Juliane Weber's Blog, page 2

An update (at last!)

I've been quiet for the past few weeks and you may have been wondering what I've been up to. Well, I've been pretty busy. For one thing, I'm happy to tell you that I'm making good progress on Beneath the Darkening Clouds, the second book in The Irish Fortune Series. This week I've been looking into Irish myths and folklore for a scene set during the Celtic festival of Lughnasa, which marks the start of the harvest season. I've really enjoyed researching and writing this scene and am looking forward to sharing it with you (I may just post an excerpt in the future).

I've also done some more author interviews, including my first-ever podcast interview, which was a lot of fun! You can listen to my feature on the Hist Fic Chickie podcast ,here. And click ,here to read my interview with The Haphazardous Hippo. As the fantastic blog name would suggest, this was a really fun interview to do and you'll love the way the post has been put together. So head on over to the Hippo and scroll through some great content!

What's also really exciting is that I've started working with a professional publicist to help promote Under the Emerald Sky, the first book in The Irish Fortune Series. I've already learnt a whole lot about the importance of optimising keywords and various other things I'd never thought of before, all of which will hopefully help me reach more readers.

And on the topic of reading, for the opportunity to bag some free books, look out for the Historical Fiction Giveaway on Facebook. The Historical Fiction Cooperative is a group of historical fiction authors who work together to promote each other's work. Some of these authors will be giving away some of their books on 16 July. For the chance to win, follow " target="_blank" >,this link.

Good luck and happy reading!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 14 July 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

I have a title! And may one day also have a second book...

Writing a novel during a global pandemic is quite a challenge. While I could barely be dragged away from my computer when I was working on Under the Emerald Sky, I've had quite a different experience with the second book in The Irish Fortune Series! Besides all the marketing I've been doing for Under the Emerald Sky, I've been significantly hampered in my writing by the dreaded H word: HOMESCHOOLING. With the kids either permanently at home or alternating between home and school (and never both at school at the same time!), I've had very little opportunity to even think about writing, much less the relative peace and quiet necessary to actually do so.

But there's light at the end of the tunnel: normal school hours are supposed to resume in a few days - and will hopefully be back to stay! This would mean that I might actually get on with writing Book 2 at last and may just be able to publish it before the end of the decade (well, hopefully a lot sooner than that but let's see..). Incredibly, though, I already have a working title for the second book! As you may recall, coming up with titles is NOT my strongpoint (see my blog post on that here), so this is actually quite an accomplishment. I had decided that I wanted something similar in rhythm to Under the Emerald Sky and for the title to hint at the onset of the Irish Famine in the second book of the series. And so, Beneath the Darkening Clouds was born. What do you think?

Besides the monumental achievement of naming my second book, I've also done two more interviews. In case you missed them, check them out at The Magic of Wor(l)ds and Nosh with Chef Julie. You may just learn something new about me.

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 28 May 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

How moving halfway across the world turned me into a novelist

Some of you may know by now that I used to live in South Africa before moving back to Germany, the country of my birth, a few years ago. I've had many people ask me about the how and why of this move, so I thought I'd write a blog post about it.

My parents, my sister and I moved from Germany to South Africa when I was four years old. Instead of staying for only a few years, as initially planned, my parents decided that we would settle there, and so sunny South Africa became my home - I went to school and university there, I got married and had my children, my immediate family lived there (including my brother, who was born there), as did many of my friends.

Why would I ever want to leave?

Unfortunately, even though South Africa is a beautiful country, with incredible scenery and wildlife, fantastic weather and food, and friendly people, it's not without its problems. And so, for various reasons, my husband and I made the choice to emigrate. We had contemplated many options but eventually decided on settling in Germany, where all my extended family still lives.

But if you're thinking that it must have been an easy move for me, a native German, you'd be wrong!

First of all, I didn't necessarily want to move but felt that I had to. And although I spoke the local language and had family there to help (especially my sister and brother-in-law, who had moved back the year before and had already been through the initial madness themselves), everything was nevertheless different. I had no idea how most things even worked, which paperwork to fill out for what, where to go to get which things done, not to mention the countless small things that are part and parcel of German life and culture that one is just expected to know. Even things like hobbies are run differently in Germany than we were used to.

