Added Value Techniques to Augment Your Readers' Experience with USA Today Bestselling Author Julie Hall

USA Today best selling and award winning author Julie Hall is visiting ThrillWriting to talk about ways she engages her reading community in the stories she writes. 

Julie, please give our readers a snapshot of the background you bring to your work.

Julie -

I have a business degree, but when I graduated I didn't go the traditional business route like most of my classmates. Instead my first job out of school was working at a national news show. 

I went on to work in television production at The National Geographic Channel, and shifted over to working in their marketing and publicity department. After that, I became a film publicist and worked for some of the biggest studios in Hollywood helping to market and promote their new releases. 

So I spent a lot of time in the entertainment business thinking of what would enhance the viewers experience.

Fiona - 
Give us a glimpse at the kind of books you like to write are you in one genre or several?

Julie - 
I'm about to wrap up my first series, which is a young adult fantasy series about a girl who gets assigned to fight demons in the afterlife.

I love to write books with a fantasy and supernatural element to them. It is so much fun to be able to dive into worlds of your own creation. With fantasy novels you can break all the rules . . . as long as you explain to the reader what the new rules are. I love that! It allows me to escape to new places and take the reader with me. 

I've traveled quite a bit and lived overseas a couple of times, so I like to bring my real life experiences in to my stories as well.

As far as genre goes, I do technically write in a couple. My first series, LIFE AFTER, are young adult fantasy/paranormal novels. I'm currently co-writing a series that is an adult dystopian/urban fantasy series. So I'm sticking with the "fantastical" elements I love so much, but branching out a little. I'm really excited about this new project with Audrey Grey because with Urban Fantasy we have so many different directions we can go.

Fiona -
While you're bringing your stories to life, you've done more than words on a page. Can you give us some examples of ways that you make your world a broader experience for readers?

Julie -
I really believe that the experience for my readers should be more than just the handful of hours that they spend reading my stories. 

I'm always trying to think of ways to expand the world and the reading experience for them in general. One of the ways I do this is by giving them more access to me, as a writer. I have several platforms that I interact with my readers on to varying degrees. I always make quality trailers to help visually pull the readers into the story as well. And recently I shot a series of author commentary videos to accompany the release of a novella in my series.

Fiona - 
What do you think the most important aspects are to keep in mind as you're putting together a trailer?


Julie - 
I actually have a strong opinion about book trailers. At first I didn’t want to do them because I had seen a lot of trailers that turned me off to the book they were promoting. I think that if a trailer isn’t executed well, it can make your book look unprofessional . . . which may not be the case at all. It was my husband who changed my mind with his crazy trailer making skills. He is amazing at putting them together. The way my trailers are created is by spending a ridiculous amount of hours browsing through VideoHive.net and looking for video templates that match the feeling that I’m trying to achieve with each book. When I find the right one, my husband uses Adobe After Effects to edit the template and turn it into our own.

The most important aspect of a trailer is that it holds the viewer's attention. Right after that, it's super important to have a clear call to action, meaning telling the viewer what I want them to do. In my case, it's to go and buy the book.

Here's an example:

Fiona - 
And where do you use your trailers?

Julie - 

• My YouTube channel 
• My website (www.JulieHallAuthor.com/trailers)
• Facebook Author page 
• I have a private Facebook group and a secret Facebook group for my fans and I always give them the first look at everything as an added benefit for their support!

Fiona - 

Where do you get your images for your trailers? They're stunning.

Julie - 
Most of my images are from deposit photo sites. My husband and I spend a lot of time looking through them to find the best ones. It's time consuming for sure.

Fiona - 
And now you've done some audio. Can you tell me what you include, how you produce them/what platform hosts them, and what you do with these?

Julie - 
I actually did a series of author commentary videos to go along with every chapter in my novella, LOGAN. 

I wrote that book because of my readers questions about the character. So the book is really dedicated to them and their interest in knowing more. As an added benefit, I shot fourteen short videos of me talking about each chapter. I talk about everything from:

• Character development
• Why I included certain things in the chapter
• How the story ties in with events from the full length novels in the series
• And some hidden Easter eggs. 

I wanted my readers to have something extra to pull them into the LIFE AFTER world, and what better than hearing from the author herself? 

But rather than having them read my commentary, I wanted them to experience a little of who I was too. So that's why I decided to go with a video commentary. Those videos can only be accessed through the book. There is a link at the end of each chapter so readers can follow along with the commentary or watch them all at the end. 

