Today we welcome the positive, kind and talented Juliet M Sampson. Juliet has always had a love of stories from a young age. She is well travelled and lives in Melbourne by the bay surrounded with family and friends.
Tell us a little about your writing journey.
I have always loved writing stories. One of my first memories of story writing was in Grade One. I wrote about a panda going for a walk. I was so proud of this story. My love of writing continued throughout my schooling. Creative writing was one of my favourite subjects and I also enjoyed being a member of the school magazine committee. At university I studied Bachelor of Primary Teaching and Bachelor of Arts (Psychology). These degrees allowed me to pursue many of my passions such as children’s literature, dance and psychology.
I embraced a career in education and continued to share my love of reading, writing and storytelling with the next generation. However I wanted to reach a larger audience to share my love of words so I decided to reduce my teaching hours and commit to writing full time.
Since then, I have written two young adult novels and I am in the process of editing my third one with themes of mystery, murder, dance and romance.
What else am you planning?
I am always busy with my writing, researching and developing ideas. Having a love of children’s literature, I am working on two picture books.
What do you enjoy most about being a writer?
What I most enjoy about being a writer is it allows my words and voice to reach out to others and connect to people all around the world.
I also am happy that writing can give me the opportunity to share my love of reading and storytelling with others. The fact that ‘writers’ can ‘assist’ readers to gain knowledge, share experiences and escape to other worlds for pure enjoyment, gives me pleasure.
Writing is very time consuming and if you are dedicated to being a writer, in my opinion, you must write every day. I think the hardest part of being a writer is accepting the fact that not everyone is going to like or relate to your writing. We are all different. That is what makes us individuals and each of us should embrace our uniqueness and strengths.
Writers are sometimes influenced by things that happen in their own lives. Are you?
I agree that writers are influenced by things that happen in their own lives. Some people may not agree with me but I feel most stories have been developed from places the writer may have visited, people they may have met, other stories they have heard and conversations they have listened to, just to name a few. Yes, I have been influenced by things that have happened in my life. I was inspired to write my second novel Bon Voyage! after travelling around Europe. I wanted to share my enjoyment of travel with others.
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Tell us about your publications?
My first young adult novel Behind the Mask was published in 2011 by Brolga Publishing and is distributed by Pan Macmillan. The themes in the story are love, betrayal, abuse and freedom.
After Behind the Mask was released I travelled, to Europe. This trip inspired me to write my second novel Bon Voyage! which was published in 2013 by Brolga Publishing and is distributed by Pan Macmillan. The themes are adventure, mystery and romance. My genre is contemporary realism
What is the most surprising thing about writing/publishing you have learnt?
It is very exciting to publish a book and this is a very hard thing to do but it does not stop there! This is the beginning of your author’s career. Once you have published your first book, email me and I will explain further.
Top tip/s for writers.
Writing like any profession is tough to break into. You need to be focused, dedicated and motivated. My advice to aspiring writers is first to decide if this to what you are prepared to do. If so, then never give up on your writing. You need a strong sense of self-belief because you will get many knock backs, every writer does. Try to write as often as you can and keep a notebook with you in which to write ideas. Other than writing what else do you love? I love dancing, travelling, helping others, movies, shopping, chocolate, the list goes on and on. I like to think I am an all rounder who embraces life to the full.
To be honest I do not have a dream location. I get inspiration from everywhere for my writing. I have enjoyed travelling to different locations for research but I do not believe that you should limit yourself to one spot to write. Saying that, I spend most of my time writing on my computer at home but I am lucky to live close to the beach so I can change locations for my writing if needed.
Five words that sum you up.
‘Spread sunshine and inspiration’, this has become my motto in life.How can we learn more? Website
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Panmacmillan
Behind the Mask
Bon Voyage!
Juliet's books are also available on Book Depository, Amazon, in some bookshops and on various other online sites. You can also borrow them from various libraries throughout Australia.
Thanks so much for your time Juliet. It's been a pleasure connecting and learning more about you. A little birdy told me your third novel is getting very close to completion... Good Luck with everything!
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