This Get Lost in a Storyteller is ...Icebound

Author Julie Rowe is one of the nicest, most prolific authors I know.  She writes out of the box and readers have long anticipated Julie’s stories.  Today she’s here with the Get Lost crew to talk about one of those stories.  Please welcome, Julie Rowe.

In Antarctica the land and ocean aren’t the only things bound in ice. For Dr. Emilie Saunderson, it’s her past. She fears she won’t ever let go of the pain and grief caused by the death of her husband and child. For South Pole station manager Tom Wolinski it’s his future. He fears it’s his destiny to inflict pain and suffering on those he loves the most. Neither is prepared for the tragedy, or the miracle, with the power to free them both from being…Icebound.

DONNELL:  Big city or small town girl?

JULIE:   Small town to live in, big city close by for shopping! The small city where I live is a 4 ½ hour drive from the nearest big city. Needless to say, I don’t get to go marathon shopping very often.

DONNELL:  Let’s make this difficult… Warm or Cold Weather?

JULIE:  Cold, you can always put on more clothes or snuggle with a friend (I prefer the second option myself).

DONNELL:  Favorite room in your house and why?

JULIE:  Office/library – that’s where all the books are!

DONNELL:  Character driven or plot driven author?

JULIE:  Character driven. Darn characters nag and nag to have their story told. They’re worse than my kids.

DONNELL:  Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

 JULIE:  Sure I read reviews. It’s interesting to discover what readers take away from a story as it’s often surprising and usually something I never even thought of. That’s what’s so cool about books. The reader brings as much to the story as the author does.

DONNELL:  You’re in Antarctica in white out conditions.  Who do you want with you?

JULIE:  A cute Canadian Fish & Wildlife Officer, they know how to build an igloo in a hurry (see answer to Q. 2).

DONNELL:  What’s in your refrigerator right now?

JULIE:  A whole lot of leftovers, oh and cake. Gotta have cake in your fridge.

DONNELL:  What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?

JULIE:  I can’t drink alcohol, it gives me a horrible headache, so I’m like the cheapest date ever.

DONNELL:  Dog or cat person?

JULIE:  Both!

DONNELL:  What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

JULIE:  Wow, this is a difficult question to answer. There have been so many little dreams or goals realized, like validation. It’s incredibly uplifting and encouraging to discover you’re not the only person who thinks your writing is good. Seeing someone else enjoy your story is another. I want to entertain people, give them a reading experience that leaves them feeling hope and happiness. I met my book’s second reader at a conference. She told me she loved my book and thought my hero was so tortured, yet she loved him and was happy when he earned his happily-ever-after. I was overwhelmed to hear this and nearly burst into tears.

DONNELL:  What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing/researching a book?

JULIE:  The incidence of appendicitis is much higher in Antarctica than elsewhere. No one knows why.

DONNELL:  What turns you off;  what turns you on?

JULIE:  Arrogance turns me off, intelligence turns me on (I married a computer geek = sexy!)

DONNELL:  If you could meet anyone in the world, past and present, who would it be and why?

JULIE:  Brigadier General Chuck Yeager, test pilot and the first man to break the sound barrier.  I’d like to ask him why, in 1944 after being shot down by a German fighter and escaping capture on the ground, did he appeal to General Eisenhower to be allowed to fly combat missions again. Why did Eisenhower let him fly more missions? What did Yeager say?

JULIE’S Question for Readers (Fans).  Icebound is set in Antarctica, arguably one of the last frontiers on earth. What’s the most unusual place you’ve traveled to? What drew you to this destination?

A double Golden Heart finalist in 2006, Julie Rowe has been writing medically inclined romances for over ten years. She's also a published freelancer with articles appearing in The Romance Writer's Report, Canadian Living, Today's Parent, Reader's Digest (Canada) and other magazines.

Julie is an active member of RWA and its subchapters, Heartbeat RWA, Calgary RWA, The Golden Network, Hearts Through History and RWA Online. She coordinates Book In A Week, and online workshops for Heartbeat and Calgary RWA.

And this just in… Carina Press has just bought a second medical romance, set in the Arctic. NORTH OF HEARTBREAK will release on April 16, 2012.  To learn more about Julie, visit her web site at http://www.julieroweauthor.com/

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