Julie Elizabeth Powell

My next author in The Mind’s Eye series is Julie Elizabeth Powell.

Bio

I cannot ignore my dreams, so many of them, with names and places and ideas that spark my imagination and compel me to write; to create stories, whether fantasy or horror, or mystery or psychological thriller or murder or even humour and adventure. So, my garden is sown, flourishing, with all manner of growth, and still the dreams come.

Julie Elizabeth Powell, my soul lingering within my imagination; maybe you’ll join me?

What genre do you write?

I write in a variety of genres /mix genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery adventure, humour, crime thriller, murder mystery, psychological thriller and non-fiction and poetry. I write for adults and children.

Have you always wanted to be an author /poet /photographer?

Writing has always been part of me, and have written many stories throughout but it wasn’t until the tragic event that overtook my third child that I stopped throwing them away, feeling the words had to settle and grow until a novel sprang tall enough to flower. Gone was the result. Since then – and the fact of being able to self-publish – sixteen other titles are now available. I also enjoy photography and, sometimes doodle with poetry.

Tell me three things about yourself that your readers don’t know.

I readily acknowledge that I think I’m an alien because I don’t fit into what others deem ‘normal’.
Rules are not my watchword, while censorship curtails thinking.
Formulas for writing are boring. I like to experiment, challenge and try new ways with words. And I never know where my writing will take me…allowing the characters or ideas or spark to take me where they wish. The imagination will always be the last frontier.

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My stories /poems /photographs

If we are sticking to Triptychs, then the two photographs given to me were of a fairground at night and reflections on the water. The first sparked a story called #666; it’s a dark and gritty tale. The latter compelled a fantasy /science fiction story relating to stars, which I called, Beyond The Eyes.

As for the rest of my writing, Gone was my first completed and kept novel. This is quoted from Gone – About the Book –

When only two and a half years old, her daughter’s heart stopped and she died. Unfortunately, doctors resuscitated too long and too late and brought back into this world a severely brain-damaged child, who was wiped clean of her memories and anything that had made her Samantha.

Samantha’s life (and that of her mother) became a nightmarish one of pain and suffering for seventeen years until she died for the second time at the age of nineteen.

One question haunted the author throughout those terrible years: Where had her daughter gone?

Gone is one answer to the question.

This story is about a mother who finds herself inexplicably taken into a mysterious world, where the impossible meets the undeniable.

The fantasy sees her struggle against insanity and fear, encounter extraordinary characters and grapple with the awakening of a dream.

Slings & Arrows is a non-fictional account of that time. It is brutally honest.

I think Gone and Slings & Arrows would help others – I really hope so. These titles are also available as an omnibus edition.

The Avalon Trilogy (#1 The Star Realm, #2 Invasion #3 Secrets Of The Ice) is an epic fantasy adventure that was inspired by the world I’d created in Gone. It was too delicious to waste. I never expected the story to be so big, but I consider it’s turned out well. Each book is available separately or as an omnibus edition (although the OE is only as an eBook because it’s too large for print). It’s for ages about 12+ tween /YA or those young at heart).

Of Sound Mind (fantasy) explores the issue of sanity /insanity, while Lost Shadows is a psychological thriller /fantasy that deals with memory. I have always been fascinated about how and why the mind works, and like to write stories that, I hope, make readers think.

Misadventures Of Fatwoman is a humorous fictional story about what it is like to be fat…it tackles very real and sad issues around this subject but is also funny (in my opinion, although it has been said to be too British and probably offensive). Why the truth is offensive, I don’t know, but fat is fat! I understand how fat people think because, yep, that’s me. I think readers would understand the feelings concerned and it may help, and allow fat people to value who they are, regardless. Maybe instead of ‘fat’ many other ‘differences’ could be inserted, as the same kind of thinking and emotions are involved, I believe.

Knowing Jack is a mystery adventure set in the Lake District in England, a place I loved as a child. The story takes place at Christmas time and involves Jack who has special gifts. It is meant for 12+ /tween /YA but I love these kinds of stories. It was sparked by my son’s amazing intuition.

Dirty Business and A Murderer’s Heart are crime thrillers /murder mysteries. Each have a psychological element, although the former is perhaps more direct and chilling, while the latter really searches into the motives behind why people kill – those emotions that lead, rather than cold-blooded for gain.

13 is a horror. It’s different in many ways, not least that none of the characters have names. This story is more about motives and the consequences of such.

Figments, Expressions, Three Into One and Christmas Past are short stories – the first two are collections of shorts and poems, while the second two are one-off complete shorts. The ideas came in dreams, as do many of my stories.

Weird: A Henry Ian Darling Oddity Missive One is a recent addition. This time it was the name I dreamt. I knew it was going to be an odd story. It’s about an unusual character with a paranormal life. This is missive one, missive two is already being written and is far longer. I don’t know where it’s going and what will happen, but it feels like it will be a series.

Links to my books /me:

Website: http://freewebs.com/julizpow