Finding myself living in the country of my birth - with two young children and a husband who had to spend most of his time away from home for work - was a shock!

The good thing about this shock was that I suddenly became quite obsessed with writing my first book, something which I had been contemplating for several years (to read more about how my debut novel came about click here). Writing became an excellent distraction for me and I threw myself into my work each day, while trying to make a home for myself and my family in this "foreign" land. With a good bit of time and a great deal of effort, we've managed to achieve just that - we life in a beautiful house in a great neighbourhood, the boys are thriving, and we've found wonderful new friends. Plus, I've published my first novel and am busy writing the second one.

Things could be worse!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 12 May 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

An accidental visit to a brothel - An excerpt from Book 2

Over the past few days, I've been making good progress on the second book of The Irish Fortune Series. I've had such fun writing the latest scene that I thought I'd share a bit of it with you. It takes place in 19th century Dublin, after Quin and his friend Archie have encountered an enemy on the streets, leaving them rather the worse for wear. Contemplating how to get back to their beds, Archie makes a suggestion...

“I have an idea.” Quin turned back towards Archie. Although he couldn’t see his face clearly in the dim light, he thought his friend seemed a little hesitant. “I have…some acquaintances,” he went on cautiously. “If I’ve got my bearings right, I believe the…um…residence shouldn’t be too far from here. We should be able to get a carriage from there.”

“Then let’s go,” Quin said, getting laboriously to his feet and giving Archie a hand. He heaved himself up with a groan, clinging to Quin for support. The two of them staggered out of the small, dark alley, and Archie led them a short distance through the deserted streets until they reached a moderate, plain-looking house. As they climbed the steps to the back entrance, Quin wondered what sorts of acquaintances would receive them beaten and bloodied well past midnight.

To his surprise, Archie’s brisk knock was answered promptly, by a rather fetching middle-aged woman whose welcoming smile turned to a look of horror when she saw who had landed on her doorstep.

“Lieutenant Bellinger!” she cried with a hand to her ample bosom. “What has happened?”

Seeing his friend in the light for the first time, Quin recoiled a little himself. One half of Archie’s face was covered with dark, crusty blood, while the other side was smeared with assorted filth. His hair was plastered to the back of his head with more blood, revealing an egg-sized bump, with the rest sticking up wildly around the sides. As for his clothing…burning it was likely to be the best thing for it.

Looking down at himself, though, Quin realised that he looked no better—and possibly worse.

The woman’s loud exclamation had attracted the attention of the establishment’s other inhabitants. For an establishment it most certainly was, one evidently dealing with matters of the flesh. Quin’s eyes went wide as he took in the appearance of a dozen or so young women, all clad in silky garments that slithered around their nubile bodies. Starting to feel rather dazed, he stared at a red-haired beauty whose dark nipples peeked out from beneath a near-transparent costume as she descended the stairs. He tore his eyes away from the sight and looked towards Archie, blinking stupidly.

His friend grinned, which Quin rather wished he hadn’t as it made him look even more ghastly. Before he could say anything, the madam—or so Quin believed her to be—clapped her hands and started issuing orders, which soon resulted in the two men being driven up the stairs by numerous scantily clad ladies of the night, as the others disappeared back into the surrounding doorways.

“Oh, you poor dears,” one of them tutted, patting Quin on the shoulder.

“We’ll have you right as rain in no time,” another assured him as she led him into a room where a pair of maids was bustling about.

“Um…” Quin looked around for Archie, spotting him on the far side of the room. Before Quin could call out to him, he felt a hand tugging on the hem of his shirt. “What?” He looked down and swatted weakly at the intrusion, but soon felt another, this time on his waistband, while a third pair of hands swiftly undid his stock. “Ah…” He tried to extricate himself from the roving fingers, but his objections went unheard. Before he knew it, they had undressed him to his skin and were ushering him into a large copper bathtub that he hadn’t noticed between the dozens of lanky limbs.

