Finally! I'm a Real Author! by Julie Hyzy

Born and raised in Chicago, Julie Hyzy knew she wanted to be a writer from the time she was old enough to hold a pencil. But life kept her busy and it wasn't until about 2002 she was able to make writing a priority. Now, the author of several award-winning short stories, Julie has also won awards and critical acclaim for many of her novels.

Julie writes the White House Chef Mysteries, featuring Ollie Paras who feeds the First Family and saves the world in her spare time. The first book in that series, State of the Onion, won an Anthony Award and a Barry Award at Bouchercon in 2009. The novel also garnered a Lovey (Love is Murder Readers' Choice Award).

Julie's newest series - the Manor of Murder Mysteries - begins with Grace Under Pressure which earned a *starred* review in Publshers Weekly.

Julie's books include:
Artistic License (standalone romantic suspense)

Alex St. James series:
Deadly Blessings
Deadly Interest

White House Chef Mysteries:
State of the Onion
Hail to the Chef
Eggsecutive Orders
Buffalo West Wing (January 2011)

Manor of Murder Mysteries:
Grace Under Pressure

Please visit Julie's website at www.juliehyzy.com

Finally! I’m a Real Author!

by Julie Hyzy

I started writing when I was about six years old. My mom, bless her soul, saved quite a few of my first attempts at novel writing and they are the source of much hilarity around my house these days. My kids—trying to make me feel good?—have even said that maybe, if I ever get really famous, these folded-notebook-paper tales (with accompanying artwork!) will be worth something someday. Gee, thanks, kids!

But… I didn’t feel like a real author at age six. Nor at age eleven, even when I started writing my Mary King Mystery stories. Watch out, Nancy Drew, I thought. I planned to be published by the time I was twelve.

Didn’t happen.

My first real novel came out in 2004. Although I’m still quite proud of it, it had quite a few flaws. And I learned a lot. Still… one novel… did that make me a real author? Nope.

Something was missing. Something big.

Fast forward: Here I am in the middle of 2010, and my eighth book, Grace Under Pressure, was released last week. Finally, I feel like a real author! But not because of the new book’s release. Nope. It’s because in the fall of 2009 I finally achieved something momentous. And I’ll bet you can guess what that is…

I got a cat.

Everybody knows that writers and cats go together. Especially mystery writers and cats. But even when I was little I knew there would be no felines in my future. My dad said, “No cats!” and when I got married, my husband said, “No cats!” How could I ever be a real writer with such limitations?

From the time we were married my husband let it be known that we would never have a cat in our house. His family hated them and he professed to hate them too (note the use of the word: “professed”). My cat requests became a bit of a joke because we knew that it was probably the only argument he consistently won. And that made him feel very good.

Every six months or so, I’d remind him of his ongoing triumph and we’d have an interchange that went something like this:

“I’m a writer, I need a cat. Can we get one?”

“No.”

“Okay, you win.”

Dogs are great. I love dogs and when our beloved lab/mix, K’Ehleyr (it’s Klingon) left us last summer, I was devastated. No more pets, I vowed. It hurts too much when you lose them.

It was about that point I decided to stop my humorous pleas for a cat. Just wasn’t funny anymore.

And that’s when Kitka entered our lives.

My middle daughter happened across two sister strays up at school. She couldn’t keep them up there and none of the overcrowded local shelters would take them. My eldest daughter adopted the all-black one, but that left the tiny tuxedo cat we’d named Kitka (from the original Adam West Batman movie). My husband and I agreed to keep Kitka for a week until our daughter could find her a home. 

That was last September…

Now Kitka sits on my lap as I type, crawls into an empty box atop my desk for afternoon naps, and paws pitifully at the door when I close it to take important phone calls. She’s a cutie and I’m nuts about her. My husband, the professed cat-hater, rassles with her when he gets home at night, pets her on his lap as we watch TV and constantly says, “I didn’t know cats were so friendly. I didn’t know they had personalities.” Of course, he has been known to call Kitka by another name: Pita-cat. Pita being short for pain-in-the—youknowwhat. To be fair, Kitka can get into trouble… but most of the time even the trouble makes us laugh.

So thank you, Kitka! Finally, finally, I’m a real author. And now I even feel qualified enough to give one of my protagonists a cat as a pet. If you pick up Grace Under Pressure, you’ll meet Grace. But it isn’t until her next adventure, the one I’m writing right now, that you’ll meet Bootsie…

Woo-hoo! I’m a real author now!