Can you share a little about your recent book?
The one I’m working on right now is called Flotsam and Jetsam. It’s Book 24 for the Mysteries of Martha’s Vineyard series for Guideposts. Here’s the blurb:
While preparing for her upcoming marriage to Gerald O’Bannon, Priscilla Grant has a lot to keep her busy. It isn’t easy to blend two established households into one, especially when the one is a tiny seaside cottage on Martha’s Vineyard. But all of her carefully laid plans are interrupted when Gerald’s prized family heirloom, a valuable eighteenth-century ship’s figurehead, is stolen from the East Shore Historical Museum before it can be moved to its permanent home in Priscilla’s lighthouse. While the police try to figure out who could have taken the figurehead and how, elderly Alzheimer’s patient Tom Campbell claims he knows how it was done. He doesn’t remember who did it or when, but he’s seen this before, and he’s sure that if he thinks about it hard enough, the details will come to him. Soon Priscilla begins to wonder if the thief would rather get rid of the old man than have him remember too much. Can she find the figurehead and the thief before Tom is silenced forever?
Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write because I am unable to not write. It’s just how I’m wired. But now that my boss of 21 years has decided to retire, I write because I have to earn a living, too. However, one of the main reasons I want to keep writing is to keep presenting a Christian worldview to the world. Secular writers seem to be pushing the envelope more and more, changing society for the worse in many ways, calling wrong right and right wrong. I want to do my part to keep presenting characters who live Christian lives with no apology and yet face the same struggles as everyone else.
How long have you been writing?
I started writing in my teens. I used to write episodes of my favorite TV shows and things like that. Then I started writing medieval scenes just to amuse myself when I was bored in my college classes. Those scenes eventually became my first book, In Honor Bound, but that wasn’t published until about fifteen years later. I guess I’ve been a serious writer for about 25 years.
And how long did it take you to get your first major book contract? Or are you published non-traditionally? How did that come about?
It was a complete miracle, but my first book was accepted by the third publisher I queried, Crossway Books. I never expected to be published at all, so their offer was a total surprise. All of my books are with traditional publishers, but I might try out some independent projects too someday. If I ever get caught up.
How long does it take you to write a book?
It depends on what kind of book it is and what else is going on in my life. My first book took me about eleven years. Now I can write a book in about two months, as long as I’ve done my preparation ahead of time and have a solid synopsis already worked out. My Drew Farthering Mysteries take me about five months.
What’s your writing work schedule like?
It’s gotten a little crazy lately, because one of my publishers changed their minds about what they wanted after I had written about half of the book, so I pretty much had to start over on that one. I had to double my daily quota to get caught up again. I try to write only Monday through Friday, but I often use Saturdays as a catchup day. I don’t write on Sundays. I feel like I’m more productive if I have at least one day off a week. I have a printout with my word count for each day on it divided into one-hundred-word increments. I figure anybody can write a hundred words, right? So I just keep ticking off 100s until I’m done for the day. Easier said than done.
Do you have an interesting writing quirk? If so, what is it?
I don’t know how interesting it is, but I can’t listen to music when I write. Actually, I can listen to music, but not to singing or music I know the words to. If I hear words from a song, I can’t hear the words in my head.
What has been your greatest joy(s) in your writing career?
I really enjoy it when readers connect with the characters, when they worry about them and get mad at them and want to know what they’ll do next. If a character seems real to a reader, I’ve done my job. I also love it when readers take something my characters have learned from what they are going through and apply it to their own lives.
What has been your darkest moment(s)?
I think the worst was that, after my first three books, my publisher decided they didn’t want more from me. Very foolishly, I let that keep me from dusting myself off and trying again for about ten years.
Which of your books is your favorite?
Oh, man, that’s a hard question, but I think it’s probably Murder on the Moor. I had a ton of fun with that one. Here’s a quick summary:
Drew Farthering comes to Bloodworth Park Lodge on the mysterious Yorkshire moors to investigate incidents of mischief making, poaching, longstanding grudges, and even the murder of the local vicar. Do the affections of the lady of the Lodge lie with her husband or with his fiery Welsh gamekeeper? And what’s behind rumors of the spectral black hound that haunts the moor? Drew must separate fact from fiction and find the killer before it’s too late.
Who is your favorite author to read?
I have so many, it’s hard to say. For mystery, it’s probably Margery Allingham or Agatha Christie. For romance, I have to go to Georgette Heyer. She knows the Regency period so well and she has a wicked sense of humor. I love C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. I could go on for pages. My favorite depends on my mood.
What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have listened too?
Expect rejection, but don’t let it keep you from doing what you want to do. And don’t expect to make a lot of money in the business. Yes, some people do very well, but I compare it to acting. A lot of aspiring actors are working hard at their day jobs trying to make ends meet until that big break comes. Some make it big. Most don’t. After 21 years being published and having my nineteenth book just come out, I am only now trying to live off my writing income. That wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t squirrelled away most of my earlier writing income in case of emergency. Will I be able to make it without a day job? Ask me in a year.
How many times in your career have you experienced rejection? How did they shape you?
I think I’ve been singularly blessed, because I haven’t had a huge amount of rejection up till now. Yes, I’ve had it. Certainly. And, yes, it’s hurt. A lot. But I’ve also had a lot of acceptance. Without that, I don’t know if I could have handled the rejection and kept on trying. I might have decided I wasn’t meant to be a writer and tried something else. But I think God has called me to this business, for His own reasons, so I do my best to write my books in a way that pleases Him until He shows me He wants me to do something else. But anyone who wants to be published is going to have rejection. It’s what you do after that rejection that makes the difference between failure and success.
Do you have a favorite character or scene in one of your books?
I like all my heroes the best, but maybe Tom Chastelayne from my very first trilogy is my favorite. Drew Farthering is a very close second.
Where do you get your ideas?
I depends. Usually I’ll read something or see it in a movie or on television and it makes me think “What if?” I think most often I see something that has been done a hundred times before and wonder how I can turn that on its head in a way that will surprise people.
What are common mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?
I think the worst one is rushing to publish something that’s not ready to be published. I’ve heard that to become an expert at anything, one has to spend 10,000 hours learning to do it. That’s a lot of time to spend without getting anything in return, even just the joy of seeing your name on a book cover. But, really, serious writers spend that kind of time. Even the most gifted need to study the craft so the presentation of their wonderful ideas will be appreciated instead of being dismissed because of spelling, grammar and punctuation problems. On the internet, you can’t hide five hundred of your early vanity-published books in your basement. Once it’s on Amazon, that cringeworthy first attempt will never go away. And often readers who read a first attempt are forever soured on that author, no matter how fabulous he may become in time. Take the time to learn the craft. You’ll never regret it.
Where/How do you recommend writers try to break into the market?
That really depends on the writer. Self-publishing has pretty much shed its “vanity press” image. Excellent writers are self-publishing and doing very well with it. It all depends on what kind of work the writer wants to do. Does he want to concentrate on writing and let someone else take care of marketing and distribution and book design and all those other things that go into publishing a book? Then traditional is the way to go. If he wants to be in control of every aspect of the book, including the responsibility of getting it distributed nation- and worldwide, then indie is probably the way to go. Anyone can self-publish. Smart indie authors take the time and trouble to do it as professionally as possible.
Bio:
JULIANNA DEERING has always been an avid reader and a lover of storytelling, whether on the page, the screen or the stage. This, along with her keen interest in history and her Christian faith, shows in her tales of love, forgiveness and triumph over adversity. A fifth-generation Texan, she makes her home north of Dallas with three spoiled cats and, when not writing, spends her free time quilting, cross stitching and watching NHL hockey. Her series of Drew Farthering mysteries set in 1930s England debuted from Bethany House with Rules of Murder (2013) and is followed by Death by the Book and Murder at the Mikado (2014), Dressed for Death (2016), Murder on the Moor and Death at Thorburn Hall (2017). Also, as DeAnna Julie Dodson, she has written a trilogy of medieval romances (In Honor Bound, By Love Redeemed and To Grace Surrendered) and several contemporary mysteries for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. She is represented by Wendy Lawton of the Books & Such Literary Agency (www.booksandsuch.biz).
My books can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christian Book Distributors as well as directly from the publishers.
Publishers:
Bethany House/Baker Books http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/bethanyhouse
Guideposts https://www.shopguideposts.org/
Annie’s Fiction https://www.anniesfiction.com
On the web:
On Facebook:
https://business.facebook.com/AuthorJuliannaDeering/
https://www.facebook.com/julie.dodson.9659
On Twitter:
@DeAnnaJulDodson
On Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6565151.Julianna_Deering
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