If you want to read more of this section, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer, until Book 2 is finished. In the meantime, if you haven't read it yet, go check out the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, Under the Emerald Sky, which is available now. And remember to leave a review when you're done!

Happy reading!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 30 April 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

Why I've been giving away free copies of my book

You may have noticed that for much of last week, the eBook of Under the Emerald Sky was available to download for free, and you may be wondering why I would give away so many copies. I spent a long time writing the book, don't I value my time and effort? Well, actually, I do and in fact that's part of the reason that I did it. Like most writers, I want people to read my book. But as an unknown author, it can be quite difficult to convince anybody to buy it. Give the book away for free, though? That's another story!

It's a simple way to get more readers. Yes, I didn't make any money from it, but it didn't cost me anything either. Plus, I more than doubled my readership in the few days that the book was available for free - which makes it worthwhile in my opinion. Others have found this to be true too. There are plenty of authors who regularly give away their books, even in huge quantities, including some who have books that are permanently available for free. This works particularly well for book series - get readers hooked with a freebie, then they'll buy the rest ... and hopefully tell their friends.

That's why I have every intention of regularly giving away my book for free. And like I did this time, I will try to combine such giveaways with blog features, interviews or other social media events that I have lined up. Getting more readers is the point, not making more money! So, what sort of impact will this have in the long run? I have no idea, but I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, go check out my recent interview on The Whispering Bookworm here.

And if you didn't get your free eBook of Under the Emerald Sky last week and haven't yet read the book, perhaps reading a sample chapter will convince you to buy a copy. Check out Chapter 6 here.

Happy reading!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 23 April 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

My interview on The Book's Delight

For someone who's new to the book publishing business, it's a wonderful thing to find out that there are many successful authors who are happy to help out others who are just starting out. Thanks to this kind of support, I've had the opportunity to be featured on some popular blogs, which is obviously a great way for people to find out about me and my book. Recently, I did an interview with historical fiction author Jean M. Roberts, which was published on her blog, the The Book's Delight, this week.

Check out the interview here .

While you're there, have a look at some other author interviews and book reviews on the blog, as well as Jean's books, to find your next read.

And if you haven't read Under the Emerald Sky yet, make sure to get your FREE eBook this week.

Happy browsing and happy reading!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 14 April 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

The writing rules I break constantly...and why you should consider breaking some too!

I was a successful writer for some time before becoming a novelist. By successful I mean that I was being paid money to write things, which led me to believe that I was, in fact, good at it. I therefore did not feel the need to do any research on how one goes about writing a novel. And it's a good thing too, because otherwise I probably never would have written one! As it turns out, there are numerous WRITING RULES that one is, apparently, supposed to adhere to when attempting to write a book. Unfortunately, though, several of these rules simply don't work for me. Here are some examples:

Rule 1: You should complete the outline of your book (and preferably the entire series) before writing anything.

If I had adhered to this rule, I would still be staring at an empty computer screen years after deciding to write a book. Never mind an outline, I didn't even have a geographical location or historical time period when I wrote my first scenes, which included characters that I referred to as X and Y. But only once I had written those first few scenes did I start believing that I could write a novel at all. And after that, I wrote scenes as the inspiration came, going back and forth in the manuscript as the story unfolded, with parts of the storyline as surprising to me as any potential readers. I couldn't have come up with an outline if I'd tried, because I simply don't think that way.

Rule 2: You should complete a draft of the entire manuscript before doing any editing.

This is also something that doesn't work for me at all, and never has. I edit as I write, fiddling here and there and going back and forth as I write each section. That's how I've written for as long as I can remember. I simply don't do draft, version 1, version 2, etc. The entire manuscript is a work in progress until I'm happy with it. That's what works for me. I'm not the only writer who daringly breaks a few rules here and there, though. The hugely successful Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series of books and my inspiration, doesn't do drafts and outlines either, so I'm in good company!

