About Julie Pennington:
Prior to launching her publishing career, Julie Pennington was a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Fraud Examiner.
Throughout her career, she investigated a number of fraud cases, including assisting an area police department with a fraud case as a citizen volunteer. On another case, she helped a client who was experiencing great losses as a result of embezzlement. She determined how the culprit was getting the money and put safeguards in place to stop the losses. When the culprit learned he was cut off from the money, which he used to support his drug habit, he became enraged and threatened the client with a loaded handgun. Fortunately, the client came out of the incident unharmed and the culprit got drug treatment.
She taught auditing and accounting as an adjunct professor. She has worked in over 25 countries in humanitarian relief and development, mostly in Africa but also in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
What inspires you to write?
The story within the story is what inspires me to write. Giving a voice to those who have been silenced is my motivation.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Janet Evanovich, James Grippando, and Michael Connelly are my favorite authors.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm more of a seat-of-the-pants writer. I have a general outline in my head. But the plot develops as I get it on paper (or rather on the computer screen). I rewrite a lot of sections and move sections or even whole chapters around though.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I see the scenes playing out in my mind as I write. It's like I'm an observer on a movie set. Nobody notices me, nobody interacts with me, I just watch as the situation unfolds.
What advice would you give other writers?
Have a plan for launching your book before you are finished writing. Spend about a year researching how to launch, market, and advertise your book.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
We had some local drama. I was angry about what was going on. One day, I popped off that I was going to write a book about it. I figured I would get a chapter or two written, then fizzle out. About the time I got half-way done, that's when I knew I had to finish it. The final product is quite a bit different than what I thought it was going to be, but it's also much better than I thought it would be.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
AI is taking over book publishing. I'm sad about this. The quality isn't as good as what humans can produce. Unfortunately, AI-written books are flooding the market.
What genres do you write?: Mystery
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Your Social Media Links
Facebook
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