There is also a scannable QR code. I wanted to make it as reader friendly as possible. 

The easiest and most reliable way to create a QR code is to use Googles URL shorter, here: https://goo.gl/ Then, each short URL that is created gets a QR code, which you can save as an image, and upload into your book.

All modern iPhones can read QR codes simply by using the camera app. All Android phones have a QR reader built into Chrome.

In my books, I really like what some authors are doing with augmented reality these days and considered doing something like that, but I wanted the commentary to be as user friendly as possible. I shot all the videos in one day here at my home. I even have a blooper reel we created at the end with all my mistakes. I get a good laugh out of that.

Fiona- 
QR question: Do you put these QR codes on your bookmarks? And if yes, where do they lead?

Julie- 

I don't yet, but i will now! I'd send them to my website or my Amazon FB page so they can easily buy the book. It's all about giving the reader an easy way to find my books.

Fiona - 
This chapter by chapter interaction is such an interesting idea. I'm excited to go a read your book and check out your ideas. 

Here on ThrillWriting it's a tradtion to share your favorite scar story. Would you indulge us?

Julie -
I have a super cool scar right above my left temple. I like to tell people it was from a shark attack, but the real story is almost as cool. It's a scar I got when I was four from a bayonet. We were walking alongside a parade right before it was about to start. My parents were looking for a good spot. There was a military processional and they were called to attention while we were still walking along the side. My face was grazed by the end of one of the solider's bayonets as he snapped to attention. That was probably the closest to death I ever got. I can still remember my parents freaking out and me not having any idea what just happened. It's a pretty sweet war wound if you ask me.


Fiona - 
When you buy and read our work, you are supporting this blog and my ability to bring you this kind of research and information.

We thank you,
Fiona 

Stay in touch with Julie!
Website
Author FB Page
Fan FB Page 
Newsletter 
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads Author Page
BookBub Page 
YouTube Channel
Twitter Handle - @JulieGHall
Instagram Handle - @JulieGhall
 
www.HuntressBook.com, 

www.WarfareBook.com, 

www.DominionBook.com

www.LoganBook.com (this last one is the one with the author commentary)

Inclusion in Your Storyline: Writing Characters with Cognitive Proocessing Issues with Kris Austen Radcliffe

Today, we are talking about diversity in our writing by including adults who have cognitive processes that are atypical - though atypical does not mean lesser by any stretch of the imagination. Kris can you give us a glimpse at your background and personal experience as it pertains our topic?

Kris -

I've always been interested in cognitive processing, even back when I was a kid. I was fascinated by the process of thinking -- and storytelling. I toggled back and forth between the two, wondering about people, and imagining them.

The fascination with storytelling resulted in a BA in film studies. The fascination with cognition motivated a lot of my post-graduate work.

My first dip into post-grad life resulted in me co-authoring a book about the differences in how people process information. This led to graduate work in Ed. Psych.

The plan was to get that PhD and become a science writer, thus melding my two passions. That didn't happen.

I have two kids, both of whom carry disabilities. Because of a lot of issues and reasons, life did not mesh in a way that allowed me to finish my degree. But it's the kids, really, that brought me to develop characters with disabilities.

My eldest daughter lives with severe ADHD. Being immersed in her life, plus my two passions for cognitive science and storytelling, led to the creation of Rysa Torres, the heroine of my Fate Fire Shifter Dragon series. Rysa, like my daughter, has ADHD.

I wanted to write a character who represented the struggles of ADHD for women in a realistic way, even if the universe is science fiction/ fantasy.

Fiona -
No two people experience the same disability in the same way physically, mentally, socio-economically. Can you explain how you looked at symptoms of ADHD and determined how to apply them to your character and how it impacts her ability to function in her role in your fantasy world?

Kris - 
I know there is disagreement about ADHD, about what it is, how to diagnose it, etc. Some people even think it's a made up syndrome meant to get naughty kids out of schoolwork.

It's real.

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder, and like every syndrome, it manifests differently across all sort of factors.

Boys tend to be more hyperactive. Girls, less attentive. My daughter is also hyperactive.

Basically, with ADHD, the executive functions in the front part of the brain move from task to task too fast.

The underlying cause is often (but not always) counterintuitive, in that the jumping is caused by slow processing.

