Julia's Blog

Read about Hanna’s survival, her journey of strength, compassion, and love. Never underestimate a woman who may be down. Those who read Hanna as being weak and helpless are missing the strength that she attracts. Yes, she has been abandoned by everyone, left alone in the wilderness to die. Yet somehow she makes friends. She…

The dragons of NewEarth are not clever beasts, they are intelligent beings. They are very similar to us, with a wide range of intelligences within their species, but all capable of some deep thinking and analyzing. One of the valued skills among dragons is deception. While humans value truth, or the facsimile of truth, depending…

What makes a great Fairytale? Is it the layers of lessons and wisdom? Is it the stick in your mind stories and themes? Is it the simplicity, characters, or symbolism? Is it the handling of delicate topics in ways that speak gently about the horrific, and horribly about the mundane? So are my stories fairytales?…

Many people focus on what a person cannot do, learn, move, or see. They consider how someone is limited. In my writing, in my life, I do my best to focus on what people can do, what they can do well, and areas they can excel. That may be what makes me suited to writing…

Coexistence is a reoccurring theme in all my stories, because it is such a struggle for humans. To be clear, this is not an American problem, or a Russian problem; it is a Human issue. We focus on differences instead of our commonalities. Attributing that same trait to dragons allows us to see it more…

As a writer, just because I lack time or energy to drag my characters out and write down their dialog does not mean they are sitting patiently with their hands folded. In fact they age, get smarter, find new places to live, get into trouble and generally carry on with their own concerns. When I…

I know some people who only read worthy books, or self improvement types of things. A few memorable people told me the only book they have ever read is the Bible. That idea gave me nightmares. What a twisted sense of place and value those people must have had. Ancient text is not the same…

The idea of being equal yet different is a huge part of the NewEarth world. Hanna may have been traumatized, but she is equally important, and equally valued to everyone else. Gordon may have the most visible, vibrating power, but he is equally valued as anyone else. Not more, not less. The same is true…

How many of you have used guilt as a weapon? It’s not one of my favorites when dealing with most people, but it has been known to come in handy from time to time. I’ve been editing The Hunter, getting it ready, and there is a big guilt scene in one part. The reader gets…

After many false starts and lots of rattled nerves, Jo, my first and favorite editor is back to work on book 7. It has been so long and I felt that the story might have gotten scattered and disjointed, I have been taking some time to go through it. Under the circumstances, with our pandemic…