Author Julie Lessman, a writer from Missouri

Today's interview is with Missouri writer Julie Lessman.

Juanita: Hello, Julie, it’s so nice to be able to talk with you today about your books, writing, and publishing. I'm excited to be able to talk with you, since you live about 20 miles from me in Jefferson County!

First, please tell us about your salvation experience and why you write Christian books.

Julie: Mmm … my salvation story was pretty rough, I’m afraid. I was a 23-year-old hardnosed agnostic from a devout but dysfunctional family of 13 kids. I was so angry at God I actually wanted to burn Gideon Bibles in hotel rooms. As a wild child of the 60s and 70s, I tried everything to be happy—from astrology and tarot cards, to transcendental meditation and witchcraft—you name it. My vocabulary would have made a sailor blush. Suffice it to say I was pretty angry at God. According to the world’s standards, I had everything going for me—a hunky boyfriend with a Corvette and a boat, a great job, my own apartment (at a time when other friends still lived at home), and I was acing an advanced writing course at Washington U., a prestigious college in St. Louis. But I wasn’t happy. I felt a lot like Peggy Lee singing, “Is that all there is?”

Then one day, this annoying gal at work approached me. She had a lesser job than me, was divorced with a kid and no boyfriend in sight. I hated her because she came in humming every day while I was utterly miserable. And then it happened—one life-altering moment when she and I were alone—I looked up from my typewriter and said, “Just what in the heck (except my language was a bit saltier back then) makes you so happy all the time?” She said, “I’ve been praying you would ask.”

Oh, no, a Jesus freak, I thought to myself, but I found myself going to lunch with her, badgering her with questions and accusations. I don’t remember now if it was weeks or months, but either way, I met Jesus Christ through the remarkable patience of a God-sent angel by the name of Joy—pretty appropriate name, eh?

why Christian romance? Well, because I’ve been enamored with romance since I read Gone With the Wind at the age of twelve, and I’m sorry, but for me romance is just not romantic unless God is in the middle. To me, there’s nothing “sexy” about sin in a romance novel or movie. I’ve had people tell me The Bridges of Madison County was one of the most romantic films they have ever seen. Are you kidding? Since when is adultery romantic, no matter the situation! Maybe that’s just me, but I personally can’t enjoy romance (in a movie or book) unless it is according to God’s precepts OR unless it uses sin to point the reader TO His precepts.

But over and above the romance between a man and a woman, the MOST important thing I hope to convey in my books is the “romance” God craves with each of us. I long to show how natural and fulfilling an intimate relationship with God can and SHOULD be. Like breathing. My books may be fiction, but this is NOT a fairy tale here. It is possible to have a living, breathing relationship with the God of the Universe. He’s crazy about us, and if most people really understood that, their lives would turn on a dime and blessings would overtake them.

Juanita: WOW! Thanks so much for that beautiful testimony to God's grace. I know you write wonderful novels, but how did you get your start in writing? How did you begin your career?

Julie: Four life-altering words: Gone With the Wind. When I read that novel at the age of 12, I was swept away into the world of romance for the very first time. It captured me like no other book had done, and I immediately set out to write (along with thousands of other love-struck young girls, I’m sure), what I hoped would be “the great American novel.” Obviously my dreams of grandeur didn’t go anywhere (grin), but I did write 150 pages of a story that became the basis (some forty years later) for my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure.

Although I started writing at the age of twelve, I never really got serious about writing until I was in my 50s. I was sitting in a beauty shop reading a July 2001 Newsweek magazine cover article about Christian entertainment that said Christian books, movies and music were on the threshold of exploding. My heart jumped, and something in my spirit said, “Now is the time to finish your book.” I started A Passion Most Pure the next month, finally selling it to Revell 4-1/2 years and 45 rejections later.

Juanita: I have read the Daughters of Boston Series and did not want them to end. Then you continued the saga of the O’Connor family in the Winds of Change Series. It is hard for me to imagine a person with so many characters in her head—characters that come alive for the reader. How do you define your characters and how do you keep on writing such wonderful books?

Julie: Thank you, Juanita, for your kind words, and other than the grace of God, I honestly don’t know how these complicated and crazy stories keep rolling out of me! :) With the O’Connor saga, it all just started with me writing one, solitary book—A Passion Most Pure—and throughout the course of creating this passionate Irish family, I grew to love and know them like my own. I’ll be honest—I never intended to write a series, but these characters became so real to me, it was just a natural progression to continue on with a love story for each of the siblings.

As far as defining my characters, I basically modeled the first three sisters after aspects of my own personality. For instance, Faith, the sister heroine of A Passion Most Pure is my spiritual self. Both of us have an intimate relationship with God where we talk and pray with Him as naturally as if He were physically in the room. He’s our best friend as well as our Savior and the true love of our lives. In fact, Faith and I are so much alike in the spiritual aspect, that a good friend of mine told me that reading A Passion Most Pure was “like going to lunch with me.”

Charity, the sister heroine of Book 2, A Passion Redeemed, is my rebellious and “passionate” self, before I came to the Lord. As mentioned in my testimony above, I was a wild child of the seventies before Jesus got a hold of me (as he does Charity in Book 2).

Lizzie (or Beth), the sister heroine of Book 3 A Passion Denied is my dreamer self. Lizzie is a bookworm bent on fairytale romance, just like I used to be as a little girl, sneaking downstairs to watch romantic movies after my parents went to bed. In her story, Lizzie has to learn (just like I did) that true romance—the kind that really satisfies—comes from following God’s precepts, not the world’s.

Juanita: Tell us about your new book Love at Any Cost that just released in April 2013. How can readers find this book to order it? Will this also be a series? Tell us a little about the title character and how she happens to end up in California.

Julie: Yes, Love at Any Cost is book 1 in my brand-new “Heart of San Francisco” series, which launched April 15, 2013 and is available everywhere, from actual bookstores to most online bookseller like Amazon, CBD and Barnes & Noble. It’s kind of a poor-man, rich-man scenario among three cousins during the Irish-political landscape of 1902 San Francisco. Think Little Women meets Dynasty. :) And for those too young to remember the TV show Dynasty, think family wealth and poverty in a political setting.

This series is a bit of a departure for me because it’s a lot lighter and I hope a lot more fun than the angst and high drama of my two prior series.  It will be shorter and less complicated than the O’Connor saga, which means the books will be about 400 pages rather than my usual 500+, and the plots will be two-tier instead of three- and four-tier.

The romance between the hero and heroine is front and center, of course, but there’s also a second-tier love story between the older couple in the series, just like there was with Patrick and Marcy O’Connor. Only instead of a happily married mother and father such as we had in the O’Connor saga, Caitlyn McClare is a godly widowed matriarch who butts heads (and hearts) with her rogue brother-in-law Logan McClare, with whom she was once in love. Engaged to Logan at a very young age, Cait broke the engagement when she discovered Logan’s infidelity, resulting in her marrying Logan’s older brother instead. Now, twenty-seven years down the road, Cait is a widow and Logan is determined to win her back, so the romantic tension between these two undergirds the romantic tension between our heroine, Cait’s niece Cassie McClare, and the hero, Jamie MacKenna.

The one-line premise for Book 1, Love at Any Cost is: “A spunky Texas heiress without a fortune falls in love with a handsome pauper looking to marry well.” Cassidy McClare is a sassy Texas spitfire who travels to San Francisco to spend the summer with her cousins after being left at the altar by her pretty-boy fiancé. Here’s the jacket blurb:

Fooled by a pretty boy once, shame on him.

Fooled by a pretty boy twice, shame on me.

Jilted by a fortune hunter, cowgirl Cassidy McClare is a spunky Texas oil heiress without a fortune who just as soon hogtie a man as look at him … until Jamie MacKenna, a handsome pauper looking to marry well, lassoes her heart. But when Jamie discovers the woman he loves is poorer than him, Cassie finds herself bucked by love a second time, sending her back to Texas to lick her wounds and heal her heart. In her absence, Jamie discovers money can’t buy love, but love built on faith can set a heart free, a truth he discovers a little too late … or is it?

Juanita: What is next for you, Julie? Will you finish this series and go on to another exciting family to write about? Or will you take a cruise and rest awhile? If I know persons like you, they keep on going—anxious to start another exciting venture.

Julie: LOL … a cruise sounds pretty good right about now! My plans are to e-publish a short book on writing romantic tension soon and then finish writing book 3 in the Heart of San Francisco series, Dare to Hope (working title), which releases October 2014. But then I’m ready to slow down and enjoy my hubby a little more, so I’m taking some time off to relax and pray about where God wants my career to go.

As far as other projects, current and otherwise, I just released my own e-book last November called A Light in the Window, which is the prequel love story of Marcy and Patrick O’Connor, the parents in my Daughters of Boston and Winds of Change series. I am thrilled to say that A Light in the Window has a full-fledged five-star rating on Amazon with 71 five-star ratings and 8 four-star. And the good news it is on sale for half price ($3.99) right now, so I hope your readers will check it out on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Regarding future projects, since I’ve fallen in love with Jamie’s sister Jess in Love at Any Cost, I am toying with the idea of writing a stand-alone book for her since she is a brilliant young woman who aspires to be a doctor following a surgery in Love at Any Cost where she was surgically healed of crippleness. I’ve also given some thought to a possible trilogy set in Charleston, South Carolina involving a plantation widow and her daughters, but nothing is set in stone yet.

And without question, I fully intend to continue the O’Connor saga with those precocious cousins and, of course, Gabe, the O’Connor’s tomboy foster child. I hope to begin with a trilogy for Faith’s girls, then a trilogy for Charity’s twins Henry and Hope AND Gabe and on down the line, each series taking place during the WWII period. Of course, each trilogy will include a 2nd-tier love story for the parents because I simply cannot let Faith and Collin, Charity and Mitch and the rest of the former hero/heroine couples go!

Juanita: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Julie. I can identify with your busyness. Even though I’m retired now, I remember those busy days with children at home. Where can my readers contact you?

Julie: Thank you SO much, Juanita, for this wonderful opportunity! I LOVE to hear from reader friends, so if they like, they can contact me through my website at http://www.julielessman.com, either by sending an e-mail via my site or by signing up for my newsletter at http://www.julielessman.com/sign-up-for-newsletter/.

Also, I have a cool blog feature on my website called “Journal Jots” at http://www.julielessman.com/journal-jots1/, which is a very laid-back Friday journal to my reader friends that will give your readers an idea as to my relaxed style of writing. Or readers can check out my favorite romantic and spiritual scenes from each of my books on the “Excerpts” tab of my website at http://www.julielessman.com/excerpts/. Finally, I can be found daily at The Seekers blog at http://seekerville.blogspot.com/, a group blog devoted to encouraging and helping aspiring writers on the road to publication.

And just as an FYI for your readers:

CURRENT GIVEAWAYS/SALES/CONTESTS GOING ON RIGHT NOW: For those interested in reading my books, I have a number of fun things going on, so I hope you’ll take advantage of these opportunities:

·     SALE!! As mentioned above, my Irish love story, A Light in the Window is almost half price at $3.99 at Amazon and B&N. (from Juanita--I just downloaded this on my Kindle and read it in two days! It's wonderful.)

·     FREE DOWNLOAD!! A Hope Undaunted, book 1 in my "Winds of Change" series is currently available for FREE DOWNLOAD on Amazon, B&N or CBD. (from Juanita again-- I also downloaded and read this one. It's reviewed on my blog on May 1-- If you want to read the review, go to the sidebar and click on the name of the book.)

·     WIN A KINDLE OR HAVE A CHARACTER NAMED AFTER YOU IN MY NEXT BOOK PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAYS!! Check out my CONTEST tab on my website for more details.

Hugs,

Julie

VIDEO LINK:

http://youtu.be/EVn_wS02cdM (be sure to check this out.)

(Click on this link for a trailer about Julie's newest book: Love at Any Cost)

 Now, Readers, it's your turn again! Leave a comment or just say, "I want a book!" and you will be entered in this week's give-away. Julie has offered "winner's choice" of any of her books to the one whose name is drawn. Contest goes for two weeks this time and winner will be notified by email and will be announced on next Monday, May 20, 2013 (so be sure to leave your email address). Names without email addresses will not be entered in the drawing.  Only US addresses, please. You can enter by commenting directly on the blog, by facebook, or by sending me an email. mjnobles at charter dot net.

If you have not yet read one of Julie's books, I hope you will. I read the first of Daughters of Boston and had to read all three of them-- now I'm working on the Winds of Change Series, and have ordered Love At Any Cost. You'll discover a new Favorite Author.
You can still go to the sidebar and click on Meet Author Bette Lee Crosby) to enter the contest to win her book What Matters Most. Winner for that contest will be announced May 13.