A Romance for each month of the year and a Giveaway - courtesy of Juliet Madison

Juliet Madison - author

First up is Juliet's January 2014 release from her Tarrin's Bay series, THE JANUARY WISH. What could possibly come next except FEBRUARY OR FOREVER? But what about March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December?

Juliet and I first met (electronically) when we were both shortlisted in the Choc Lit Publishing 'Search for an Australian Star' competition in 2012, and we both ended up being published by Harlequin (Australia) digital-first imprint:  Escape Publishing.

Now - we've got Christmas 2013 done and dusted. We've seen in the New Year - so let's find out what makes author Juliet Madison tick...and what to expect by Christmas 2014/15/16...

And more good news - there's a GIVEAWAY! Read on...

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Take it away, Juliet...

What are books for?

For the author: a way to express ourselves, summon authentic emotion and put it on the page, and make sense of the world.

For the reader: a way to escape, explore, be entertained and inspired, and most importantly - feel something.

Will you tell us about yourself and the genres you love writing?

I’m an author of humorous and heartwarming fiction who lives in a small seaside town on the south coast of NSW, Australia. I love writing contemporary romance, women’s fiction, romagic comedy, and I’ve recently ventured into writing supernatural YA.

Tell us about your new release The January Wish.

My new release, THE JANUARY WISH, which is the first in my small coastal town Tarrin’s Bay series from Escape Publishing. The second book, February or Forever will be releasing next month on 1st February.

Out now!

When Dr Sylvia Greene makes an impromptu wish at the Tarrin’s Bay Wishing Festival, it's the most out of character action she can think of. Hers is not a life of wishes. Hers is a controlled life of order, plans and preparation…of science and research and diagnosis and treatment. But her past has been weighing on her mind, and decisions made long ago have far-reaching consequences.

A week later, the daughter she secretly gave up for adoption at sixteen arrives in Sylvia's small coastal town with secrets that can't be shared. Between feelings of guilt, gossip, and a growing attraction to an emotionally unavailable colleague, Sylvia's well-ordered life is soon thrown into chaos. She is no longer alone, and for the first time she feels as if her world is open to possibilities.

They say be careful what you wish for, but, for Sylvia, the unexpected consequences may be just what the doctor ordered. 

February or Forever will be released on 1st February 2014 with Escape Publishing.

Will you share the first sentence or paragraph of THE JANUARY WISH or a favourite line or paragraph from somewhere in the book?

Dr Sylvia Greene had never done anything like this before in her life. She wasn’t one for succumbing to fanfare or superstitious traditions. She didn’t knock on wood or cross her fingers, and couldn’t care less if she happened to walk under a ladder. But somehow, she’d found herself lining up to take part in the annual Tarrin’s Bay Wishing Festival.

When starting a new story, what do you begin with?  Character? Scenario? Setting?

Title and/or premise! I have a thing for titles. They pop into my head at weird times and I keep a big fat file of ideas. A simple title can inspire a whole story for me, and such was the case with The January Wish! If I don’t have a title playing on my mind, the premise or overall plot will be where I’ll start. I try to think up tight, sharp concepts that can be expressed in a sentence or two, and from there the story grows.

How much of you goes into each story you write?

A lot. Although I create characters that are nothing like me and that go through things I’ve never been through, I also create characters that each have a part of me in them and that may have been through similar things. In The January Wish, the ‘hero’ of the story is a naturopath and I drew on my own experience as a naturopath for this. I decided to make the heroine a doctor who isn’t a fan of his system of medicine, so that there’d be plenty of conflict between them for sparks to fly. ☺

Other books by Juliet.

Who or what is your biggest champion and support?

Apart from my fabulous writer friends and critique partners who provide daily support, encouragement, advice, and fun, my mother is always a huge support. She reads everything I write, usually as soon as I’ve written it, and provides both constructive feedback and obligatory praise to help me keep going! ☺ She also hands out promotional cards for my books to just about everyone who crosses her path, as does my father.

What writing project did you put aside to answer these questions?

Interestingly, I’m between books at the moment! Well, I’ve always got something going on in writer-land, but right now I’m writing blog posts for my blog tour having recently finished up revisions and edits on three manuscripts in two months! *wipes brow*

Once I catch up with those I’m desperate to write a short Christmas novella that’s playing on my mind. I have the title and plot all worked out, I just need to write the thing now! I’m hoping to do it fairly quickly and then I’ll move onto the next book.

Getting back to The Tarrin’s Bay series – what is going to happen next?

The January Wish and February or Forever are the only Tarrin's Bay books I've written so far, but I'll be working on the next one very soon - Miracle in March. All going well the aim is to release 1 or 2 each year in the month that the title relates to. I have titles planned for all twelve months! Some have a few options though that I will choose from when the time comes, but here are some of the tentative titles I've come up with so far:

April's Glow,
Memories of May,
The June Promise,
September Sunrise,
December Dreams.

I have basic plots/premises jotted down for several of them, and all, of course, will be set in the Town of New Beginnings, Tarrin's Bay.

The first two books can definitely be read alone (lthough I do hope readers will want to read both!). Although each book is linked in subtle ways by the town and some reappearing characters, they are completely stand-alone stories. I plan to do this with most of the books, especially the first few, but further along in the series there may be more overlapping and linking of characters and stories. If I'm lucky enough to write and publish the whole series eventually, I plan to bring back the young characters from The January Wish and put them into the December book to tie things off nicely.

She's going to be busy! 

Juliet, for an encore - would you like to share a tip for running the country manor estate in a more efficient way – giving us time to read and write more? (This can be a recipe, a cleaning tip, 25 ways to fix the tractor, how to fold a napkin, useful uses for old tyres or anything that comes to mind.)

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I would recommend hiring some helpful (and attractive) man servants to take care of things and provide the odd bit of light entertainment so you can read and write more and generally enjoy the good life. Think Downton Abbey meets Magic Mike.

Okay, seriously, here’s a cleaning tip anyway: don’t do it too often. It takes up so much time and only has to be done over and over again. If anyone complains tell them that artists and writers with messy homes are more creative and successful, so you are only doing your bit for the future of the literary marketplace.

I'm with you on this, Juliet - don't clean too often (we need those germs to fight the germs within us - or so someone said, somewhere...)

Where to find Juliet Madison - and below that - the GIVEAWAY

Visit Juliet online at her website, blog, facebook, Goodreads, and twitter.


Where to Buy links: 

Amazon - Amazon UK - Amazon Aus - iTunes/iBookstore - Kobo - B&N/Nook - GooglePlay - BigW ebooks - Booktopia - JB HiFi - ebooks.com - All Romance ebooks

WIN! Juliet is running a giveaway throughout the month of January to win a $25 Amazon gift card and a beautiful coastal photographic print (see photo below). To enter, simply click on the Rafflecopter link. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for popping in!  Feel free to leave a comment or ask Juliet a question, and don't forget to pop back soon.

Jennie & Juliet