Look at it this way: The executive functions operate as gatekeepers, among other tasks. It's all about sorting and organizing thoughts, application of effort, delaying gratification -- all those fun things we associate with being an adult.

What happens with ADHD is that the operation of those control functions happens too slowly. A moment is not labeled important quickly enough, so it is passed by.

This is why Adderall and the other amphetamine drugs help a lot of people with ADHD. They speed up the necessary processing.

Now, with boys and girls, we run into all sorts of society's stereotypes about who is supposed to be active and who is not. Which is why boys get diagnosed earlier and more often -- physical hyperactivity is more obvious with them. With girls tend to fidget, get in trouble, and ignore their homework. They're more likely to labeled as not as smart.

But really, ADHD has little to do with intelligence, though it does effect working memory, which interferes with learning.

My daughter had all the symptoms -- and I mean all of them. She's a cut and dry, textbook case.

She still had an unending number of problems in school.

I wanted to give her, and all the women out there who are dealing with ADHD and any of the issues related to it, a heroine who represented them. So I wrote Rysa.

Fiona - 
Can you explain how you looked at symptoms of ADHD and determined how to apply them to your character and how it impacts her ability to function in her role in your fantasy world?

Kris - 

The character's journey into the fantastic side of the universe is fast, intense, and overwhelming, which mirrors life with ADHD.
She has a hard time keeping track of who has what power and why.
She also has a hard time dealing with her own power set because it's very much like dealing with all of her own little voices.

A common symptom with girls with ADHD is low self-esteem and hyper sensitivity to criticism.

Life's ups and downs are extraordinarily high and extraordinarily low, and everything is a high or a low.

This is one of the truths of Rysa's life -- that the battles ahead of her are extraordinary not only in a fantasy way, but also in an internal, "How is it that I have this power?" way.

And it's reflected in everything.

Rysa, like my daughter -- and me, to be honest -- has a rich inner life. All her struggles have a "voice" and she looks at the world in a metaphorical way, so her power set manifests for her as something that is not quite her.

My daughter will occasionally see her hyperactivity that way.
Her reconciliation of the otherness into the whole is also part of the character's ADHD.

But in the end, her scattered way of looking at the world, and her powers, are what allows her to save the world.

Ultimately, Rysa harnesses her ADHD for the good of everyone.
That's really what I wanted to do with the character. To have her grow into herself and to figure out how to live with and use her atypical cognition.

As a side note, it's really important for anyone with ADHD to have support. Most of the characters around Rysa help instead of hinder.

Fiona - 
When you're constructing your characters with atypical processing do you define this for your readers? Do your characters know they have, for example, ADHD? Or are you allowing those who have experienced this either within themselves or with friends and loved ones?

Kris -
Rysa knows she has ADHD and lampshades it.

Lampshade is  a TV Tropes thing: Putting a lampshade on an issue to point it out for the viewer or the reader. MORE HERE
Basically, it's when extra care is given to the explanation for a character's behavior because it's not "normal."

"Oh my God, he's sucking that person's blood!" "It's okay. He's a vampire." is an example. Without knowing that you're dealing with a vampire, that behavior could be all sorts of nasty.

Rysa explicitly tells everyone that she has ADHD. Now, it's also an excuse on her part, so there's a balancing there.

But the reader knows. They know they're in the head of someone who switches topics, moves between stimuli, and has a hard time paying attention.

It's hard from some readers. I have one review that says the reader wants to punch everyone with ADHD because of my book.
Again, though, a lot of people don't think ADHD is real. They think it's just an excuse for the character to behave "badly."

I also have the POV of Rysa's love interest, who doesn't have ADHD, as a counterpoint. He's not as... speedy. He also has a lot of compassion for her and her difficulties.

Oh, and there's a dragon.

Every girl needs a dragon, and like any good dragon, he's the wise one who takes care of everyone.

Overall, several other characters in the same universe live with some type of issue. One main character is hearing impaired, and his brother lost the lower half of his leg. Another is blind. Several suffer from an immortal form of PTSD.

There are genetic issues that arise when the two groups with different powers have babies. I try to bring in some scientific realism when fleshing out worlds, even in fantasy.

But then again, it's really a science fiction universe, so it's just world building.

Stay in touch with Kris Austen Radcliff:

Facebook
AMAZON
Website

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We thank you!
Fiona