Interview with Author Julie Coulter Bellon – Suspense Novelist

Julie Coulter Bellon is Canadian, but married an American and settled in the States. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education and now teaches a journalism course for BYU Continuing Education. She loves to travel and her favorite cities are Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She is also learning to play the bagpipes! Julie is the mother of seven children, soon to be eight, and the author of six books, soon to be seven. Read sample chapters at Julie’s Website.

Hello Julie. Being a published author has fulfilled a lifelong dream for you. Please tell us about your new book, Dangerous Connections.

Dangerous Connections is set entirely in Paris France, and it picks up the story of Tyler Winthrop, one of the doctors who was serving in Iraq in All’s Fair. Tyler has finished his tour of duty and is heading to Paris to meet his father for a little down time. Unfortunately, when he gets there, some mysterious things start happening to him, and he realizes his father has been kidnapped. He tries to find him, and becomes involved in some international espionage as he gets caught up with a French spy named Isabella Floret who seems to have a few mysterious secrets of her own. The book is a heart-pounding spy novel, with a lot of intrigue, danger, and of course, romance. I hope you won’t be able to put this one down!


Heart-pounding? Whoa! Where do you get your inspiration for your novels?

As a journalism teacher, (and former reporter) I read a lot of newspapers about current events, and I get a lot of inspiration from them. For example, I was reading about the Baku oil leases in the Caspian sea and how whoever controls those oil leases controls a lot of the world’s oil and I thought, what would happen if a terrorist organization owned those leases? How would that affect our current world economy? And that’s how my book Time Will Tell came about. For my novel, On the Edge, there was quite a debate in the papers about how much security should be between the borders of Canada and the U.S. and so I wrote a story about a biological weapon being developed in a private hospital in Africa before being shipped to Canada so it could be smuggled to the U.S. Even in Dangerous Connections, I was reading about certain water supply systems and how vulnerable they are to attack, and I went from there.

You’re a Suspense Novelist, and creating a page-turner... a book we can’t put down, is what it’s all about. Is it difficult finding enough suspense for your novels? Is there a secret to creating a page-turner?

I don’t think it’s difficult to find enough suspense because my novels deal with international issues that are going on in the world today, which I happen to think are suspenseful enough all on their own, so I only have to add a bit more here and there to create something that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Suspense has always been my favorite genre, though, so I get a big payday by creating something that people tell me keeps them up at night. I don’t know if there’s a secret to creating a page-turner. I just love imagining ‘what if’ scenarios and thinking about what I’d do if I were in that situation, even if my heart was pounding and my knees were weak. I always ask myself when I’m writing, if I were this character, could I still do the right thing, even if it were scary or might mean certain death? I don’t know if that makes sense. I would guess that if there is a secret to a page turner, it would be providing enough realism that people can see themselves in that situation and lose themselves in the story and the characters’ lives so much that they just have to turn the page to find out what happens next.

Yes, to provide enough realism is what it takes. What does your family think about your writing?

They are really proud of me. They think it’s exciting to walk into a bookstore and look for my book on the shelf. If I’m under a deadline they’re really good to do the housework and meals for me so I can get things done. I know I couldn’t do it without their support and I’m so glad for the amazing family that I have because I’ve been able to follow my dream of being an author and it’s mostly because of them.

That’s so true, Julie. Without family support, it would be hard to be an author. Tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

When I was twelve years old I got to meet Princess Diana while she was on walkabout in Canada. I got to shake her hand and she asked if it was always this hot in Canada and what time it was. I was so amazed by her and I thought she seemed so fragile and sweet. I told myself I’d never wash the hand that shook hers, but of course I did. Thank you for the interview. You are wonderful!

Oh my gosh!!! Princess Diana? Wow! What a great privilege! Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences with my readers, Julie. It was fun getting to know you.