INTERVIEW WITH JULIANA DEERING

JULIANNA DEERING has always been an avid reader and a lover of storytelling, whether on the page, the screen or the stage. This, along with her keen interest in history and her Christian faith, shows in her tales of love, forgiveness and triumph over adversity. A fifth-generation Texan, she makes her home north of Dallas with three spoiled cats and, when not writing, spends her free time quilting, cross stitching and watching NHL hockey. Her new series of Drew Farthering mysteries set in 1930s England debuted with Rules of Murder (Bethany House, 2013) and was followed by Death by the Book and Murder at the Mikado (Bethany House, 2014). She is represented by Wendy Lawton of the Books & Such Literary Agency (www.booksandsuch.biz).

INTERVIEW

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

I live in a very small town northwest of Dallas, Texas, with three cats and with the rest of my family near by. My degree is in business and I was once a CPA, but I decided I needed to do something more creative with my life. If you get too creative in the accounting world, you eventually end up in court, so I decided to quit accounting and start writing. I still have a day job of course, but I’m very fortunate in that it allows me to work from home and on a very flexible schedule.

What do you do when you’re not writing? 

I enjoy quilting and cross stitching and absolutely adore NHL hockey. I love to read, though I never seem to have time to read as much as I would like to, and I love playing games that involve solving puzzles. I guess that’s why I ended up being a mystery writer!

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I have enjoyed reading the classic cozy mysteries most of my life (and I especially enjoy the TV and movie adaptations of them if they’re reasonably faithful), so I couldn’t help trying my hand at writing one. There’s something about the old English manor house, high society and dirty little secrets that always fascinates me. Once Drew Farthering, my upper-class amateur detective, tapped me on the shoulder and politely informed me that he would be taking over at that point, well, how could I stop at one?

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

I think the hardest one to swallow was when a family member told me that my writing wasn’t a “real job,” even though I have had ten books traditionally published and am contracted for five more.

I have two separate categories for the best ones.  My favorite of the ones that were meant to be complimentary was when someone wrote in a review that if Jessica Fletcher and Bertie Wooster had a love child, it would be Drew Farthering. (I still chuckle to myself over that one.) My favorite of the ones that were meant to be negative was when someone e-mailed me to tell me how awful my book was, that it was “just like one of those old black and white movies from the 1930s or one of those old adventure stories.”  Yes! Mission accomplished. (That one makes me smile, too.)

If you could go back in time and do something differently in your writing career, what would it be?

I would go back to the point right after my first three books were published, when my then-publisher decided to pass on a new series I had proposed to them. Instead of letting discouragement drive me away from writing for more than a decade, I would have picked myself up and proposed the series to another publisher. Or I would have made up a new proposal and offered that to other publishers. I certainly wouldn’t have wasted so much valuable writing time not writing.

From the tip of his black Homburg to the crease in his stylish cheviot trousers, he's the epitome of a stylish 1930s English gentleman. His only problem? The body he just discovered.

Drew Farthering loves a good mystery, although he generally expects to find it in the pages of a novel, not on the grounds of his country estate.

With the help of beautiful and whip-smart Madeline Parker, a guest from America, Drew proposes to use the lessons he's learned reading his mysteries to solve the crime. Before long, he realizes this is no lark, and no one at Farthering Place is who he or she appears to be--not the butler nor blackmailer, the chauffeur nor embezzler. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer--and trying harder to impress Madeline--Drew must decide how far to take this dangerous game.

 

Leave a comment, along with your contact information, and you could win either RULES OF MURDER, DEATH BY THE BOOK, or MURDER AT THE MIKADO! (U.S only, please.)

DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO GET AN EBOOK COPY OF RULES OF MURDER WHILE IT'S FREE!!!!