Interview with Romantic/Suspense Author Julie Bellon

Julie is married with eight children and eleven published books. Her novel All Fall Down won the RONE award for Best Suspense and her novel Pocket Full of Posies won a RONE Honorable Mention for Best Suspense. She loves to travel and her favorite cities she has visited so far are Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She would love to visit Hawaii, Australia, Ireland, and Scotland someday. She loves to read, write, teach, watch Castle, Hawaii Five-O, and eat Canadian chocolate---not necessarily in that order.

Welcome back to my blog, Julie. You have four books in the Hostage Negotiation Team series: All Fall Down, Ashes Ashes, Pocket Full of Posies, and Ring Around the Rosie. Each is a “stand-alone” story. Please tell us about the last book.

Ring Around the Rosie is the Captain's story and it explores how his life gets turned upside down when his ex-wife is caught in a hostage situation with him.  Can the intense experience rekindle their feelings for each other? Here's the back cover copy for this one:

Revenge is a dish best served cold . . .

As the ex-wife of a law enforcement officer, Sarah Reed has known loneliness and loss. In order to cope, she makes a life for herself that's full of routine while building a wall of ice around her heart. Everything about her is as predictable as she can make it until a tiny detour for her ex-husband, Ron, changes her life forever. Caught in a bomb crisis, Sarah is taken hostage by a man who wants Ron and everyone around him to suffer---and his idea of suffering is more terrible than Sarah had ever dreamed.

Captain Ron Reed has seen the worst of humanity in his job with the Hostage Negotiation Team, but he never expected his past to come back with a vengeance---literally. Aaron Starks, a criminal explosives expert, has stolen next-gen bomb technology and uses it to force Ron to bargain for the lives of his team and his ex-wife, Sarah, the woman he still loves. But the situation escalates when Ron discovers that Starks has an even bigger objective in mind---using the bomb to show how vulnerable America and her people truly are.

Ron is willing to risk everything to save his country and those he loves, but when negotiations break down, will his sacrifice be too little too late?

My husband has read your first three in this series and really loves them. Where did you get your inspiration for this series?

I loved the idea of a Hostage Negotiation Team dynamic and how their personal lives would be affected by their jobs. I also read a lot of newspapers and current events jump out at me. My imagination takes over as I see how different characters could react in those situations and the stories just went from there.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

I have the privilege of interviewing several different law enforcement officials. I read tons of hostage negotiation transcripts. I feel like I researched every last detail from guns to bombs and bullet resistant wall panels down to the schematics of hotels, diners, and sub-basements.  I did a lot of research for this book and learned so much that never made it into the story! Maybe I should do outtakes sometime. That might be fun.

 You love to write romance/suspense. What intrigues you most about writing these stories?

I've always been attracted to this genre and what it means to want to protect your country or other people and how that balances with the instinct to protect those you love. I admire our military and law enforcement heroes and feel like there are so many stories to be told in what they deal with and how it affects them.  Their stories inspire my imagination and how I would feel in those circumstances and what I would do.  Of course I like the romance aspect because who doesn't want to have a little of that in their life?

Here are the covers for each of Julie's books in this series. 

I love learning about authors and the inspiration behind what they write. It has always intrigued me. I hope my readers will check out your books. Julie is having another contest in which she is giving away $30 Amazon gift card, A Booklovers Basket with three novels, a fuzzy new blanket and gourmet hot chocolate, or a copy of all four of the Hostage Negotiation Team series at http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com/2014/09/ring-around-rosie-blog-tour-kickoff.html.

My readers find Julie at:

My website is www.juliebellon.com

Twitter: @juliebellon

Pinterest: juliebellon8

Blog: http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieCoulterBellon