Echoes in the Silence By Julie Johnstone ~ INTERVIEW ~ Giveaway ~

Crystal: Today I am happy to have Julie Johnstone stop by for a short interview to celebrate her newest release Echoes in the Silence.

Julie: Thank you so much for having me on your wonderful blog today! It’s a thrill and an honor! I love connecting with fellow readers, bloggers and authors and this is a great way to do it! I hope I don’t prattle on too long with my answers to your questions. Here goes!

Crystal: Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?

Julie: It took me multiple careers to figure out that I wanted to be a writer, though I have been writing stories in one form or another for as long as I can remember. Since I was a young child I’ve been making up stories in my head. As I grew from childhood into my teenage years, I often put my stories to pen and paper where they usually took the shape of short stories and poems. In college, I majored in communications, with a concentration in advertising, and my stories took on the form of ads. It didn’t occur to me until years later, when I was actually teaching kids how to write, that writing had always been a significant part of my life. Then one day, I decided to try and write a full-length story of my own and before I knew it, writing was my life. It’s kind of surprising to me that I sit in a chair and write for a living, because frankly, I hate to sit still! I’m one of those people who go on vacation and want an itinerary of all the activities I’m going to be doing. When I have a dinner party, I’m the host who never sits down! Yet, when I’m writing, I lose myself in the story and hours and hours can go by before I realize just how long I’ve been working. But I will say, I have to balance out those hours of sitting with gym time. I am a yoga fanatic and I love hard-core aerobics classes that really get the blood pumping. This is probably a really good thing, because I love chocolate and red wine as much as exercise! When I’m not writing, I have two young children I’m always toting to one activity or another and I have a husband who is very busy with his own law firm. I love to travel, as does my husband, and this year my goal is to get to London!

Crystal:  Do you have a favorite scene you would like to share with us?

Julie: Oh,gosh, I have a multitude of favorite scenes! But one of the ones that strikes a personal note is when Alyse sees Max playing on stage. So without further adieu…

Dutifully, I climbed on top of my stool just as three guys ambled onto the stage, each taking their respective places. Then―no, it couldn’t be! I squeezed my eyes shut, my blood rushing through my veins with the force of a locomotive train. Had I just seen Max on the stage? I prayed I was having a hallucination and slowly opened one eye and then the other. My gaze immediately found him. My breath caught, my pulse soared and my heart plummeted. Craaap. I wasn’t freaking out. He was here, in the flesh, and more beautiful than I’d remembered. Sweat dampened my forehead and my stomach clenched as he flicked his black hair out of his eyes and then looked into the crowd.
I couldn’t move, though all my instincts screamed at me to jump off my stool and run out of the bar as fast as my shaking legs would take me. My heart thundered so loudly I glanced around to see if anyone heard, belatedly realizing the utter stupidity of that. Humans had the worst hearing. I dragged my gaze back to the stage, too willing by half.
Max’s gaze searched the room and circled once, twice. As he passed over me, I sighed with relief, but then he glanced back and cocked his head slightly to the right. Even though a noisy crowd separated us, the intake of his startled breath brushed my inner eardrum as if I was hearing my own surprised inhalation. He smiled, and the women in the bar screamed, Chloe probably louder than anyone. My ears rang from her ear-piercing high note.
“I’m in love,” she declared.
I understood absolutely. He was so painfully exquisite, I doubted any woman here remained unaffected.
He reached toward the mic, those long slender fingers grazing the shiny metal as I had imagined only moments ago they might graze my skin. “This one is for a woman I met in an elevator.” His low, gravelly voice made me shiver.
When his words registered in my lust-crazed brain, I almost fell off my bar stool. Chloe grabbed my arm as I swayed. I couldn’t form words to thank her. I couldn’t do anything but stare at him. He swung his guitar up, the deep chords filling the room, the bass drum joining the rhythm in the background, and Max’s voice poured through the microphone.
His words jolted me, but his voice, deep and calling, made me want to jump off my stool, run through the crowd and throw myself at him. I had to get out of here and away from him. I craved him. I wanted to devour him.

Crystal: Where did you come up with the idea for Echoes in the Silence?

Julie: The idea for Echoes in the Silence came to me when I was listening to the song “Chloe Dancer/Crown on Thorns” by Mother Love Bone. My husband, who is brilliant, had just been telling me a story about Sirens and how in Greek mythology they called to sailors on ships and lured the sailors to them. I was fascinated by the story, and when I heard the Mother Love Bone song, the idea of a Siren, who didn’t want to be a Siren, popped into my head.

Crystal: What are you currently working on?

Julie: Currently, I’m working on edits for one of my Regency books, Dancing with a Devil, but I plan on starting the second book in the Siren Saga in the next week. The book is tentatively titled Whispered Lies.

Crystal: Do you have any special routine that you follow when you are writing? 

Julie: My routine when writing is basically to shut myself away from the world for a few hours every day and put my nose into the work! I try not to answer the phone, get on the internet, make plans or go anywhere for the set amount of hours I’m working that day. Usually, I try to squeeze in three hours a day. When I’m writing a book, the most important thing is that I work every day, no matter what, even if it’s just an hour.

Crystal: Did you have to do a lot of research for this book or any other? If so do you have a fascinating fact that you have learned you would like to share with us?

Julie: This book actually took me a little less research than my others. My historical books take an enormous amount of research. One of the things that was so great about this book was that many of the things I did need to know, my husband knew! He actually has a lot of sailing knowledge that I used for the scenes on the sailboat, and what he didn’t know, he helped me research. As for the Greek mythology, my husband helped me find all the research for that as well. This was the first time I’d ever had anyone helping me with research on a book, and it was really nice! One of the most interesting tidbits I uncovered in my research, I didn’t end up using in this book, but I may very well use in the next book, so I don’t want to say too much about it. But to give you a hint, it’s a rather unknown tale of a man and a woman having to visit the seven Realms of Sin to secure a prize that will allow them to end up together.

Crystal: Who are some of your favorite authors that you like to read?

Julie: This is another hard question for me, because I love so many authors! But to name a few off the top of my head I’d say, Diana Gabaldon, Jeaniene Frost, Phillipa Gregory, Susannah Sandlin, Irin Morgenstern and Delilah Marvelle.

Crystal: Is there a genre you haven't written that you would like to try?

Julie: I’d love to write a contemporary suspense story! I actually have an idea for one, based on a true story, but I think for now, I better stick to two genres!

This has been so much fun! I’d like to leave you guys with the chance to win an ecopy of my new book, Echoes in the Silence (The Siren Saga) Book One. One lucky commenter will win a copy! Simply leave your name and your email with your comment and Crystal can pick the winner, and I’ll get you the book!

Have a fabulous day, and I hope you enjoy my book! Please come visit me at http://juliejohnstoneauthor.com/!

Julie Johnstone


You may read my review of Echoes in the Silence HERE....

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