Julie Lence, Author

Julie was born and raised in upstate New York. She married her high school sweetheart and accompanied him on his twenty-year career with the United States Air Force. Presently, she resides in the Pikes Peak region, where she’s a stay-at-home mom enjoying a career writing western historical romance.

Throughout her school years, Julie enjoyed reading and writing. A friend introduced her to the romance genre in the late 80’s and she was instantly hooked, crediting Judith McNaught and Johanna Lindsey as her inspirations to pen her own novels. As she puts it, Ms. McNaught’s voice is flawless and Ms. Lindsey’s Malory family is endearing and addictive. Combining her fondness for horses, John Wayne and the television series, Dallas, Julie has settled into writing about cowboys, outlaws and the ‘old west’.

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Royce Weston knows firsthand women are exceptional liars, especially the one who cheated him at the poker table and then wormed her way into his family’s good graces by claiming amnesia. Since Paige didn’t heed his advice to leave town, he reasons a bit of “friendly” persuasion is needed to send her packing from Wooded Acres. But when she matches him trick for trick and has his ranch hands jumping to please her, Royce knows he’s met his match. A simpering miss she is not. Sassy and daring; if only she’d give him a reason to trust her. Paige knows Royce wants her gone, but she’s convinced he knows something about her past. Until he tells her, she isn’t going anywhere. Matching wits with him isn’t all that hard, especially when she discovers there’s more to him than bark and brawn. If she tames this rough and tough cowboy, she’ll enjoy a reward better than any poker ante. And any girl will tell you, it’s not how she play the cards, it’s the Luck of the Draw that counts.

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NOW FROM JULIE

Hello Linda: Thank you for having me as your guest today. For those who don’t know me, I’m western historical romance author, Julie Lence. To date, I have self-published 7 novels and 2 short Christmas stories.

Writing romance is not a career I would have chosen when I was a young. Like many little girls, I wanted to be a teacher. In my teens, I wanted to be a secretary. I was taking shorthand classes in high school and enjoyed them. But then, I married young and entered the work force in the accounting field, mostly working for banking institutions and the Air Force. It wasn’t until I began reading Judith McNaught and Johanna Lindsey did I contemplate a career writing romance.

The road to becoming published was long and filled with trial and error. I first began writing contemporary romance then switched to western historical. Why? Because I read somewhere to write ‘what I know and what I love’. I love horses, and knew some things about them. I also love cowboys and ranch houses, thanks to John Wayne’s western movies. Covered wagons and stagecoaches, old towns and sawdust on a saloon floor, and a good gun battle top my list of favorites. I also had a love for the television show ‘Dallas’. The family bond, along with the backstabbing and romance kept me engrossed weekly.

Initially, incorporating all of these things was easy for me. At the time, I didn’t know the term ‘world building’ but that’s exactly what I was doing when I created the Weston Family. Like Dallas, the Westons live on the family ranch, with plenty of horses. Also like Dallas, I created three brothers, Lucas, Royce and Creel. Unlike Dallas, the brothers didn’t stab each other in the back, but they did wrestle and argue  amongst themselves, and they had a rival family in the Jansens. To further fuel my passions, I set the series back in the old west. Fictional Coyote, Colorado was born, complete with Sam’s saloon. Poker and gambling found their way into the stories, as two of my females played cards as a means of survival.

World building within a series requires time, devotion and a notebook to keep plot points and characters in order. But it’s also fun and rewarding. The Westons started with a ranch and expanded to San Francisco, a fictional town in Texas and the eastern slopes of the continental divide as a fourth story was born and recently released.

Some other things I enjoy when not writing are family, home, exploring the old west and meeting fans of the romance genre. You can find me on Facebook, Google and Goodreads. Stop by and say hello, ask a question or tell me something you like about cowboys and the old west. Chaps and Wranglers come to mind. Stetsons and a slow drawl, too. I’ll be sure to respond back.

Julie