Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a teen Christian author, and I think I’m rather funny. I like to be obnoxious about how important writing is, and you can find me either crying over an author I’ll never amount to, or fulfilling some Canadian stereotype or another. I’ve only published my debut, The Half Glass Girl, which came out just in the end of August 2020, but 7-year-old me wrote numerous stories that I promise will never see the light of day.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Half Glass Girl ‘s name was inspired by the ever-popular question ‘is the glass half full or half empty?’ My original plan for the story was that my main character would go from seeing the glass half empty to the glass half full, and since her story was centered around her view of happiness, I thought it fit the bill. I actually really didn’t like the name at first, but after far too many late nights radicallizing my book-naming brain, I just decided to roll with it, and now I can’t see any other name for it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write better in the dead of night than any other respectable hour, but I’m not sure that’s really unusual. For The Half Glass Girl, I ended up writing in half the plot in the second draft, which was, oh my, not recommended. I haven’t heard of many other authors literally inserting their entire plot half way through book creation, but maybe I’m not alone in my insanity. Let’s just say that was the end of my ‘go with the flow’ plotting plans.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
‘Fawkes’ by Nadine Brandes was definitely a book that made me really want to finish the Half Glass Girl. It was exactly the book I wanted to write. But as for influencing myself besides THGG, I’ll have to say that The Hobbit has always been a book that seems to have lodged itself into my sub-cranium and refused to let go. My sister read it to me when I was little and after that I couldn’t get enough of dragons.
What are you working on now?
At the moment I’m working on a first draft of what I have called my ‘Pirate WIP,’ which I started last November for NaNoWriMo. I also have a secret but not so secret project that I’ve been forming a plot for. I started writing some ideas down, but I just have to get myself into the swing of things and get excited for it! I’m planning on tackling that for NaNoWriMo 2020.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, this early in the game, I’ve seen the best results out of word of mouth and spreading it in my own circles. A lot of people will buy a book just because they know the author, I just hope all those books get read and loved! It’s the greatest compliment when a book gets read to shreds, and I’m hoping to see at least a couple of those resurface later on down the line. Maybe I’ll even be able to sign one.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
There is literally nothing stopping you from writing whatever you want. I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t want to write because they’re worried it won’t be very good, but honestly, you won’t know until you try. And, surprise, if it doesn’t turn out very well, there’s literally no penalty. You can literally pretend it doesn’t exist or entirely change your novel and ideas, and there’s nothing that says you can’t.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s a quote by C.S. Lewis that says ‘You’re never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.’ And as weird as it is for a 16 year old author to look at a piece of advice that was undoubtedly pointed toward an older crowd, it is a genuine fear I have a lot that I might have passed my ‘learning sponge’ threshold and I’ll never catch up. But hey, as C.S. Lewis says, you’re never too old. Even if most people around you started at 6 years old, you CAN start now.
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading a lot of fantasy. I just finished a fantasy retelling of Rapunzel and Lady of Shallot called ‘Lady of Lanaria’ by Michaela Bush, and I’m in the middle of The Gilded Wolves. I love reading my genre to get inspiration for my projects.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m focusing on spreading the news of my book to as many readers as possible! I graduated highschool in Spring of 2020, so this fall I’ve been forming some plans of Book Coaching and helping other young authors around me to get published.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, first and foremost, to make sure I didn’t go crazy. The Hobbit, because it’s long – and also because it’s beautiful. The Rover Adventures, because even though it’s really a young kid’s book, it’s so side-splittingly funny it would keep my mood up, and probably a book on how to survive a desert island, but that might just be me.
Author Websites and Profiles
Julie Mozart Amazon Profile
Julie Mozart’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account