Julia Barrett's World

I saw him first!

Julia Barrett — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:55:31 +0000

Damn you sportscasters! Damn you all to hell! I saw Andres Torres first! I picked him out last year as a baseball stud and I became a fangirl – now you all jump on my bandwagon! Ha – I say – ha ha! Really, ask my husband…the very first time I saw him play with the San Francisco Giants, I said, Who is that man and why doesn’t he get more playing time? Like, why isn’t he starting every game? Of course he had some injuries last year, but anybody with half a brain could see what kind of athlete he is!

Thursday’s San Francisco Chronicle – The Sporting Green headline – Torres, as in torrid.

I like it – Torrid Torres! On Wednesday, against the Marlins, he had a Splash Hit. He now has two. My other favorite Giants player, Aubrey Huff, also has two. So…here are my guys – and they have been since the first time I saw them – Andres Torres, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Travis Ishikawa, and Jonathan Sanchez. Yeah, sure, everybody likes The Freak, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Man, that Bumgarner can throw and Buster Posey is amazing - why the heck wasn’t he brought up sooner??? Hmmmm??? I like every guy on that team, but I love me some Andres Torres!

Yes, there is no contradiction…you can write science fiction/romance and still love baseball. My guys have always been baseball players.

So…Thank you very much Steph, at Fangs Wands and Fairy Dust, for letting me take over your blog yesterday and many thanks to those of you who stopped by.

Today, Friday, I’m over at Anna’s place. She’s posted an interview with The Thousand Year Empress, Aja Bokina, a Daughter of Persephone. Come see what makes her tick and maybe win an e-copy of this fun, sexy, romantic, kick ass science fiction book. http://s7anna.blogspot.com/

The ladies at Happily Ever After Reviews informed me today that Beauty and the Feast is up for cover of the month. I’m going against some great covers. If you feel like voting, here’s the link: http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-book-of-month-and-cover-of-month.html

Off to play with my puppy! He has that sweet puppy breath and he gives me kisseeeees!

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All I can say is…wow!

Julia Barrett — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:38:18 +0000

A puppy, Daughters of Persephone and a nice book blogger!

Yes! We got a puppy, Jake, a long-coated German shepherd puppy, 8 1/2 weeks, suffering from big puppy syndrome – the poor guy is so big for his age that people expect more of him than he’s capable of delivering! But he’s sweet, smart and gorgeous! Of course my cats won’t come near him. They’re like…Crap! Not another dog! We thought we had the house and yard all to ourselves!

Daughters of Persephone is now available for Kindle and over at All Romance Ebooks. I’m happy.

Stephanie at Fangs Wands and Fairy Dust has a feature on Daughters of Persephone today (Thursday) – I’m the guest blogger. She’s running a contest – you can win an e-copy of Daughters or one of two hard copies of Captured. Yum!

http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

That’s all for today – I have a big puppy sitting on my lap!

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Anny Cook is my guest today!

Julia Barrett — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:18:02 +0000

Anny is an author of erotic fantasy. She just contracted for Book Six of her Mystic Valley Series, Blue Paradise. We recently had the most interesting discussion…

Let’s talk fantasy.

What attracts you to the genre?

I believe the thing that attracts me the most about the genre is the ability to create something totally new–the ability to create a mythos, a culture, a belief system, a new world (including flora and fauna). Think about how entranced people are with the new world created for Avatar. I am the “creator” every single day.

How do your characters pop into your head and evolve?

My characters evolve over a very long time. I’ve spent thirty years with my characters for the Mystic Valley series. Though I only began writing the stories four years ago, I’ve spent my life getting to know them. They are nothing like they were in the beginning. There were many compromises necessary before I could write their stories. And there will be more. Some of those compromises were necessary due to publishers guidelines. Others were simply changes the characters went through as they matured and evolved. “New” characters are usually pretty “old” for me. I’ve walked around with a huge cast populating my head for many, many years…just waiting for their turns in the spotlight.

How do you build your world…do you plan it out or does it just come to you?

