Dating, Marriage & Electricity - Meet Author Julie Christensen!

I’ve been slacking (okay, editing – tomato, tomahto) and skipped a few days on my Romance/Chick-Lit Author Interviews series. (Never fear, I’m not skipping any of the interviews I have planned, just prolonging the enjoyment… we’ll dub it tantric interviewingJ)  But today I’m super excited to have Julie Christensen in the house! Woohoo! If you haven’t read The Trust About Dating, what are you waiting for?

Welcome, Julie!!!

ME: Let's start with an easy question: What are you working on now?

JULIE: I just finished the second book in my mystery series. But this is all about chick lit, right? So I’ll skip by that book (which is in editing now), and talk about my other book in progress, The Truth About Happily Ever After. It’s the sequel to The Truth About Dating. My longtime single heroine, Quinn Malone, who in the last book suffered indignities and disappointments in her attempt to escape spinsterhood, is now married. In The Truth About Happily Ever After, Quinn gets the life of bliss she’s been missing, and guess what? It turns out that even bliss has husbands who fill the backyard with broken lawnmowers, post-pregnancy weight gain, and picky children who won’t eat anything green.

ME: Men – hmpf! Just kidding. How closely do your characters resemble you? (Any particular quirk?)

JULIE: Except for the facial tics, no, my characters’ quirks aren’t mine (joking). There is more of my personality in some characters than others. Searching For Meredith Love’s namesake and I both let our timidity restrain us from showing others what we’re really like, but that’s where the similarities end. I’m sorry to say that I have almost nothing in common with the heroine in my mystery series, Ruby Neptune. She’s a regular person with superhero tendencies. She takes action and I just fantasize. Quinn Malone is the exception to all this. The Truth About Dating began as a memoir when I was having trouble meeting men in my late 30s. I had to change it to fiction because, let’s face it, dismal speed date after dreary internet date is tedious enough to live through, much less read. Quinn’s life is a lot like mine but I added some fictional ex-boyfriends and a few other twists to add some highs and lows to the plot.

ME: The Truth About Dating started as a memoir? That’s incredible – and I love how you turned it into the epitome of Chick-Lit! I hope you’ve found love as well! Do you ever wish you lived a character’s life (not just in your imagination)?

JULIE: Pieces of them, yes. On second thought, no. Just the locations. I’d love to live in Albuquerque or Brooklyn again. I miss them both terribly. But the events in the books are so traumatic (in a funny but heartbreakingly sad way) that I can’t say I’d want to experience them. Even when something good happens, it seems like bad is right around the corner. Happiness is hard won in my books.

ME: I know what you mean, some of the crap I put my poor characters through! Well, at least it’s entertaining and keeps readers turning the pages – we hopeJ. Okay, we have important issues to discuss... sunglasses: designer or drugstore cheapies? How many pairs are enough?

JULIE: Drugstore cheapies, without question! One is all I usually have. My husband can do me one better. He buys his sunglasses at thrift stores! But maybe since he has at least five pairs, we’ve evened ourselves out.

ME: I have to admit I’m sorely disappointed – although there can be some cute shades even in the dollar binsJ.  Now, back to writing - Would you ever want to work on a combined project with your favorite author? If so, who?

JULIE: You mean people like Maxine Hong Kingston, Isabel Allende, Anne Tyler, or Anna Quindlen? I adore their writing. But no, I’d never want to work with them. First, because they would all utterly intimate me. I wouldn’t be able to speak. And second, because I believe that working together dilutes the individual vision and makes for a bad product. (Or maybe I’m just not a good team player!)

ME: I KNOW I’m not a good team player… Who wants to be part of a team? I want to ride in the wagon! Ha!!! Thank you so much for sharing a bit about you and your writing with us today! One final question... I’ve found that readers really enjoy connecting with authors… what is one thing you want your fans to know about you that they may not already be aware of?

JULIE: I can rewire a ceiling lamp in less than twenty minutes.

ME: Now that is a skill I can appreciate! I’m a DIYer all the way (thank goodness, since my husband is hopeless).

Need to more about Julie Christensen? Make sure to check out The Truth About Dating, available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many other online booksellers. And, don’t forget to check out her Amazon’s Author page for her complete lineup of stories and the latest news in her writing journey.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Heidi