So today its all about “Lie Still” a wonderful mystery thriller that is now available for all you lovely readers to enjoy. Characters are key here – you too will love them I promise. Julia Heaberlin kindly took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for me….lets see what she had to say.
I have to say I loved those Texas women – which one was your favourite?
Letty, Letty, Letty. She just makes me laugh. I have this policy about people: As long as they make life more entertaining, I can forgive a lot, and Letty falls into that camp. You gotta love a 300-pound ex-pageant queen on a hot dog and banana diet who carries an assault rifle in the trunk of her car. I realize she is almost a cartoon. Almost.
Did you always know the ultimate resolution or did the story evolve as you wrote?
I usually don’t know the end; I start a book with a simple idea and let the characters take me on a twisty road. I like to weave many threads and then pull them together in the final pages. One of my primary goals is for readers not to know where it’s going, and it helps if I don’t, either!
Emily hides a violent secret – was it a difficult subject to tackle as sensitively as you did?
Yes and no. I never expected when I sat down to write that a date rape would be at the heart of my protagonist, but page after page, she told me it was. It didn’t define her, but it colored the way she viewed our sometimes dangerous world. And once I was on board, I really wanted to write something that I think is rarer in this male-dominated thriller world: a female protagonist who is a victim of a crime, the hero of the story and the primary voice. In books, you don’t usually hear from female crime victims years after the fact; the crime is often a prop to get the story started. I wanted Emily to be talking for all the many tough women out there who have emotional scars from an experience like this and move on.
Do you prefer e-book reading or reading a physical book?
Yikes, you should see my bedroom. Every surface covered with books to read. My bookshelves are overflowing with ones I can’t part with. For me, it will always be the physical book. I have an immediate dislike for any house where I walk in and can’t immediately see books. It’s like a museum with blank walls.
Favourite thing to do when not writing?
Watching my son pitch for the last 15 years. We experienced so many of the same things when it comes to our two passions (pitching and writing). In both, there is so much rejection and failure and then moments of bliss that make up for it. Being there for his moments of bliss on and off the field far outweigh anything else in my life.
Thank you Julia!
Find out more about Julia here: http://juliaheaberlin.com/
Follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/juliathrillers
Review
First of all thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy of this novel via netgalley.
Emily is desperately trying to leave a violent past behind her and escape a stalker who has haunted her for years. Pregnant with her first child she and her Husband move to Clairmont, Texas. Hoping for a new start Emily finds herself thrust into the heart of a group of Texas women, all of whom have secrets – run by their “Queen” Caroline Warwick, who may also be hiding secrets of her own. When Caroline disappears Emily finds herself having to unravel the threads of her past, as well as her present in order to save herself.
I loved the way this novel was written. It was kind of messy like Emily herself but in a very good way….as she unravels things YOU unravel things and the story has many twists and turns along the way. Cleverly released information in small doses makes you turn the pages all the faster to find out who is hiding what and why – and the characters are not always what they appear to be. Emily herself reveals her own secrets along the way – she hides from herself as much as from anyone and this makes her a very well drawn character. The Texas women are all intriguing – hey and annoying in equal measure – their “voices” will speak to you, I could almost hear them as I read. And the final resolution will not disappoint…
This novel also tackles some serious subjects head on and in a realistic and I think quite important way..the second book I have come across recently that does so. This gives it an edge over a standard mystery thriller and for that reason as well as the fact that its a great story I would highly recommend it.
To Purchase Lie Still clickety click here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lie-Still-ebook/dp/B00CR6MNFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375686289&sr=1-1&keywords=lie+still+julia+heaberlin
Also Available:
Synopsis
WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?
That’s the question torturing child psychologist Tommie McCloud after she opens a stranger’s letter only days after burying her father. The woman claims that Tommie is her child, kidnapped thirty-two years ago. Suddenly, a deeply rooted Texas girl finds herself linked to a horrific past: the slaughter of a family in Chicago, the murder of an Oklahoma beauty queen and the kidnapping of a little girl named Adriana. With everything she has ever believed in question and a stalker determined to stop her, Tommie must discover the truth about her family’s secrets and the girl who vanished.
To purchase clickety click here : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Playing-Dead-Julia-Heaberlin/dp/0571287689/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Happy Reading Folks!