I would estimate I spend about six to eight months planning a new world. I usually start by drawing a very basic map of the shape of the landmasses. Then I add mountains, lakes and rivers. And only then can I decide where the towns and villages would be placed logically. With the first version more or less complete, I start working on the overall culture. Are the people hunter/gatherers or farmers? What type of commerce do they have? What type of government, monetary system, and religion? What is their belief system? If there’s more than one, how do they differ? What type of oaths do they swear? What type of healing system/science and technology do they have? How is the flora and fauna of the world connected? Finally, I start developing the individual villages, deciding on building style, transportation, personal technology (how do they cook? what type of sanitary arrangements do they have? how do their markets work?) In that process I decide who lives in each village, what they look like, what skills they have, what their history is, and what type of clothing they wear. At each stage, I have forms I fill in so that I have them for reference. All of them go in my “bible” for that book (or series). When the initial stages are complete, I usually start thinking about story ideas. As I allow the story idea to gel in my head, I also let the world settle around me for a little while. Often I will put everything aside while I work on another project. When I get back to this new world, they may be changes or…additions. During the second round I will refine the world and it’s rules. This is a critical stage because once you’ve decided the rules for your world, your story’s characters must conform to the rules. Careful thought must go into deciding what gifts, talents, and limitations the characters will deal with. Finally, I start to write. I may not settle into the story until three or four trial chapters. I may have to begin all over at the beginning. But by the time I’ve reached this point, I pretty much know my world. Does all of this information make it into the book? Of course not. But if you write a contemporary novel, consider how much of the extraneous information you are aware of regarding our world will actually make it into your novel.

Do you like…hear your characters speak to you?

In some fashion. Some more than others. Some are very pushy. Others are shy and difficult to understand. Sad to say some I allowed to hide behind a superficial mask. For those, I did not do my best. I believe some were not ready to tell me their story. As I’ve developed as a writer, I’ve learned how to listen more carefully.

Do your stories head off in directions you never imagined?

Absolutely. The WORLD is planned meticulously. The story…well, I’m a consummate pantster. Occasionally, my characters careen off the road and we never get back on track. Chrysanthemum is a primary example of a story zooming off into the wilderness. It bounced off track at the second paragraph and never, ever made it back. By the second page I knew it never would. But there is a certain freedom in letting the characters do what they will while you as the writer stand on the sidelines alternately wringing your hands in dismay and wildly cheering their audacity.

Anny’s books can be found here: http://www.annycook.com/

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Did I write that???

Julia Barrett — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:44:11 +0000

http://erotromreader.blogspot.com/?zx=94c63e54148e7932

Janna, at Erotic Romance Reader featured a clip yesterday from Daughters of Persephone, Book One Exile. Yikes! I wrote that, eh? Cool!

Here’s her main link in case you can’t get in the back door – http://erotromreader.blogspot.com/

All next week while Janna’s on vacation, you can read guest posts and win books – I’m giving away a copy of Daughters, Mia Watts and Bronwyn Green are also providing prizes. Make sure to stop by Janna’s place for some goodies!

Wiping the sweat from my brow! Whew! Sixteen hours straight of revising Anytime Darlin’ - my cowboy rancher/farm girl romance with Siren. I had to get it done…we may be getting a new puppy tomorrow. This was a major re-write and it took me days as this honey-bunny is a full-length romance/suspense.

I just this minute got a review for my very popular romance/suspense, My Everything, from Happily Ever After Reviews: http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-my-everything-by-julia-barrett.html Ben and Grace seem to be characters readers love. They are lovers reunited after ten long, heart breaking years apart. Five Tea Cups!

Drop by tomorrow as author, Anny Cook, gives us her take on fantasy. She writes very hot, very fantastic books – we’re talking major world-building!

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Daughters of Persephone is in the Spotlight -

Julia Barrett — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:15:11 +0000

at Happily Ever After Reviews.

http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/giveaway-spotlight-daughters-of.html

You can win a copy….go!

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Linkity-link or as Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust says…

Julia Barrett — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:35:20 +0000

Pay it forward!

You want to talk True Blood? Head over to Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust for the best in discussions and spoilers. I’m struggling to watch this season as things have taken a turn for the bloody!

http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

For some great misadventures in Stock Photography, a giveaway and pumpkin ravioli – head over to Stumbling Over Chaos.

http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/

Jessica, over at Read React Review has posted some fascinating links, among them a link to Nathan Bransford, Literary Agent, and his excellent and very funny blog post: Top Ten Myths About Our E-book Future.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/07/top-10-myths-about-our-e-book-future.html

http://www.readreactreview.com/

If I get a chance, I’ll check out all my friends but I’m off to hike, run errands and then it’s back to the never-ending re-write. Sigh.

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A room with a view!

Julia Barrett — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:31:49 +0000

For the first time in my entire life, I have a room of my own. No, not this room, although a few years ago I did rent a flat for a week that had this exact view. In fact, this picture is taken from a window in my flat! Yes!

But that’s beside the point. I went from my father’s house where I shared a room with my sister to college where I shared rooms with dorm mates to my first husband’s house to my father’s house where I shared a room with my infant son to my second husband’s house which we filled with kids and their friends. Although my husband has an office of sorts, my office had been the kitchen table or the dining room table or the back of the couch or a chair.

After packing up my daughter’s room and injuring my back schlepping boxes and boxes and more boxes, today hubby and I put together my desk and matching desk chair, a totally cool leather armchair with matching ottoman, and a mega-amazing daybed/sofa. OMG! We sat up there, each sipping a Kir Royale – yay Mia – enjoying the fruits of our labors! I have my own room with a glorious view of our backyard and its huge redwood trees and gigantic maple. Sigh! I’m an adult at last! (Not really.)

Now I can slip away to my writer’s retreat and write like a real writer. You think?

This week – still the major re-write. Anny Cook will be guest blogging here and I think I’ve been assigned a blog meme. Gotta check it out!

Oh yeah…email me at Julia@JuliaRachelBarrett.net if you want a signed hard copy of Captured. Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. No really, a signed copy. love, julia

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This is what happens when I’m over-tired…

Julia Barrett — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:05:21 +0000

Songs and their movies pop into my head, like -

Everybody’s Talkin’ at Me…

and – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head…

and – Mrs. Robinson…

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Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust

Julia Barrett — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:13:47 +0000

http://fangswandsandfairydust.blogspot.com/

Steph is featuring her review of Captured today on her pay it forward blog. Check it out!

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My new favorite televison show!

Julia Barrett — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:33:03 +0000

Last American Cowboy, Monday Nights, Animal Planet.

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/last-american-cowboy/

You gotta watch this show! Seriously good TV. From Animal Planet:

“Hidden amid the mammoth- Montana landscape are three family-owned and operated cattle ranches and the setting of Animal Planet’s newest original series, LAST AMERICAN COWBOY. This epic adventure follows three families of tough, tenacious and headstrong cowboys through freak storms, deadly outbreaks of disease, hungry predators and forest fires that threaten their livelihood. Each ranch will need to rely on family bonds and personal strength to keep this tradition of the American West alive.

“LAST AMERICAN COWBOY shares the highs and lows of life on a ranch for the Hughes, Galt and Stucky families. From the multi-generational ranch family committed to working only on horseback to the modern rancher who uses high-tech equipment, all-terrain vehicles and even a helicopter to manage his massive operation to the small nuclear family determined to persevere against all odds, all must struggle to make ends meet and all are deeply committed to this classic way of life lived close to the land.”The Hughes family, the smallest of the three ranches, is as close to “Little House on the Prairie” as you can get. Scott and Stacey Hughes, along with their three-year old son and nine-year-old daughter, live on a 12,000-acre ranch and manage their herd of 500 Black Angus all alone. Comparatively, the Galt Ranch is one of the largest cattle ranches in Montana with over 100,000 acres, 5,500 cattle and 100 horses. It is so vast that owner Bill Galt manages it from the sky in his own helicopter. Bill and the rest of the Galt family believe technology is the future of ranching and necessary to efficiently run a ranch of this size and caliber. Contrary to the Galt family, the Stuckys are traditional ranchers choosing horseback over ATVs and doing most of the work by hand. Keeping these traditions alive is deeply important to the entire clan, and as the ranch continues to grow and expand, the Stuckys hope it will be passed down through generations.

“LAST AMERICAN COWBOY thrusts viewers into the glorious landscape of Montana and the remarkable world of cattle ranching. For these families it comes down to one paycheck per year, and they will do whatever it takes to continue to live and to share the life they love.”

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