Replacing Gentry by Julie N. Ford Tour Kick Off

Posted on March 7, 2013 Written by Inspired Kathy

Author Julie N. Ford

Julie N. Ford graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in Political Science and a minor in English Literature. In addition, she has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama. Professionally, she has worked in teaching and as a Marriage & Family Counselor. She is the author of two women’s fiction novels, The Woman He Married and No Holly for Christmas, published in 2011. In addition, she wrote a romance/chick-lit novel, Count Down to Love, also published in 2011. Count Down to Love was a 2011 Whitney Award finalist. Her next novel, Replacing Gentry, is due for release April 9th, 2013.

Currently, she lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, two daughters and one hedgehog.

Website?*?Facebook?*?Twitter

Interview
If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?
Elvis Costello, Kristin Hannah, Kevin Spacey, President Monson and President Obama.

If you could have any superpower what would you choose?
I’d just like to be better at coma placement. Seriously, the ability to punctuate correctly could be considered a superpower for someone like me. And I’m jealous of those people who can spell even the most obscure word off the top of their head. As an amateur gardener, I’d like the power to make plants grow. Like that redhead in the movie, Sky High, I want to be able to conjure up plants whenever and wherever I want them—make the world beautiful and green.

One food you would never eat?
A bug or anything insect related. I don’t like bugs. I don’t like to smash them. I certainly don’t want to put one in my mouth, chew and swallow. Except spiders. I don’t mind spiders if they’re small, not poisonous and not crawling on me. But I don’t want to eat them either. I won’t pulverize a spider unless it leaves me no choice. Spiders get relocated back outside.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
My current WIP is a women’s fiction best described as The Graduate meets Steel Magnolias.
As for the future, I have a few other novel ideas, including a follow-up to Replacing Gentry. And my husband has been after me for a while now to write a screenplay. We’ll see.

What inspired you to want to become a writer?
I never “decided” to become a writer per se. I’ve always had stories in my head that I would play around with, but never really considered turning any of them into a novel. Then, about five years ago, I had just finished chemotherapy treatments for Lymphoma when we moved to a new city. I didn’t know anyone, my girls were in school and I was at home waiting for my hair to grow back when the dialogue and narration for my first novel started coming to me—insistent, almost, that I let it out. I thought I might as well go ahead and write some. So one day I sat down at the computer and started my first chapter. A friend of mine, Gail, agreed to read it and encouraged me to keep going. So I guess you could say that she, along with my husband and my first editor, Heather, inspired me.

If you could jump in to a book and live in that world, which would it be?
Specifically, a David Baldacci book called, One Summer. It’s about a family who moves to a beach house in North Carolina. Generally, any book set in a beach community from Nantucket to Georgia. I regularly entertain misguided delusions that living on the Atlantic coast would make a much better writer.

You have won one million dollars what is the first thing that you would buy?
An Audi TT. I like to drive really fast!

Which authors have influenced you most how?
Kristin Hannah. She is my favorite women’s fiction author. I love her stories, characters and writing style. Second would be Sophie Kinsella. Mostly Kinsella’s earlier writing. I think her novels, Can You Keep a Secret, and, The Undomestic Goddess, are so funny. I like to mix these two styles when I write. Heartfelt stories about women with pops of humor.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?
As soon as I figure out what I want to be when I grow up, y’all will be the first to know. I have too many interests and not enough focus. Teaching, social work, family therapy and then of course, writing. I’d also like to work in hospice and with unwed mothers/teens, do some crisis counseling and be a college professor. If only I didn’t have to sleep.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I jumped from an airplane at 13,000 feet. Not tandem. Free-fall. And I’d do it again. I’m also open to Base Jumping. I have a terrible fear of heights and at the same time, feel the need to hurl myself into oblivion—as long as I have parachute attached to my back.

What’s your favorite word?
Nefarious. To me, nefarious says sneaky, mischievous, and get ready for the unexpected.

Replacing Gentry

When Marlie agrees to attend a cadaver ball at Vanderbilt Medical School, she did not expect to actually see any cadavers. Or, that a strange apparition would issue her a chilling message.

Despite the cadaver’s warning, Marlie is married a year later to Tennessee State Senator, Daniel Cannon, and living in a plantation-style mansion with two step sons. Add to the mix her growing suspicion that something is amiss with the death of Daniel’s first wife, Gentry; and newlywed Marlie is definitely in over her pretty Yankee head.

What begins as an innocent inquiry into her new husband’s clouded past, ends with Marlie in the midst of a dangerous conspiracy.

A modern twist on the classic Gothic romance novels of Rebecca and Jane Eyre, Replacing Gentry follows Marlie’s precarious journey as she learns the truth about the man she married.

Replacing Gentry will be released on April 9th

Preorder on?Amazon

Tour Giveaway
$50 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Open to US only
Ends 4/30/13

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Tour Schedule

March 8th
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer – Kick Off

March 11th
Literary Time Out – Review

March 13th
My Book A Day – Review

March 15th
Min Reads and Reviews – Review

March 19th
Jinky is Reading – Review

March 21st
My Devotional Thoughts – Review & Guest Post or Tens List

March 26th
New Adult Fiction?– Review & Guest Post or Tens List

March 28th
Reader Girls – Review & Guest Post/Tens List