Good Morning Monday ~ Interview with Julie Bozza and me!

An interview that turned into a conversation between N.R. Walker, author of Imago, and Julie Bozza, author of Butterfly Hunter, in which we talk about butterflies, Australia, and other transformative matters.

Julie: Congratulations on your new novel Imago ! What was it that inspired you to write this story?

N.R.: I was scouting pre-made cover sites about a year beforehand (it’s my go-to procrastination hobby LOL) and found the striking cover with the butterfly. I had to have it, even though I didn’t have a story, or even an idea for one, at that point.

Twelve months later, when I was travelling around the US, I had a scene come to me of a guy at an airport who was going to miss an important meeting because there was a car-rental error, so another guy offers him a lift, and thus, the two characters meet.

I let that play around in my head for a bit, had descriptions, character names, all I needed was occupations… then I remembered the butterfly cover I’d bought, and presto!! Lawson was a lepidopterist! Then the whole story fell into place. It was perfect! But the idea of him being a butterfly expert was never paramount to my planning. It was the cover I found that set the whole thing into motion.

N.R.: How about you? What was the inspiration behind Butterfly Hunter?

Julie: I was going to say that I also had an odd source of inspiration for my story, but then I thought that maybe inspiration by its very nature is always somewhat unexpected.

My source was a throwaway remark by a kind person on Goodreads, who said she liked my writing so much that she’d read anything by me, even a story about two men chasing butterflies. She meant it as the most unlikely scenario possible from someone who’d written The Definitive Albert J. Sterne, and I took it as such and chuckled. But then of course a moment later I began thinking, well, how would that be…? I soon realised the idea would be a good match with a pair of characters who were already developing in my head, and it was perhaps a chance to write about an Australian setting – and from there it was as if the Muse was dictating the story to me. I love it when that happens!

Julie: What is the significance of butterflies to your characters or the story? Why butterflies and not … whales?

N.R.: LOL I know!! Truly it was the cover. But it suited Lawson’s quiet nature. I knew Jack was big and outdoorsy, the opposite of Lawson, but perfect for him in every way. As I decided on his career as a lepidopterist, his character growth arc became more prevalent to me. As Jack describes in Imago, Lawson started out like a caterpillar – head down, working hard, then tests himself until he’s finally able to let his wings show. That sounds really corny, but in my mind’s eye, that’s how I see Lawson.

But a book about whales is a great idea… *ponders the possibilities*