Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back, Julie Arduini!
Linda: Thanks for stopping by. Congratulations on
your newest release, Match Made in
Heaven. I love the premise for the story. Where did you get your idea?
Julie: Thanks for having me! Match Made in Heaven
started as my desire as a new Christian to write something I could share with
friends that would be quality content to pass on. I’d written lots of little
stories over the years that weren’t Christian that my friends loved. I wanted
to write for God. The matchmaking element was based on my job at the time that
I thought would be a fun premise.
LM: Did you
always want to be a writer or did that desire come later, and if so, how?
Julie: I think that desire was always there, but I
struggled with confidence. I didn’t have the best teachers, and grammar remains
a weakness for me. I feared rejection. It took until my mid-thirties before I
finally surrendered the fears and promised God I would write what He wanted,
when He wanted.
LM: You are one
busy lady. What does a “normal” week look like for you?
Julie: It truly depends on the week. This time of
year is extra busy with school wrapping up and my husband is traveling quite a
bit for work. When that happens, I tend to be busier with household and school
activities. I make a point to read devotionals and spend time in my prayer journal.
I try to get some bike riding and yoga in a few days a week. I help out with
our youth group. Every morning I spend time on the laptop marketing my books
and answering emails. Writing sadly doesn’t happen as often as I want with a season
like this. Either late at night or when our daughter is home from school and
watching her shows, I’ll sit in the same room and work, while interacting with
her.
LM: If your story
was going to be made into a movie, who would you like to see play the main
characters?
Julie: I think Sandra Bullock could pull off the
comedy that often is my life. A lot of people think my husband looks like
Richard Dreyfuss, so that’s a possibility.
LM: How have you dealt with writer’s block or is that something you
haven’t suffered?
Julie: I don’t know if it was writer’s block or if
I worked myself into worry with the second book syndrome. Entrusted was my
first book and was so easy to write. Readers loved it and were clamoring for
the next, Entangled. I struggled hard writing that second book. I had to put
the fears down and give them to God once and for all. I have a prayer team that
prays for me, and I asked them to be intentional in helping me finish the book.
It was all God in how Entangled came to be, and how readers still say it was
their favorite in the series.
LM: Here are some quickies:
Julie:
Mountains or ocean? Mountains
Sweet or salty treats? Sweet
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
LM: Can you tell
us what writing projects are on your plate right now?
Julie: I’m still working on my new contemporary
romance series, Surrendering Opinions. The first book, Anchored, I’ve started
three times now. It’s a six book series about sextuplets who stay in the
national spotlight after tragedy, and now that they are grown, each sibling is
trying to find their identity and love like their parents had. In a couple
weeks, our daughter is out of school and she will help me write the final book
in the Surrendering Stinkin’ Thinkin’ series, You’re Brilliant.
Linda: Where can
folks connect with you?
Match Made in Heaven:
Beth Prescott wants to make a difference with the senior citizens she serves as a volunteer coordinator but their matchmaking efforts leave her guarded. She's experienced too much pain to make that leap again. Dean Kellerman returns to the Finger Lakes area to help his grandfather and heal his own broken heart. He's recommitted his life to Christ, and doesn't want any distractions. When his grandfather needs assistance with a senior program, it places Dean right in Beth's path. Can these two surrender their pasts to Christ and have faith in each other and their future?
Purchase Link: http://amazon.com/dp/B07QR29X51
