Tues, April 25th Chat Session with Julie Harford
7:55-8:55 (8:55-9:55am EST)
**THIS CHAT SESSION HAS ENDED**
When your mother walks out on you, you can’t stand your dad’s new girlfriend, and boys are (almost) nothing but trouble, sixteen’s not so sweet.
Marcie’s life is a mess. At least she thinks it is. Her father’s latest girlfriend keeps meddling in her business, her younger brother Kyle has turned into a neat-freak since their mother walked out on them four years ago, and her best friend Callie is going off the rails.
Things don’t get any better when Marcie’s mother announces she’s getting married. She hasn’t wanted to see Marcie and Kyle for the last four years, why does she now want them to spend the entire summer with her?
As first love hits, Marcie finds out what’s really wrong with Callie, and near-tragedy strikes the family. Marcie suddenly has some tough decisions to make.
IF YOU COULD ONLY CHOOSE YOUR MOTHER is currently available at www.samhainpublishing.com
About the Author
Julie Harford was born and raised in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. She married her best friend in 2001 and they have three beautiful boys. She received her degree in liberal arts in 1998 and plans to return for a degree in education sometime in the future. She prides herself in being a stay at home mother and spends her free time writing, reading, and being sucked into the virtual world of Azeroth.
For more information on Julie and her day to day life visit her at www.myspace.com/julieharford.
Julie’s Complete Bio
**WARNING! THIS IS A CLOSED SESSION CHAT. MEMBER INVITE ONLY**
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Just putting myself back in there
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hannah said
Have you ever, say, woken up from a dream with a GREAT idea for a story, went to write it down, and realized you only had the beginning or middle or end or love story or funny side story or etc.? What do you do with it?
yes that happens to me a lot. i write down what i remember and stick it in a folder along with all of my other “ideas”. i have tons of notebooks full of ideas and starts of stories. sometimes they never get written, but at least then i have the option
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Where did I go?
Do I have to go “?” again?
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sweet my question was answered
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There did I go!
Nevermind. I am content now. (smiles)
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Do you ever feel intimidated by other books on the market?
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You’re right here Hannah,
Oh, and:
? \(^.^)/
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i’m grouping two together
mel asked what hte most common mistake is. other than just plain not writing or playing around with words? if you’re looking for publication, dear Lord please use SPELLCHECK. i know that editors and such will have a hard time looking at a book if they can’t get past the errors.
and then phoenix said Are there times where the thought of writting another piece of literature seems absolutely pointless?
honestly? nope. i write because i like it. if others like it too that’s great, but even if no one ever reads it, i’m writing it for ME. there are so many books int he world that i will never have a chance to read, but i know they mean a lot to someone somewhere
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Most of the time I find it hard just to keep on writing something. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve started and just left sitting there. How do you keep going?
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How were you inspired to write such great books, like harry potter?
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rachel asked where i get the inspiration. everywhere. the one for marcie’s story actually came from my husband’s son and how his mother literally walked out on him as an infant. when people hear that they are amazed, like mothers aren’t supposed to do that. so i wrote a story about how much more common it is than people realized. then marcie kinda took over and her life emerged around it, becoming much more than just a missing mother story
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If you were to compare yourself to any author, who would you be most like? What time of day do you get most of your writing done?
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10 mins on the clock.
megan
hong
Dustin
kineatra
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okay what was elise’s question? she was next on the list i believe
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how many times did you consider writting novels before you got published?
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How can you find the will power to write when you feel as if you don’t have any? Not even for a simple report or even a tiny blo?.
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When your book(s) get published, do you ever “visit” them on the shelves? Like, see if they’re selling or what type of people are buying/reading them?
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k here is elise’s question i missed it before lol sorry there are just so many to read lol she asked:
i write all day long, i do the most either while the kids are playing outside during the day and i can sit int he sun and watch them while i scribble away or after they go to bed. but i also write while i make dinner 
If you were to compare yourself to any author, who would you be most like? What time of day do you get most of your writing done?
i have no idea who i’d be the most like. i’d love to say j.k. rowling or lurlene mcdaniel or even stephen king because we all started off with an idea and a dream but that’s a bit lofty
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Please ignore the Harry Potter question. Someone decided to be “funny,” that was not actually Mel.
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Hahahah, is that safe?
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I know other people still have questions, but I just wanted to say thanks for taking time to answer our questions! It’s a little hectic, but the answers were worth it. Our teacher provided us with a couple other opportunities with authors, so it’s pretty cool.
