Monday 25 September 2017

Author Spotlight - Juliet Madison

She's prolific. She inspires. It's especially joyous to introduce you to author Juliet Madison.

Bio

Juliet Madison is a bestselling and award-nominated author of 17 books in fiction and self-help, an inspirational colouring book artist, and a self-empowerment and writing coach/tutor.
With her background as a naturopath and a dancer, Juliet is passionate about health, fitness, and living a positive life. She likes to combine her love of words, art, and inspiration to create books that entertain and empower readers to love, laugh and live.
Juliet lives on the picturesque south coast of NSW, Australia, where she spends as much time as possible writing and as little time as possible doing housework. She is a proud member of the Romance Writers of Australia and loves to interact online with readers and writers. You can contact her on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/juliet_madison, on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JulietMadisonAuthor, and through her website: http://www.julietmadison.com.



Latest Release/s:

The Secret Letters Project:
A journal of reflection, growth, and transformation through the art of letter writing: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Secret-Letters-Project-Juliet-Madison/9781492647836




Memories of May:
They say that truth is stranger than fiction, but for Olivia who runs the family bookstore and is writing her grandmother's memoir with the help of bestselling author Joel Foster, she is about to find out that love is stronger than time: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9781489241467



What is one 'must have' when you are writing?

My timer. Without this, my mind gets too distracted or thinks about other things I should be doing!

What are you reading at the moment?

My son's manuscript, Cecilia Ahearn's How to Fall in Love, and I have almost finished Doreen Virtue's book The Courage to be Creative.

Like to share something that recently made you happy?

I recently launched my non-fiction book The Secret Letters Project with a worldwide event encouraging people around the world to leave inspiring letters for strangers to find. What made me really happy was getting some amazing emails from 'strangers' who had found some of these letters, and how they had made a positive impact on their day, or their life overall.

What is the last photo you took with your phone?

My homemade healthy toasted granola that is gluten free, grain free, and paleo. Sadly, after I took this photo I accidentally dropped 1/4 of it on the floor!



If you were the main character in your favourite book, who would you be?

One of the characters from Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree so I could explore magical lands and slide down the slippery drip in the middle of the tree! Those stories made me love stories.

What is the premise of your latest book?

My latest fiction release is Memories of May, part of my Tarrin's Bay series but still a stand-alone story. It's about Olivia, a single mother who runs the family bookstore started by her grandmother. Her grandma is dying, and Olivia is writing her life story with the help of a course from author Joel Foster, who wrote a bestselling memoir after his wilderness survival experience. He encourages Olivia to create some memories and book-worthy moments of her own, and with his help, she starts to rewrite her own life story, as they discover that true love may not only be found between the pages of a book.

What unique challenges did the book pose?

As well as writing from the point of view of the two main characters, Olivia and Joel, I also wrote historical scenes from the POV of Olivia's grandma, May, when she was a young woman. I've never written anything historical before, so that was new to me, and it took a bit of mental effort to figure out how to intertwine those scenes with the present day story so that everything was revealed at the right time.

What are you working on at the moment?

I'm writing the 6th book in the Tarrin's Bay series, June Promises, and also working on a women's fiction novel yet to be contracted, fingers crossed!

What is your writing schedule? Morning, afternoon or night?

I hardly write anything in the morning, that is when I like to do other things like social media, household stuff, and planning new things in my schedule (or sleep in!). So it's usually afternoons and evenings, any days of the week that I can.

Are you a plotter, pantser or somewhere in between?

Plotter. Though I often 'pants' the first scene or chapter of a new book to see where it takes me. Then I plot!

What do you love to love?

I love to love the special people in my life. These connections are the most important thing in life.

What do you love to laugh at?

I'm a fan of those silly GIFs and stickers on Facebook comments and in messenger. I can amuse myself for quite a while searching for funny ones!

What do you love to learn about?

The universe, spirituality, and how we can be the best version of ourselves.

7 comments:

  1. I love the Magic Faraway Tree and so did my girls. We used to own a vhs copy of an animated series based on the books. I'm pretty sure they wore that tape out. Do you put a word count on your day or is it simply a matter of as many words as possible in a certain time frame?

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    1. I used to re-read the books as a child, loved them. As for word count, it depends on whether I have an upcoming deadline and then I tailor my word count to suit that. So some days the word count goal might need to be 7000 words, and others it might be 2500, or nothing for a while if I'm working on other things that I do such as creating courses. I don't write every day of the week, but at the moment I am aiming for four full days.

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  2. Hi Juliet. Your focus on your creative projects is amazing. And so many different projects! When I first heard about The Secret Letters Project I was instantly drawn to it and feel very blessed that you and your publisher liked my letter enough to include it in the book! And it's wonderful how its message has resonated around the world.

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    1. Thanks Enisa, and for inviting me to the blog! I don't feel like myself unless I am creating something! I'm glad your letter was included in the book too. x

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  3. Hi Juliet, I was also an Enid Blyton fan as a child. I particularly loved the Faraway tree books and the intriguing characters in them. Thanks for sharing so much about your writing.

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    1. Hi Sharon, thanks for reading. I think those books were probably responsible for a lot of people learning to love either reading and/or writing! :)

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  4. Hi Juliet! Your comment about intertwining the past and present day in your latest story really struck a chord with me as I'm attempting to do just that with my current wip. It's challenging, isn't it? Have to say that I'm really enjoying the challenge, though. Good luck with The Secret Letters Project (so excited to see Enisa's letter included 😃) and with Memories of May.

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