As for other writing rules? I stick to some and discard others, which is exactly the advice that I would give to other aspiring novelists. Do whatever works for you. There's no single approach to writing a good book!

While you're contemplating how to write your bestseller, vote ,here for Under the Emerald Sky for cover of the month in the April AllAuthor contest.

My cover was designed by my talented sister, Stephanie Davies. Find her on ,Facebook or ,Instagram for some incredible arts and crafts.

And if you don't have a copy of this month's Mom's Favorite Reads yet, get it now!

Not only am I featured in this issue, but you'll get to enjoy a variety of interesting articles, interviews, photography, puzzles, poems, short stories and more!

Read or download for FREE ,here.

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 7 April 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

Women in science in the 19th century - An excerpt from Book 2

I'm a scientist turned novelist, and so it was quite natural for me to include a bit of science in my writing. I've enjoyed searching through old scientific articles to find interesting bits of trivia to add to my books, and I thought I would share some of what I've been working on lately. The scene below is from the second book in The Irish Fortune Series, where Alannah meets a doddering old Englishman, who informs her that there are, in fact, women in science in the mid-19th century. I hope you enjoy it!

“Hm…hm…ah yes, there’s Mary Anning, of course!” he declared finally, with some excitement at having remembered a name at last. “She’s famed for the excavation of many fossil finds.” He nodded at me enthusiastically. "In fact, I believe she’s been credited with one of the most complete skeletons ever dug up. Now what was the creature called? Something with a P, I think. Ply…, Plo…, oh, I forget. Never mind,”—he flipped a hand dismissively—“in any case, her discoveries had quite a few tongues wagging some years ago, I’ll have you know.” [...] “But you’ll want to hear about other women scientists, won’t you?” he asked after a moment. I nodded. “Hm…let me think. I’m fairly sure there are more…”—he wrinkled his brow—“in fact, I know there are. But…I can’t seem to think of any just now.” He sounded rather surprised, and a little irritated, at this admission. He leaned towards me, one sharp grey moustache end coming dangerously close to my face. “A most unfortunate consequence of aging,” he informed me slowly, raising his brows for emphasis, “is that the brain no longer works as well as it once did.” He sighed. “Ah…but what is to be done about it?” He shrugged his shoulders, and I patted his arm reassuringly, thinking that his brain must still be working quite well, judging by all that he had been able to tell me over the past half hour. The old man took an absent sip of his sherry, perhaps to aid thought. If that had indeed been his aim, it seemed to have worked, as he suddenly exclaimed “Ada Lovelace” at high volume, making me jump and several panicked faces turn in our direction. Seeing nothing untoward, they soon returned to their own conversations, only to be thoroughly startled once more a moment later, as Sir Linklater yelled, “And Anna Atkins. Ha! Take that, old age!” I laughed at the sight of the old man standing with a fist raised in triumph, grinning from ear to ear, and the bewildered faces that surrounded him. “Ada Lovelace and Anna Atkins,” he repeated, beaming, “how could I forget?” He slapped himself on the forehead. “Ada Lovelace—a countess you know and most gifted mathematician, by all accounts.” He nodded vigorously, making me smile. “And Anna Atkins,” he continued enthusiastically. “Oh, you would find her book so very fascinating, as did I. I have a friend you know—well, a friend of a friend, really—in any case, this friend is most frightfully interested in plants and such. And he managed to obtain a copy of Anna Atkin’s book—not an easy feat, by any means, since there are so few available—and he showed it to me. And how very interesting it was too. Not because of all the algae themselves, oh no—Miss Atkins examined the different algae in the British Isles, you see—but because of the pictures contained in the book.” He paused and raised his bushy brows at me for emphasis. “What were the pictures like?” I asked, riveted. “Cyanotype impressions, they were,” Sir Linklater pronounced slowly with an air of pride. “Now why can I remember that, but not the lady’s name?” He looked at me in some bewilderment before flipping his wrist and continuing. “Photographs—pictures so very life-like that it seemed to me that the specimens must be embedded in the paper itself!” “Really?” I said, fascinated.

