Interview with Julie Cross

Tempest (Tempest #1)

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

1) How and why have you started to write? Were there something or someone that gave you an impulse?

I always loved reading and eventually, I wanted to be able to take a story in whatever direction I thought it should go in. 

2) Tell me something about you and your book Tempest.

I'm a mom of three children and I live not to far from Chicago, Illinois...in America. Tempest is a story about time travel but it's also about making difficult choices and living your life so that you have no regrets down the road. It's also about what it means to truly love someone in a way that is no longer selfish.

3) While youre writing, have you discovered a character that you where developing feelings of love for? And was there a character that gave you headaches?

Jackson gave me headaches at first because he is a teenage boy and I'm an adult woman, so writing his story took lots of effort at first. Now it's much easier. I love writing Holly...she's my favorite.

4) How have you done your research for this novel?

I did research as I wrote the book and then also after the first draft was written. I didn't have to a lot but mostly things like New York City geography and looking up dates to make sure all the time travel was accurate.

 5) Is there a book that inspired your writings?

I was inspired by a lot of books. I love Courtney Summers and I also loved reading Stephen King's book, On Writing. It was very helpful in my early journey.

6) In the end, would you like say some words to your fans from Romania?

I just have to say, that my only knowledge of Romania is through your gymnasts but I've followed the sport for so long that I'm a big fan of Romanian gymnastics. I'd love to learn more about the country and what types of books kids are reading over there when they aren't flipping and tumbling.