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how many times did you consider writting novels before you got published?
by Phoenix April 24th, 2007 at 6:47 am
o i’ve written quite a few books actually and it took about four years to get the marcie book out… it takes a while and you can’t give up easily because otherwise it will never work. i have to finish polishing others up and submit more
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On average, how many pages are the books you write? Is that average length for a YA novel?
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Most of the time I find it hard just to keep on writing something. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve started and just left sitting there. How do you keep going?
by Morgan April 24th, 2007 at 6:44 am
sometimes i don’t ever get back to them. it’s like they’re shelved and i feel badly but if i can’t do it i just can’t. but others i leave alone for a while (sometimes even up to a year) and then go back and finish them in two weeks…
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thank u!
*high five
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5 mins.
Kaylyn
If there are any unaswered question. Julile will answer them offline and I will forward them to Ms. Allan.
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On average, how many pages are the books you write? Is that average length for a YA novel?
by Meghan April 24th, 2007 at 6:51 am
eh they can vary. i believe mine at about 150 pages is one of the shorter YA novels. believe it or not, it was once much shorter and i was told to add length by someone who eventually turned me down but in the end i owe them a lot for making me add to the story
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THANK YOU for putting up with us for half an hour and answering our questions!
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Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all these questions, we appreciate it.
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Thank you for your insight.
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Do you ever feel intimidated by other books on the market?
by Phoenix April 24th, 2007 at 6:43 am
yes and no. i’m not famous (yet) and this is my first published novel. i can’t compare myself to the “big names”… but i say that just hte fact that i’m now registered with the copyright office and the library of congress is beyond amazing
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Thank you for answering our questions. It helped a lot, and gave a lot to think about.
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Thaaaaank you.
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Is it difficult trying to write having three children running around your house?
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Before time’s up, we just want to thank you for your time and dealing with our insanity–hey, we’re a creative writing class.
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Yeah! What Hannah said! (I’m the real Mel, by the way….)
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When your book(s) get published, do you ever “visit” them on the shelves? Like, see if they’re selling or what type of people are buying/reading them?
by Kaylyn April 24th, 2007 at 6:48 am
well mine isn’t on the shelf as of yet, but yes i look at the website all the time just to convince myself that it is REAL. and when it does come out in print, i’m clearing off a whole shelf when the staff isnt’ looking and putting mine out in a long line
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Thank you for chatting with us, bye!
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Hi, Julie. Thank you for taking time out of your day to answer these. I really have three questions; sorry for the number!
1. On average, how long does it take you to finish a first draft, not including planning and editing?
2. Do you know what fanfiction is, and if yes, what are your thoughts on it?
3. What are, to you, the most and least enjoyable parts of writing?
Thank you again for taking your time to answer these.
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And Kaylyn borrows my pen AGAIN~
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Julie, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with us.
Julie’s book IF ONLY YOU COULD CHOOSE YOUR MOTHER is currently available on-line in e-format at
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How can you find the will power to write when you feel as if you don’t have any? Not even for a simple report or even a tiny blo?.
by hong April 24th, 2007 at 6:47 am
oh sometimes i have to push myself. and my poor blog does get neglected a lot. but when i DO sit down and write, i know i’m accomplishing something, even if it’s just drivel. it’s just making myself do it. plain and simple.
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Julie’s book is available at
http://www.samhainpublishing.com
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Is it difficult trying to write having three children running around your house?
by Dustin April 24th, 2007 at 6:55 am
in a word?
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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1. On average, how long does it take you to finish a first draft, not including planning and editing? it depends. sometimes it can take as little as two weeks, others up to two years if i have to stop and go back to it. it really depends on the story and how fresh it is to me
2. Do you know what fanfiction is, and if yes, what are your thoughts on it? i love fanfic. i can’t write it well, but i’m a big “fan” of it
i have a shelf full of star wars books and such
3. What are, to you, the most and least enjoyable parts of writing? least enjoyable is editing and finally typing the handwritten drafts. but i love to write. and i love seeing where hte characters end up
Thank you again for taking your time to answer these.
by LaLa April 24th, 2007 at 6:56 am
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okay did i get them all?????
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Awesome chat session! Thank you to everyone in Ms. Allan’s class.
Thank you, Ms Allan.
And most of all thank you Julie!:lol: