold who was the first person you told and did you do anything special to celebrate? Can you share with us your feelings upon seeing your first release on the store shelves?

The first people I told were my fabulous critique partners, Kathleen O'Reilly and Dee Davis. They'd sweated blood with me : After that, I told my husband, more or less contemporaneously w/ everyone at my office, as I was basically hysterically yelling through the halls! I'm sure we went out to dinner to celebrate, but I honestly don't remember. Probably too much oh-my-gosh hysteria to think clearly! As for first seeing the book on the shelf, there's really nothing much like it (and, unlike childbirth, which is also a magnificent experience, I wasn't numb from the waist down, exhausted and in pain!). I still get a huge thrill out of seeing my books. I mean, to have a book on a shelf tucked in between all these other authors I love and admire. What a huge thrill!

Julie, I want to talk for a bit about the Aphrodite Super Hero series you write for Love Spell. I absolutely love these books and think they are different from anything else out there today. How did you get the idea for this series and was it hard to sell this line to the publisher?

I'd written THE CAT'S FANCY, and it had received really good feedback from readers and the publisher. So I wanted to follow that up with another light paranormal. But I had NO ideas. (Actually, I always have ideas; I just had nothing that jumped out at me as cute and fun and flirty). So I literally took a yellow pad and started making a list (I found the list recently; I should have saved it!). The list had things on it like "Frog prince? Fairies? Superhero?" Then I met Kathleen and Dee at Borders and started talking about the various ideas. Somewhere in there, I switched from a guy superhero to a girl superhero, liked that, then sat down to write a few pages and see how it flowed. I liked it a lot! As for selling it, I had no trouble at all. My editor didn't even blink; he thought it sounded really cool.

Is it difficult to come up with new "super hero powers" for your characters? Do the books come to you easier with each one or is each one harder to plot?

Oh, gosh. That's a hard question. It's such an organic process that I really can't explain where the ideas come from. As for easier or harder, probably I'd have to say harder. I'm working on Mordi's book right now, and am trying to tie a lot of threads together.

I really like how you take the reader back to visit characters from the previous volumes and let us catch up on what's going on in their lives as well as introduce us to the new characters in each new volume, You tie the books together really well. Please tell our readers a little about the latest installment in this series, APHRODITE'S SECRET.

Thanks! Secret was a really fun book for me, most likely b/c I'm a mom now, and I had such fun with Davy. I also think Jason is really hot, LOL!! At any rate, the book features Lane (who is Taylor's sister from Kiss). She's a single mom, but what she doesn't realize is that her little boy, Davy, is a Halfling. Davy's dad is Jason, a Protector (who can talk to fish and change into a dolphin and other cool stuff). The reason Jason left b/f Davy was born ties into Jason's deep, dark secret: Hieronymous is his father! And Jason went to confront his dad and was captured and locked up for years. Now he's escaped and he wants his family back. But Hieronymous has his eye on Davy (who's own powers are developing) and he kidnaps the kiddo. Now Lane and Jason have to rescue their son, even while mending their own relationship.

Your recent single title release for Harlequin, SILENT CONFESSIONS was your first try at romantic suspense. I thought this book turned out really well. Is romantic suspense an area you plan on exploring more in the future? Were there any special challenges you found in writing the suspense that you don't find in doing the Temptations and Blazes?

I'm glad you thought it turned out well! I had an awesome time writing it, and I do hope to keep suspense in my books in the future. As for challenges, the real challenge in the suspense is the plotting, making sure all the pieces fit together at the end. That's often not as much of a challenge in a Temptation or Blaze b/c the stories are often more character driven. However, from my perspective, it wasn't too much of a stretch for me. While Confessions was certainly my first "romantic suspense," I think all of my single title books (and some of my series books) have had at least some suspense in them -- danger or who done it -- with the exception of THE CAT'S FANCY. The Aphrodite series has the adventure/danger element, and NOBODY BUT YOU had a mystery/suspense plot that drove the romantic action. My next Pocket release (January 2004) is a rollercoaster ride (more adventure than suspense, but there's a mysterious bad guy). It's THE SPY WHO LOVES ME and you can read the first chapter in the back of NOBODY BUT YOUu (and, soon, on my website). I tend to think in terms of plot and suspense/action/mystery lends itself well to that.

I thought SILENT CONFESSIONS was very steamy for a Harlequin single title release and I like that don't get me wrong but have you been asked to tone the heat down at all in any of your books?

Ha ha! Nope. I've been asked to UP the heat, but never, ever to tone it down!

Your current release is a spin off of SILENT CONFESSIONS, a Blaze called SILENT DESIRES. Would you tell us a little about this one?

Sure! This is Joan's book. She appeared in Confessions and my editor and I really liked her, so she got her very own story! The premise stemmed from something that really happened to a friend of mine: she was living in DC, and she'd had a lousy day, and then got home to no hot water. She called a friend, and they said, "Oh, come stay w/ us." So she's going to, but as she opens her apartment door, there're armed SWAT guys there saying "stay inside ma'am; hostage situation."

So that set up spurred Joan's story. After she's stood up by the hero, she sneaks into his penthouse hotel room (you'll have to read the book to find out exactly why!) and realizes she's got herself in a bit of a pickle. Especially when he finds the book of rare erotica she's left on the coffee table ... and starts to read it! She's trying to stay hidden from him and she's freaking out. Finally he goes to take a cold shower, and she realizes it's time to make her break for it. But as she opens the door! Voila! The cops! She finds out she's stuck with him!

When I was researching for this interview I was a little surprised to realize a couple of things about your writing. First of all you have only been writing for four years and SILENT DESIRES is your 15th release. How do you find the time to write so fast?

Oh, golly. It was a lot easier before I had my baby, that's for sure! Seriously, I write relatively fast and I love to write. Also, my husband gets up at the crack of dawn, so he goes to bed early during the week, and I have a nice little pocket of time. (I have a whole time management workshop that I do, too. It is hard; but it's worth it.)

Also you write in so many sub genres, paranormal for Love Spell, contemporaries for Pocket Books, your sensuous stories for both the Temptation and the Blaze lines, Romantic Suspense for Harlequin single titles, as well as your novellas and a couple of on line reads. Is there any one type of book you enjoy most? Any areas you want to give up? Is there a sub-genre that you haven't tried that you would like to try in the future?

There's really not any one I enjoy more than the other; I guess that's why I write across the board! I like them all! (Just call me schizophrenic ) I would love to write a historical, but that will have to wait. I really don't have the time to research (and I have no head for historical facts!). Someday, maybe ....

Do you have a favorite among your releases so far and if so which one and why?

Nope, I really don't. Whichever one I'm working on next is always my favorite at the time (unlimited potential, doncha know?). Seriously, each book is so different, that I really don't have favorites. Some are more painful getting down on paper, but in the end, I love them all!

Which of your releases would you like to see made into a movie and whom would you cast as the major characters?

I'd love to see the Aphrodite books done as a series (in fact, I've got some feelers out about that right now). As for casting, probably weird since I have a film background, but I really don't think about that. I'd love to hear readers' thoughts though as to who they picture when they "see" the characters!

What is your ideal environment like when you are working on a book? Do you like noise absolute quiet or something in between? Paint me a picture of a typical writing day for you.

Um. Okay, here again, I'm weird. I can write in quiet or with the television on (and lately, I've written love scenes w/ Elmo and Blue's Clues in the background). I don't really have an "ideal." Sometimes I work at my desk; sometimes I grab an hour during lunch; sometimes I work on my Alphasmart in the backyard. I do require a keyboard. I used to write longhand, but I seem to have lost that muse. But if I have a keyboard, life is good and the ideas flow. As for the actual day, typically, though, I put the baby to bed about 8, then plunk myself in my desk chair and write. I might or might not click on the television depending on my mood. And then I write (and answer email and procrastinate) until about midnight. Not very glamorous, huh?

What are the last three books you have read that you would recommend to your friends?

I'd recommend the actual last three books that I've read! Haven't hit a dud in a long time
Dan Brown's Angels & Demons (and The Da Vinci Code)
Donald Westlake's Money for Nothing (a hoot; I picked it up knowing nothing about it)
Anne Perry's The Whitechapel Conspiracy (I got hooked on her Inspector Pitt series years ago)
(I'm also really enjoying the Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton)
(Addendum: last night I finished Jose Saramago's All The Names. Excellent!)

Can you share with us some of the upcoming projects you have for the rest of 2003 or in early 2004. What do we have to look forward to from Julie in the coming months?

August 2003
Blaze, SILENT DESIRES (this book features Joan as the heroine, who was a secondary character in SILENT CONFESSIONS).

January 2004
DANGEROUS DESIRES, a novella packaged with a Suzanne Forster reprint, The Man at Ivy Bridge (very gothic, very fun to write!)

April 2004
THIEF OF HEARTS (working title), Temptation

Spring 2004 (probably May?)
APHRODITE'S FLAME - Mordichai's book!

June 2004
THE SPY WHO LOVES ME, Pocket (The hero is Finn from NOBODY BUT YOU).

July 2004
Untitled novella in ESSENCE OF MIDNIGHT, a Blaze paranormal anthology with Julie Elizabeth Leto and Sue Kearney

I think that's all that's scheduled right now.

Three last questions for you. I love the responses I get to these and try to include them in all my interviews. What do you love most about the business of writing? What do you like least? Finally what if anything was the biggest surprise to you about being a writer or the business of writing?

The part I love best about the business? That's easy: they actually pay me money to do something I love! How cool is that?

The least? The wait times and the inherent uncertainty. We submit our baby and often wait months to find out if the kid is beautiful or needs some hefty reworking!

The biggest surprise. Hmm. I guess my answer really relates only to romance, and that is that it's such a tight community. I really had sort of pictured the writer in the tower and the editor in New York, and no one else in the picture. So the wonderful community support was a very pleasant surprise!

Julie thanks you so much for spending some time with us. I look forward to your upcoming releases and wish you much continued success.

Thank you!