Interview Julianne Elliot

by

Sharleen Johnson Rhinock

1) I loved the cover blurb on your new novel, Hearts Kept Waiting. Is there a man in your life who mimics your hero?

Thanks and yes, sort of. While researching my novel, I developed a crush on the farmer who taught me about life on a walnut ranch. I merged his mind with John Kennedy Jr.’s looks in my head and in my heart; but since both of those guys were married, I had to worship them from afar and drown my unrequited love with lots of caffeine-free, diet Dr. Pepper.

2) In my experience, one of the most asked questions is: “Where do you get your ideas?”

I’ve always loved stories about women who fall in love with men who aren’t available - because of vows to wives or to the Church. The Thornbirds is one of my favorites because true love overcame those vows, although Ralph and Meggie’s passion ended in tragedy. I wanted Justin and Melissa to struggle valiantly with their honor but get a “happily ever after” at the end.

3) What is an average day like for you? Hectic? Laid back?

Hectic. Crazy. Breathlessly full with corresponding, fantasizing, teaching, cleaning (endlessly cleaning up after somebody or something), mothering, dog management, and paying my dues to the god of fitness. I write in the summer when most of those non-romance distractions are on hold.

4) Other than writing and possibly a “significant other,” what are your passions?

Raising my children. Fighting the aging process with clean living. Reading. Thinking up plots. My friends. Baking bread. Keeping my dogs off the furniture.

5) What is your favorite movie of all times?

The Graduate. No contest.

6) What is your favorite book written within the last ten years?

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon which a friend gave me about 5 years ago. My tattered copy shows 1991 as the date of first publication, but I don’t care--it remains my all-time favorite. I’d read some so-so romances, some dreadful ones, and then... Jamie and Claire lit up my brain like an atomic bomb blast. I reasoned that if I were to write my own, it couldn’t be any worse than the most horrible ones I’d found at used book stores--so I gave it my best shot.

7) What is your method of writing? i.e. do you go from beginning to end, then edit; or do you write from an outline or synopsis?

I have a white board that’s about 5 feet by 8 feet. I get a basic idea and jot down fragmented character sketches and situations and dialog, then I start writing on a few hundred Post-It notes (thank you 3M Company) and arrange them in columns which will become chapters. I keep tweaking the Post-It collection until I’m satisfied that I have enough to start really writing and that I know how the story will end, then I plunge in. Along the way, I add or reposition Post-Its wherever I need them to provide continuity, details, minor characters, clues, etc. Then I write like mad--for 14 hours a day sometimes, long past the point where my butt has fallen asleep and my shoulders are burning with pain--until I’ve finished a draft. After that, based on advice I gleaned from Stephen King’s memoir On Writing, I put my first draft in a drawer and don’t look at it again for months. My brain is much happier thinking up a new story than going back to fix an existing one--once my head decides that it is through with a given plot, I have a difficult time psyching up to do revisions. Which is why I have four first-draft novels twiddling their thumbs in my desk drawer

8) Do you get emotional support from your family and/or friends? Or, are you the proverbial “Candle in the Wind,” struggling to keep the flame lit?

My ex husband gave me all sorts of support when he thought I might make some money with my little laptop and my wall of fluttering Post-Its. When he realized that wasn’t in the cards--at least not yet--the support dwindled. We’re divorced now, and I do my writing in the summer when my children are with him. They would like to be supportive, but I can’t ask them to do so except in small spurts. They need me too much, and I need them too much.

9) If you were locked in a small room with a television set on only one channel, which would it be?

Turner Classic Movies.

10) How many new stories are in your “pipeline?”

One, which hasn’t yet gelled on the white board. And four in the drawer that I will tackle this summer.