If you want to read more of this section, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer, until Book 2 is finished. In the meantime, if you haven't read it yet, go check out the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, Under the Emerald Sky, which is available now. And remember to leave a review when you're done!

by Juliane Weber (@Writer_JW) 31 March 2021 [subscribe on the main blog page]

About Juliane Weber

Juliane is a scientist, turned medical writer, turned novelist. Her debut historical novel, Under the Emerald Sky, is the first book in The Irish Fortune Series, which is set in 19th century Ireland around the time of the Great Famine.

Buy the book here, or visit Juliane’s website to find out more.

He's come to Ireland to escape his past. She's trying to run from her future.

Want to lend a helping hand? Then write a review!

One of the things I've discovered on my publishing journey is the importance of reviews. I must admit that I never thought much about writing reviews before, largely because I couldn't fully appreciate their importance. Trying to promote a book, though, I have found that reviews are vital to improving sales. When potential readers see that a book has a good rating and positive reviews, they are more likely to read it themselves. It's logical, of course, as the reviews are (hopefully) endorsements of the product, but there's more to it than that. For books being sold on Amazon, for example, the more reviews a book has, the more likely it is to show up in searches of similar books, too. This naturally increases exposure and the likelihood of the book being picked up by more readers.

Unfortunately, it's not such a simple matter to actually get those reviews, as most people just don't write them. And then there are readers who do want to write a review but can't because they don't qualify according to Amazon's review policies, for example, because they haven't spent the minimum amount of money required. Another challenge is that reviews are not necessarily shared across all Amazon sites, so in my case, I have different reviews and ratings on Amazon.com, .co.uk and .de, making it even more difficult to get a large number of reviews on any one platform.

But here's what you can do to help me and other authors you may know:

*If you've read a book and enjoyed it, post a review on Amazon, goodreads or other bookish sites (to readers buying from non-English Amazon sites, post the review in English if possible, to increase sharing to other platforms).

*If you don't qualify to write a review or haven't read the book yourself because it's just not your cup of tea (and that's ok!), you can still tell your friends about it or give it as a gift to someone who would find it interesting.

*Hit the share button when you come across a snippet promoting the book on Facebook or retweet a post on Twitter.

Doing a few of these little things can help writers reach more potential readers, and ultimately sell more books. But, of course, this kind of promotion isn't limited to authors. There are lots of creative people in the world, trying to get their work noticed, as well as small businesses, wanting to carve out a niche for themselves in a crowded market. Reviews and social media sharing are indispensable for these individuals and businesses, who depend on ratings and word of mouth to grow.

So, if you see something you love, bought a great product or received fantastic service, share it with the people you know. It doesn't cost you a thing.

by Juliane Weber (@UnderEmeraldSky) 24 March 2021

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the 19th century!

It's the 17th of March, which means the world is turning green in celebration of Ireland's patron saint. Patrick, who lived in the 5th century, is often credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland, even though this wasn't precisely the case. He did, however, have a substantial impact on the religion's spread, incorporating Irish culture and language to convert a large number of the remaining pagans.

Although none of the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebrations are taking place this year, there's no reason why you shouldn't celebrate at home. Here are a few ideas:

- Tune in to an online event to enjoy an evening of Irish dancing and traditional music.

- Put on your apron and try out some St. Patrick's Day recipes.

- Read up on the history of St. Patrick's Day and the saint himself.

- Take a fun quiz to see what you've learnt.

- And, my favourite, check out some of the famous landmarks that have been turned green in honour of St. Patrick.

Click here to get started. And when the celebrations have come to an end, why not travel to the Emerald Isle in a good book, perhaps one set in the 19th century? With the luck of the Irish, you may even win an e-book in one of my giveaways.

To enter, find me on Bookworms Anonymous today, go to my Twitter profile and check out my pinned tweet, or simply subscribe to my blog.

Best of luck!

by Juliane Weber (@UnderEmeraldSky) 17 March 2021

PS. In case you missed it, check out my feature on DK Marley's Hist Fic Chickie blog here.