Interview with Julie Cross

 "Julie lives in central Illinois with her husband and three children. She never considered writing professionally until May of 2009. Since then, she hasn't gone a day without writing."

 Interview with Julie Cross:

 1)      What is your favorite holiday?

"Thanksgiving because I love carbs and because it feels kinda like Christmas without the hassle of gifts (buying or giving)."

2)      Who do you go to when your just having writers block, or just a bad day?

"Usually, I don’t write if I’m not in the mood. Or I work on something I am in the mood for."

3)      What is your favorite family activity?

"For my family we love going to the pool in the summer. "

4)      Name one book that had a huge impact on your life and what was the impact?

"Reading Jane Eyre my sophomore year of high school changed how I viewed books. I always LOVED reading but anything that sounded too academic scared me a little. I was in bad need of extra credit for a Western Civ class and my teacher said he’d give it to me if I read this book. I ended up finishing it in a couple days and loved it so much. When Junior year came around and we were given tons of “academic” fiction to read, I dove it to all those books and always finished early."

5)      What drove you to become a writer?

"Mostly the fact that I read so much and then I really wanted to be able to steer the story myself, to choose my own characters and situations. "

            6)      What is the best advice you have ever received?

"Wow…that’s a really hard question. Probably something practical like don’t get or use credits in college because they give them out like candy and you just end up in debt forever with 19% interest rates. I did not take that advice, however, I give it all the time."

7)      In 1-2 sentences please explain why we should read Tempest?

"People should read Tempest because I think it might surprise you as it has many people. It’s different and the audience is much broader than your typical YA novel."

8)      What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

"Lucky Charms and toast with butter and strawberry jam."

9)      Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? 

"Right now I’m focusing on book 2 edits and book 3 drafting. I have a lot of ideas, but I have to store them away for later on."

10)  Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published. 

"Probably fan emails and having teens and young people come up to me during signings and say that they’ve read and loved the book. That’s when it starts to feel real."

11)  What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?

"My favorite book since at least fourth grade has been Little Women. "

12)  What TV show/movie/book do you watch/read that you'd be embarrassed to 
admit? 

"Dance Moms!"

13)  Do you read when you are working on a book.

"Yes, I read all the time."

14)  How did you choose the names for characters in Tempest?

"I don’t put too much thought into character names. I wish I could be better at this. It’s usually whatever comes to me first."