Interview & Giveaway with Julia Madeleine, author of No One To Hear You Scream

In upstate New York, Brett and Pamela Jameson find the house of their dreams on twenty acres of land. Bucolic and serene, it is the answer to all of their prayers. But their dream soon turns into a nightmare when violent ex-gang member Rory Madden, the property’s former owner returns, and will stop at nothing to reclaim the home he lost to foreclosure. Rory unearths the secrets hidden within the Jameson family, and begins to leverage his knowledge to slowly drive wedges between them. When their seventeen year-old daughter Justine falls prey to Rory’s advances, she becomes a co-conspirator, setting about a series of increasingly treacherous events that could forever tear the Jameson family apart. A terrifying odyssey into the dark side of the American dream, No One to Hear You Scream captures the fear of the modern middle-class, the alienation of those left out, and the heart-stopping terror at the realization that it can all be taken away in an instant.

1. Can you tell us your inspiration for No One To Hear You Scream?

In 2008 my family and I bought a country house in foreclosure on a 30 acre, wooded property out in the middle of nowhere. Shortly after moving in we found ourselves on the receiving end of the former owner’s wraith, still angry over losing his house. We were targeted with vandalism and when it began to escalate we called the police to report it. The police were the ones who told us they believed it was the former owner. Apparently he was well know to them. That night I had a dream—a nightmare—where a guy was standing at the end of my driveway with a shotgun and he wanted me out of the house. From this image my character, Rory Madden, was born. And I constructed the story around him.

A year later we sold the house and moved back to the city where I can honestly say I feel a lot safer, being within screaming distance of my neighbours.

2. What do you think makes your story different or unique to others in the market?

I think what makes it unique is that the main character, Justine Jameson, is a seventeen-year-old girl, and new mother, suffering from a rare mental condition brought on by child birth, known as post partum psychosis. Things take a bad turn when she becomes involved with, Rory Madden, an ex-gang member with his own agenda, who feeds into that psychosis by offering to help her murder her parents.

3. What does a typical writing day include for you?

I’m a night owl so that’s when I do my best writing. I like to drink wine when I write. Red because it’s suppose to be good for you. But not a lot, two glasses at the most. On a good day, when nothing else is holding me hostage, I typically write from about eight o’clock at night until one or two in the morning.

4. Does some of the stuff you write about, actually scare you?

Most definitely. I’m currently working on a new manuscript that’s scaring the hell out of me. I got the idea from another nightmare I had that woke me out of a sound sleep (not that I have a lot of them). Naturally my first thought was, what a great story that would make. Then my second thought was, no I could never write that, it’s way too scary, like Silence Of The Lambs scary. But when I told my husband about it he insisted I needed to write it. So with a little push from him, that’s exactly what I’m doing and it’s going extremely well. I’m glad I listened to him. But it is freaking me out a bit. The other day at work I saw a truck parked outside exactly like the bad guy in my story drives around in and I actually stopped when I saw it and gasped. My husband laughs at me, so that helps to keep things in perspective.

5. Is there anything you find particularly challenging when you’re writing?

Really that would be finding enough time to write. Although I write everyday, it’s challenging not neglecting other things in my life that are important to me. I could sit all day at my computer and be quite content, fully immersed in my story but there’s always other things vying for my time and attention, like cooking dinner, going to the gym, going to work (I run a tattoo shop with my husband), making time for my family. I’ve also given up hobbies that I love like sewing, and painting, and while I still do gardening it’s on a much smaller scale, simply because my writing is just all-consuming. I would love to start making jewellery too but I’d need to be more than one person for that.

6. What’s next on the table for Julia Madeleine?

That would be the current manuscript I’m working on that’s scaring the hell out of me. I hope to have the first draft finished in the next couple of weeks.

7. What are you reading now?

I’m always reading several books at the same time. I review books as well. Currently I’m reading Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by John McFetridge, Mountains Of Smoke by Frank Duffy, and I’m looking forward to starting Cold Light by Jen Ashworth. I’m also reviewing Prophecy by S.J. Parris.

8. Describe yourself in three words.

Ah, you ask the tough questions Sheree! I really had to give this some thought. It’s not every day I’m asked this. I would say I’m passionate, creative, and crazy.

9. If you could be dropped into any book as a character who would you be and why?

Oh, that would be Alice In Wonderland! She has the most fantastic adventures.

10. Tell us about the song on your book trailer.

The song on my book trailer is called Forsaken and it’s one of my husband Fabien’s original songs that he wrote. That’s him singing. And while I might be a bit bias, he’s got an amazing voice. I wanted to use one of his songs and that one just felt like it could have been written for my book. It works perfectly for the mood of the story.

Visit Julia Madeleine's website to find out more about this author and her work.

Thanks so much to Julia for answering my questions today, I'm always fascinated when an author's inspiration comes from a nightmare or their own traumatic experience.  As a fan of suspense/thriller & horror stories I love a good "poop your pants" scary read and I've often thought that some of my nightmares would make a good story (although they usually consist of mutant cockroaches, spiders and mice ... so maybe not) 
PS. Julia, how cool your hubby's song is used for the book trailer and you're right, his voice is pretty awesome!

GIVEAWAY:

I'm thrilled to be able to offer 2 copies of No One To Hear You Scream to readers of my blog.

1 hard copy US/Canada

1 eBook copy International

Leave a comment with a question for Julia or tell us about a nightmare that could be inspiration for a story. Don't forget to include an email address.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

+1 for followers of my blog (mention in your comment)

+2 post about this give-away on twitter or your blog & leave a link.

+2 leave a comment on any book review.

Competition ends 28th June and the winner will be announced on my blog.