Julie Cosgrove: Interview and giveaway

Andrea: Hi, Julie...welcome to Everything Writerly! Readers love to learn how writers write, so, please tell us how and why you created your romantic suspense trilogy?

Julie: God led me to write my suspense romance trilogy in a unique way. 

Imagine a stone path in the pitch dark, but only the stone in front of you lights up, then once you step on it, the next one does and so on. That is my journey in a nutshell. 

While recovering from surgery, I pondered starting a suspenseful novel. I wrote the first four chapters. Then the plot stalled. So, I put it away with a shrug. Within a month, I met three missionaries in three different incidences who were involved in rescuing women from human trafficking. It dawned on me God called me to write this in as a subplot, showing His redemptive love. 

My fingers flew over the keyboard, and Hush in the Storm was born. However, every pitch came back claiming it was amazing writing, but the subject matter.... One agent suggested a slight plot twist. I added it and got two nibbles, but no contract. I put it away, until one night I heard God whisper to try again. I saw an advertisement for Prism Book Group the next day and was under contract within forty-eight hours of the query. 

But, my editor had to quit, so it sat on the back burner for over a year until the Editor in Chief, Joan Bauer Alley, literally woke in the middle of the night with a message to read my manuscript. She did, rushed it through to be published, and encouraged me to write a continuation. So Legitimate Lies became a reality. Then, many readers wanted to know what happened to the trafficked teen, a minor character, so I wrote her story in Freed to Forgive. 

Each novel also deals with other real pain women face: betrayal, spousal adultery, abortion and giving up your child for adoption. Throughout all is a message of hope that God is there, He cares and He heals.

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Andrea: Thanks, Julie. Your novels sound so interesting!

Readers can find out more about Julie and her books by visiting her website: http://www.juliebcosgrove.com/

And now, readers YOU can enter to receive an e-copy of one of Julie's trilogy titles (your choice) AND her romantic novella "Greener Grasses." 

One winner will receive e-books of BOTH stories. Leave a comment with your email address and enter to. 

The winner will be announced January 14th.