Interview with author of Sophia’s Secret, Julie Ryan!

Sophia’s Secret – Blurb

This is the second book in the Greek Island Mystery series. Although each book is intended to be read as a standalone, some of the characters from the first book, ‘Jennas’s Journey’, do make an appearance.

Kat has never understood why she was sent at the age of seven from Greece to live in England with her Aunt Tigi. When she receives an email from her grandmother, the first contact in over twenty years, informing her of her mother’s death, she knows this could be her last chance to find out the truth. Little by little she finds out the shocking facts as her grandmother opens her heart. It seems everyone has a secret to tell, not only her grandmother, as Manoli, her school friend, also harbours a guilty secret. Then there’s a twenty year old mystery to solve as well as a murder and what happened to the missing Church treasure?

Author Biography —Julie Ryan

Julie was born and brought up in a mining village near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. She graduated with a BA (hons) in French Language and Literature from Hull University. Since then she has lived and worked as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language in France, Greece, Poland and Thailand. She now lives in rural Gloucestershire with her husband, son and two cats, a rescue cat and a dippy cat with half a tail. She is so passionate about books that her collection is now threatening to outgrow her house, much to her husband’s annoyance, as she can’t bear to get rid of any! They have been attempting to renovate their home for the last ten years.

She is the author of two novels set in Greece, “Jenna’s Journey” and “Sophia’s Secret” both part of the Greek Island Mystery series. She is currently working on a third book, ‘Pandora’s Prophecy.” She considers Greece to be her spiritual home and visits as often as she can. This series was inspired by her desire to return to Crete although there is a strong pull to revisit the Cyclades too.

Interview Where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself!

I was born in Yorkshire and then got the travel bug. I spent a few years travelling the world and teaching English in France, Greece, Poland and Thailand. I then taught French in Secondary Schools in York, Kent, Scarborough and Hull before finally settling down in Gloucestershire. I share my home (otherwise known as the renovation project) with my husband, young son and two cats.

Tell us about your book? How did it get started?

The first book in the series ‘Jenna’s Journey’ came about one day as I was reminiscing about my time in Greece. I looked out of the window at the snow and wondered how my life might have been different if I’d stayed there. It took me a long while to write but ‘Sophia’s Secret’, the second book just seemed to follow on naturally. Once I started I couldn’t stop writing about my fictional island in the sun.

How do you create your characters?

I start with just a brief outline and a few characters and somehow they ‘find’ me. By the end they have undergone a total transformation and are probably nothing like I first imagined. I love it when that happens though. Jenna originally started life as Jenny but along the way had a name change as I felt the original name no longer suited her. Sophia was originally supposed to be a young woman but ended up being the grandmother. You really wouldn’t want to live inside my head!

What inspires and what got your started in writing?

My travels abroad are the greatest inspiration. After that I think if you look and listen you can find inspiration anywhere. It could be a fragment of conversation overheard, a radio snippet or a newspaper headline. For me the big question is always ‘what if…?’

Where do you write? Is there something you need in order to write (music, drinks?)

I’m not one of those pernickety writers who can only write in certain places using a particular pen. Having a young child, I grab my moments whenever I can. I am usually to be found writing at the dining room table. I do have a lovely new desk but it’s still in the packaging, as we haven’t got much further with the renovations. One day perhaps I’ll have a lovely study! I also find that coffee and chocolate help the writing process.

What do you like to read?

I love reading and will read anything with a good story and memorable characters. My favourite genres are mystery/thriller, historical fiction, some romances and anything set in a foreign country. I love Philippa Gregory, John Fowles, Victoria Hislop, Kate Mosse but am always open to new writers and love it when I can immerse myself in a good book.

What would your advice to be for authors or aspiring in regards to writing?

Never give up! I didn’t think I had it in me to write a novel and through sheer perseverance have now written two with a third in the pipeline. Make it the best you can and live the dream!