Blog Tour Stop: A Place In This Life Author Interview

Hey guys! welcome to maji bookshelf's stop in the "A Place In This Life" blog tour! Today I have the author behind this novel, Julie Duck, with us for an author interview! Find out what inspired her to write this novel and why she chose to write realistic novels.

1.I've read that A Place In This Life is based on real events. What made you write a novel based on real events than on fiction?

The story for A Place In This Life was always in my heart, ever since the summer of 1984 when I first met the real Todd. After that brief relationship, I wrote a 20-page account of what happened and filed it away in a notebook. In 2008, when I thought I may have thyroid cancer, I took that notebook out and read the story… and wondered what would have happened if I had stayed with him? This was a personal journey I wanted to take, and a story I wanted people to know because it is so unusual… and heartbreaking. Life is often better than fiction.


2. It seems like your novels are very realistic, such as A Place In This Life and SWELL, and are about problems that some teens might face, what gave you the inspiration or motivation to write about such hard and complicated relationships?
Because I know what these relationships are like, to an extent. While the stories I write are based off of relationships I may have had, as well as experiences, they are not verbatim. In a way, it is cathartic to write real, edgy stories because it gives me an outlet for the pain and loneliness I experienced as a teenager. And, in a way, I hope that it helps another teenager. These subjects are timeless, and any teen going through something similar will want to know that someone else has gone before them and come through okay.


3. Who is your favorite character? Todd or Alex? and who did you have more fun writing?Todd, by far, is my favorite. The real person he is based on was sassy, brash and tough. Real, biting dialogue is my favorite thing about writing YA fiction, and being able to write Todd’s dialogue was like therapy.

4. Are you planning on writing more realistic novels? or will you be exploring other genres?
Oh yes! In addition to A Place In This Life and SWELL, I have little rooms (the good girl gets with a thief and her whole life plan takes a sharp turn), and a male POV novella, The Joy & Torture of Joshua James (one guy, two sisters next door and he’s not sure which is the crazy one). I do have an adult novel that is half-written called Limerence – I am keeping the subject under wraps for now, but hope to get back to writing this after I finish the novella. 

Find Julie Duck here: