Interview with author Juliet Waldron

“Not all who wander are lost.” Juliet Waldron earned a B. A. in English, but has worked at jobs ranging from artist’s model to brokerage. Twenty years ago, after raising her children, she dropped out of 9-5 and began to researching her way into The Past. Three of the resulting thirteen historical novels are now published. Mozart’s Wife won the 1^st Independent e-Book Award. Genesee won the 2003 Epic Award for Best Historical. She enjoys putting what she has learned about people, places, and relationships into her stories.

BWLPP: How long have you been writing and in what genres? 

JW: I’ve been writing for most of my life, but basically gave up my life in order to pursue the “writer’s dream” during the ‘80’s. I’ve always loved historical fiction. One of the first stories I remember writing was about a cave man trying to traverse a glacier. The idea probably came from a childhood spent enduring rip-roaring Upstate New York winters.  

BWLPP: Where you do get your inspiration?

 

JW: I’m a great believer in The Muse. She flies in the window, and I write.  I read mostly non-fiction, especially history and archaeology. These two enormous fields are brim full of inspiration.  There’s a joke about things “stranger than life.” In my experience, there’s almost nothing stranger than “the real story.”

BWLPP: Tell us about your book(s).

 

JW: Constanze Mozart married the world’s first superstar. Mozart’s Wife is her eye view of the trials of living with genius. I wanted to tell the truth about this marriage, and I did mountains of historical research in order to assure myself I’d gotten the story right.

Genesee grew from years of research on the Iroquois and from love of the landscape and lore of my childhood in the Mohawk Valley. Genesee is a girl of mixed blood who is an uneasy outsider in both worlds. 

Independent Heart was the result of investigating the reality of the Rip Van Winkle world of Washington Irving.  A lively Dutch culture did exist in the Hudson Valley in Revolutionary War days, and I found my independent heroine and her double-agent lover there.

BWLPP: What about your next book?  Will it be part of a series or a stand alone?  Can you give us a taste to whet our appetites?

JW: I want to tell another upstate story, but this one will be set in the 1980’s. I’m not sure exactly how it’s going to play out. Maybe it’s a romantic suspense, or maybe it’s just a gruesome ghost story. 

BWLPP: Why did you choose to publish electronically?

 

JW: I think it’s where the world of books is headed. In fact, really, it isn’t different from print publishing, except in terms of the media. We offer stories—words on page. 

At last, it seems, the technical problem of creating an affordable and easy to handle device seems to be solved.  The Sony Reader and the Kindle have plenty of content and they are both approaching a price that people don’t balk at paying.

BWLPP: What are your hobbies and interests?

 

JW: I love to look at travel sites, and imagine going, but seem to never really get much of anywhere. I like to write poetry, and I also enjoy puttering around yard and my leggy messy perennial gardens. I’m a dedicated walker, and have begun getting back into yoga. I have grandkids, and as they are at a distance, I try to get in long phone calls. Our house is one-cat-over-the-line-Sweet-Jesus and my husband and I spend a lot of time attending to their feline needs, wants and whims. It seems as if some fur person is always on the wrong side of the door, or needs a lap and heavy petting, or a beauty treatment. There are also behaviour issues. We have a cranky, frail geriatric, but the youngest of our cat family, a fluffy orange girl, who was rescued just last year has been a challenge. She thinks her name is “Stop That!” 

BWLPP: What does the future hold for you?

 

JW: The future is always a big vague question mark. I’ll be happy simply to keep breathing and to go on creating for a few more years. The old hippy saying “Onward, into the fog,” sums it up. 

BWLPP: Where can readers find you?

JW: At Amazon.com along with the rest of the writing world, at

www.julietwaldron.com

http://www.bookswelove.net/waldron.php

At my Google blog, Possum Tracks

http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/

And at Authorsden where I’ve posted a ton of poems as well as writing

http://www.authorsden.com/julietvwaldron

BWLPP: Thanks Juliet!