WELCOME BACK JULI PAGE MORGAN

Hello everyone,

I’m so thrilled to have my friend and award winning author, Juli Page Morgan back for a visit. Juli is here to talk about her new release, Sister Golden Hair. Isn't that a fantastic title? That is one of my all time favorite songs and you can bet it's playing away in my head as I hold this interview. Juli, welcome back. It's been way to long since your last visit. 

And I'm thrilled to be here, too! Thanks so much for having me!

To start off this interview, tell us three things about yourself that readers may not know about you.

Well, let's see ...

1.         I'm deathly terrified of bugs. Any kind of bug will send me into a screaming frenzy, and I think they know that, too. That has to be the reason they target me and get themselves tangled up in my hair. I can just see all their bug friends perched on a tree branch or something, laughing themselves sick while they watch me lose my mind. We won't even discuss the wild, uncoordinated "dance moves" I do until I can get the little critter out of my hair.

 2.         Even though I no longer work in broadcasting, I'm still "on call" and record voiceovers for television and radio commercials.

 3.         I love thunderstorms! I love sitting in the house while Mother Nature serves up some rip-roaring lightning, thunder, wind and rain.

  How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for a writing career?

My experiences as a Rock radio deejay definitely influenced the books I write now. Through my work in radio I was able to meet a lot of bands. I was backstage with them, on their tour buses, and in their hotel rooms. I got to stand on the side of the stage as they played, and there were even a few times when I was on the stage announcing them. Since I got to hang out with them, I got to know who they really are, not just the public persona they put out there. Yes, they are larger than life - if they weren't then they wouldn't be Rock stars - but they're also people, not the caricatures you sometimes see portrayed. They're husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, someone's best friend. And I think that reality is so much hotter than the fantasy! I love that I'm able to show that in my books.If you had one take away piece of advice for authors, what would it be?Just write the book. You'll go back and clean it up later, but you have to write it first. So just do it. (Now I sound like a Nike ad! LOL!)Tell us about your newest book release, Sister Golden Hair. The heroine in Sister Golden Hair is in her forties. It's the first time I haven't written a twenty-something as the main character, and I really enjoyed showing that a woman in her forties is just as vibrant and exciting and fun and sexy! I'll let the book's blurb tell you more:

Recently widowed and newly jobless, 42-year-old Rhett (yeah, she knows that’s a man’s name) Davis has a major life decision to make. She can either stay in the little Texas town where she was never really accepted, driving the same old beat-up Dodge and sliding toward genteel decrepitude, or she can buy a Jag, get some highlights, ditch the frumpy clothes, and strike out for the big smoke of Dallas. Hey, she never liked that Dodge, anyway.

The one thing she’s not looking for in the Big D is romance, but when her upstairs neighbor turns out to be the delectable and very single Rhys James, frontman for the band Illicit, Rhett decides that she just might give this love thing a shot…assuming she remembers how to go about it, that is. It doesn’t take her long to figure out that Rhys is anything but a predictable, paint-by-numbers sorta guy. Music is his mistress, and she’s not good at sharing. Throw in a scheming ex-wife and a demanding daughter, and Rhett’s quest for her old crush’s heart just got a hell of a lot harder.

But Texas women don’t scare easy. And Rhett will be damned if she lets this English Rock star go without a fight.

As a misplaced Texan girl myself, Rhys doesn't have a clue what he's up against. I can't wait to read this one, Juli. So, tell us a little bit about how you came to write Sister Golden Hair. 

I was actually in the middle of writing Song Without Words when the idea for Sister Golden Hair came to me. I found that strange, because the storylines of the two books aren't anything alike! But I kept seeing this blonde woman in her forties, stuck in traffic while on her way to a job she hated, and I knew her name was Rhett. So I had to stop writing Song Without Words long enough to write down this idea about Rhett. It later turned into the first chapter of Sister Golden Hair.

Do  you believe writers are born to write or learn to write?

I think even born storytellers have to learn to write. It's so important to learn about plot, dialogue, pacing, arcs, and how to cut what doesn't work, in addition to the proper use of grammar and punctuation - all those things that make a book something people enjoy reading. Just a few of my go-to references are The Emotion Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus and The Positive Trait Thesaurus, all by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi; Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction by Marcy Kennedy; Writing Active Setting by Mary Buckham; Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. In addition, I have The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, The Ultimate Guitar Book, Roadie: A True Story, and Tales From the Rock 'n Roll Highway, because research, as well as experience, is absolutely vital to writing believable fiction. I also follow the blogs of Jennifer Crusie, Kristen Lamb, Jami Gold, Writers in the Storm, C.S. Lakin, and the For Writers section of Roni Loren's website, all of which offer great lessons on writing. It's an ongoing process, and to write a good book and not just a book, you can't skimp on learning how to do it.

I love Angela and Becca too and can't write a word without them. I wish I had your list three years ago. For a fun question, what is the theme song to this book ... because there has got to be one?

The title of the book is the answer to this one: "Sister Golden Hair" by America. The funny thing is, Illicit, the band in the book, is a hard rock band, so whenever I thought of the song I heard it as being redone as a heavy rock song instead of the way the original was done. But the words to the song are just perfect for the story.

As you wrote the story, what music did you go back to time and time again?

I always have a playlist for each of my books. Sister Golden Hair's playlist has music by Alice in Chains, Tom Petty, Linkin Park, Journey, Hinder and more. In fact, the playlist is at my Pinterest board.

 http://www.pinterest.com/julipagemorgan/

I hope to have it up on my website in the near future. The playlists for my other books are at my website now. 

What is up next for you?

 Right now I'm working on the sequel to Sister Golden Hair. It's called Heart of Gold, and it will wrap up the story of Rhys and Rhett. Look for it this fall! 

Thanks again for dropping by and sharing your new release with us. Where can we find Sister Golden Hair?

Sister Golden Hair is sold exclusively at Amazon.  Here is the link:

http://smarturl.it/sistergoldenhair

To find out more about Juli Page Morgan, click on the links below. 

Website: http://julipagemorgan.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuliPageMorganAuthor

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JuliPageMorgan

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6887176.Juli_Page_Morgan​

Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/Juli-Page-Morgan/e/B00B2O07QA/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1404253108&sr=1-2-ent

If you have any questions for Juli or me, please don't hesitate to ask. We love interacting with our readers. Just clink on the small pencil below and say HI! 

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend. Pick up a great book like Sister Golden Hair and find a quiet corner to read. As always, be nice to each other.

((HUGS))

Nancy C. Weeks

In the Shadow of Pride release date: 21 July 2014