I live in central Illinois with my wonderful husband and three kids currently between the ages of 7 and 12 (the kids not the husband). My writing journey began in May, 2009 with a short story in a notebook.
Within a year, I had written seven (some good some God-awful) young adult novels. Not being a college graduate and having spent the previous fifteen years teaching gymnastics and working as a YMCA Program Director for Recreational Gymnastics, professional writing wasn't in my plans. Not even close. But ever since the day I started that short story, I haven't been able to stop. It was love at first sight.
After about a year of writing, I had a three book deal with St. Martin's Press, and a film option with Summit Entertainment. Crazy, right? I know. It wasn't until August of 2011 that I quit working full time in order to be at home with my kids more and of course, write more. My young adult time travel debut novel, Tempest, released on January 17, 2012. The rest of my personal story remains unwritten.
A blog post from Julie Cross:
I wanted my exclusive content to not be a spoiler for those who haven’t read Tempest but also somewhat interesting material for those have read the book.
So, I’ve included an entry from the diary of Holly Flynn, my main character Jackson Meyer’s main love interest in the trilogy. Holly’s diary entries are not part of the actual series. It was more of a writing exercise gone mad for me and now the page count is well on it’s way to 400 pages. This entry falls the day after Jackson and Holly had their first kiss (which is a scene included in Tempest). If you check out my YouTube channel, I've actually recorded myself reading the first three entries in Holly’s diary. (also see below)
Just a little set up: These entries written by Holly take place during her final months of high school and the summer when she takes a camp counselor position, computing from New Jersey to NYC everyday where she meets fellow counselor and Upper East Sider and secret time traveler, Jackson Meyer.
An exclusive glimpse at Jackson Meyer's Agent training diary from Vortex . . .
Tempest Agent Training Diary
17 March 2009 Location: Unknown. Somewhere in the Middle East
Adam,
I’m still keeping this journal for you even though I’ll probably never give it to you. It’s better if I don’t, but sometimes life doesn’t go how I want it to, and if I’ve learned anything from you, it’s to be prepared for the worst. I’m keeping it safe in a lockbox given to me by Dr Melvin that only opens with my fingerprints.
The desert sucks. Hot as hell during the day, cold at night. I’m sharing a tent with a seventeen-year-old whose first training assignment was to collate a file on every girl I’d ever dated. Awkward. I can’t imagine myself being interested in any of them now – it’s like a different person lived that part of my life.
Learned the Tempest mission statement today, though I doubt they have a brochure to advertise this on: ‘Tempest is devoted to protecting the world from the alterations of
our past, present and future through unnatural or unethical methods. When dealing with technological advancements, Tempest is also looking out for the best interest of not only the American people, but the human race.’
There are no more articles to view.