Series Ender, Series Starter wtih Julie B. Cosgrove

If you check your clock, you'll find a amazing discovery. Julie B. Cosgrove is back on the Mine! Her final installment of her series has arrived. First, she started the pendulum moving with Hush in the Storm, followed by Legitimate Lies, a real roller-coaster ride. Now, Freed to Forgive just hit the shelves on Oct. 23rd. How exciting!  Time's a wasting and I cant wait to get a copy. And Julie's got a $5.00 Amazon gift certificate to giveaway to one blessed commenter. So don't miss it!

PT:  Welcome Julie! I'm so excited for the third book in this series! What makes this one unique?

JC:  Thanks. I am as well. It is unique in that it written in the third person, whereas the other two were in first person. This one follows three lives which intertwine and all come together in the end as God orchestrates it for the benefit and healing of all involved. The others simply followed one character as she told her story. To be honest, this one is, as one reviewer stated, more gritty, but is told in as tasteful a manner with veiled descriptions of what human trafficking victims go through. I felt I had to lead the reader through her ten-year journey from trafficked to triumph so they could rejoice when they see how God moves in the background to heal and redeem her. That is the third unique thing—the plot extends into the near future of 2023. I spent a good amount of time teleconferencing with legislators, immigration attorneys and social workers to brainstorm what is coming down the pike in the next few years to provide assistance for these victims who have flooded our society.

PT:  That sounds like quite a challenge. What turned you toward writing a series about the sex slavery rings?

JC:  That was a God thing. I began to write a suspense novel and slammed into a wall after the third chapter. I wasn’t sure where it was to lead, but I knew I wanted to go deeper in the plot to teach a lesson about God’s redemptive power. So I put it aside and prayed about it. Long story edited…within three weeks I met three different missionaries with three different anti human trafficking organizations. The light bulb clicked on. I should have that as a sub-theme. However, each novel has another theme as well. Hush in the Storm dealt with widowhood grief and betrayal, Legitimate Lies dealt with post abortion guilt and Freed to Forgive deals with how an unforgiving heart can shackle us to the past hurts in our lives and prevents us from moving forward. All three also have a touch of clean romance. So, each one is a stand-alone novel even though they involve the same characters.

Now that the trilogy is completed, I will continue to advocate for these victims. However, I must admit I am glad to move on and write about fun stuff…like murder!

PT:  Lol. I'm intrigued. What do you have up your sleeve???

JC:  I am excited to announce I have signed a three-book contract with Prism Book group to write a cozy mystery series called the Bunco Biddies. Twelve ladies live in a retirement community of about six hundred residents who range from condo living to nursing home facilities. They play Bunco every Thursday evening. The ring leader, Janie, is a widow of a homicide detective. Her daughter is now married to a police detective and Janie worries he doesn’t spend enough time with his family. So of course, she recruits her friends to help him solve the crimes in their area so he can make his kid’s concerts and intermural competitions. Yes, it is a humorous series. I hope this turns into six or more books. Having written one and into the second, I already love spending time with my Bunco Biddies. I hope readers will as well. A hint: there is a touch of romance in them as well.

PT:  I know you attended a writer's conference here recently in Dallas. What did you learn/accomplish while there? What was it like to meet people you’d only known online?

JC:  Yes, readers, Peggy and I got to finally meet and hug in real life at the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in September. This time, I came as a published author with a three-book contract, which made the event a lot more enjoyable because I wasn’t nervous about pitching to agents and editors.

I learned a great deal in a brainstorming session on marketing led be the head marketer for Bethany House. But most of all I reveled in the camaraderie of 500 other Christian writers. Since we all write for the same Person, Jesus Christ, there are no jealousies or competition. I was sorry we had to leave the belly of the whale (the basement of the hotel where we gathered and lived for three days) to go to Nineveh - back to reality and the real world.

PT:  Well, while we're stopping in Dallas, let's talk about your great state, Texas. Give us some unusual tidbits about it.

JC:  Got a while?? There have been books written on that subject. Briefly,

1. Texans are exceptionally proud of their state and because we were briefly our own country, we can fly our flag equally with the US flag…and do so - often!

2. Our state has every terrain imaginable from swamps to desert, plains to mountains to coastlands, farmlands to wastelands. And no, we don’t all have oil wells in our backyards. We do more and more have natural gas wells dotting our neighborhoods, though.

3. In Texas, any soft drink is a Coke. So a perfectly normal conversation is:

“Do you want a Coke?” 

“Sure, whatcha got?”

“Dr. Pepper, Big Red, Coke, Diet Coke, Orange, Sprite.”

“I’ll take a D.P.

PT:  I know readers can't wait to hear more about you. Perhaps you could tell us some of your favorite authors.

JC:  Why, Peggy Trotter of course! (wink, thanks, Julie!) Truly, I do love your novels. Prism has so many amazing authors like Anna Kittrel, DiAne Gates, Renee Blare, Vicki Pitts Caine, Brooke Williams, Gay N Lewis, Lindsey Paley, Carlene Havel, Rachel James…I could go on!

My favorite all time author was Mary Stewart. She wrote clean, British suspense romance. I also like Mary Daheim who writes clean cozy mysteries, especially her Bed and Breakfast series, Jan Caron, and Lillian Jackson Brown who wrote all of the Cat Who books. As far as the classics, I am a true Charles Dickens fan.

Wow. So much to look forward to from you, Julie! Thanks for stopping by. And don't forget folks, there's a $5.00 Amazon gift certificate in the offing! Leave a comment and your email address to be entered.

Freelance writer, author and professional speaker Julie B Cosgrove leads retreats, workshops, and Bible studies. She writes regularly for several Christian websites and devotional publications. In February, 2013, she was commissioned by an international relief and development fund to write a mission-based Bible study.

Julie has three Bible studies, a devotional, two inspirational books and four fiction novels published, and is currently contracted for five more novels. She is a member of North Texas Christian Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, Toastmasters International, Daughters of the King, Texas Association of Authors and the Christian Writers Network. She's a spokesperson for Women at Risk, International, a Christian missionary effort to rescue women from sex slavery in 30 countries. Julie is widowed, has one grown son, and lives in Fort Worth, TX with two cats. She loves mysteries—especially British ones—and playing word games. Visit her blog: Where Did You Find God Today? And her website www.juliebcosgrove.com

Can't get enough???  Read on for an excerpt:

     The social worker’s kind gesture chinked the dam Marisol had formed. The waters flooded forth and she threw herself into Bonita’s shoulder, her own heaving softly. She cried for herself, for the child she neither wanted nor would ever know. Next, she wept for her stupid temper and her wasted life.

     The familiar fury began to merge, cementing the cracks to keep any more of her past from seeping through into her present. Gasping the last sniffles, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

     “I’m okay now. No big deal. It’s over, right?”

     Bonita smoothed the girl’s hair from her face. “But it is a huge thing. Talk to me, Marisol. Tell me your story.”

     She jutted her chin. “It is no longer my story. Help me make a new one.”

*Though delicately worded with veiled descriptions, this faith-based novel does depict some disturbing, yet unfortunately all too common, sex trafficking scenes necessary for the plot.