Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “No one would believe them!”. In addition to writing contemporary and historical medical romance, and fun romantic suspense for Entangled Publishing and Carina Press, Julie has a short story in the Mammoth Book of Medical Romance.
Her book SAVING THE RIFLEMAN (WAR GIRLS) won the novella category of the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines such as Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest (Canada), and Canadian Living.
You can reach her at www.julieroweauthor.com, on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor
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German-occupied Brussels, Belgium, April 1915
Judith Goddard is hiding in plain sight. A dual citizen with family ties to Belgian royalty and the British military, she works as a Red Cross nurse in a German hospital, learning what she can, ever fearful her true allegiance will be discovered.
British Expeditionary Force Captain Michael Lawrence is on a mission to rescue the daughter of his mentor. He doesn't expect to find a strong beautiful woman in place of the naïve girl whose love he rejected years earlier.
Jude is shocked when Michael turns up in her hospital, wounded and in German uniform. Though he broke her heart, she agrees to flee Belgium with him—she has information about an imminent attack that she must deliver to the British War Office, before it's too late.
Posing as a married couple, Jude and Michael journey to the border, in constant danger of discovery—and of giving in to their mutual passion…
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
World War One, and the role nurses took in it, has always fascinated me. So many heroic stories of women caring for soldiers right in the path of the fighting. Some even lost their lives, and it occurred to me that those women deserved a Happily-Ever-After, even it was only a fictional one. I also wanted to bring to life a period in our history when the roles of women in society and war experienced huge change. World War One changed the world in many ways, some big, some small, and we’re still feeling the shock waves of those changes today.
Q) How long did it take you to write?
ENTICING THE SPYMASTER took about 5 months to write, but not all at the same time. I write in multiple drafts, so I write a fast first draft then put it away for a few weeks while I work on something else. When I get back to the manuscript I can see it with fresh eyes and begin layering in more detail, description, emotion, conflict, etc. I do this six to ten times.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
My favorite thing about writing is discovering the characters’ voices. I love writing dialogue.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
My messy desk? Seriously, I enjoy most of the process: editing, revision, promotion. I just wish I had more time to do more of everything!
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Amelia Erhart – now there was a gal with goals, and the courage and drive to go after them. I love her pioneering spirit, strength and smarts. Did you know she was a nurse’s aide during the First World War? Here’s a pic of her (from my pinterest account dressed in her nurse uniform): http://bit.ly/17s7Zel
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
Probably the Worcestershire sauce. I think we brought it with us when we moved houses five years ago.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I’m working on the proposal for another World War One story, but this is a stand alone, larger book with a British “Mulan” type character – a woman who pretends to be a man to join the British Army and fight in the trenches. I’m still doing research for this story, but will begin writing soon!
