The April Fools' Joke on Julie Cave

I wish I could take credit for writing this book; Deadly Disclosures by Julie Cave. But I’m not the author. An Australian also named Julie Cave is. Small world, as they say. 

But can you imagine how stunned I was the day I thumbed through a mail catalog from Christian Book Distributors and saw this cover? 

Well, this is interesting, I thought. Apparently I wrote a book!

Once the shock wore off I found myself laughing as my mind announced, "Oh good, I don’t have to write that novel. Someone else did it for me. Scratch that one off the ol’ bucket list."

Then curiosity kicked in which led to a search on Amazon for the book’s title. Seconds later this photo appeared on the screen and confirmed it was legit. Bypassing the summary, I quickly scrolled down to the short bio about the author. Sure enough, another Julie Cave does exist, but unlike me, she resides in Brisbane, Australia. Furthermore, she’s married, has two daughters, and is studying law! And quite a bit younger, I might add.

“I want to contact her,” I told myself, “but first I’ll read the book.”

Finally, this past week I wrote Julie. Felt very strange to send a message to my own name. She probably had a similar response and possibly wondered if this was an early April Fools’ joke. I assured her it was not, explained how I found her book, and that I was interested in writing a post about it. She was thankful for my interest and elated for the free publicity.

She also answered a few questions I had about the book. Especially if you are a writer of Christian fiction I think you’ll find her answers fascinating. First, here’s this snippet from Amazon summarizing Deadly Disclosures.

                                                   +++++

“FBI agent Dinah Harris now has a missing person's file to go along with a bad case of alcohol abuse and the depression she cannot seem to shake. Fighting to keep her focus, she struggles to find answers for why Thomas Whitfield, the prominent Secretary of the Smithsonian has vanished from his office with foul play almost guaranteed. Whitfield's body is eventually found, and Dinah is drawn into a frightening conspiracy, as more people begin to die, and Whitfield's faith is revealed as part of the motive behind his murder.”

                                                   +++++

Now, for that Q&A with the book’s author.

Julie Cave at her desk in Australia!

Julie Cave/USA: I read a few reviews of your book on Amazon and wondered if the criticism about the book being a bit "preachy" made you adjust your content for the other books in the series?

Julie Cave/Australia: “Hmmmm.....that's a hard question. I think I certainly tried to streamline the message more subtly in subsequent books, but I also make no apology that my books are about important and relevant topics. It is important to me that the books are not just for fun, but might be challenging too.”

Julie Cave/USA: I was surprised to see you are studying law. Are you still in school?

Julie Cave/Australia: “I am not still studying law unfortunately. Although I enjoyed it, I couldn't fit it in with having two small children and writing so something had to give!”

Julie Cave/USA: Are you currently writing another book?

Julie Cave/Australia: “Disclosures is the first of three novels, with a fourth completed and currently awaiting the final verdict from my publisher.”

Julie Cave/USA: Just for fun, what’s your favorite food, a hobby you have, and a children's book your daughters love?

Julie Cave/Australia: “Being Australian, my favourite food is lamb chops, I enjoy reading interior decorating magazines for fun, and I am introducing my daughters to the silly world of Roald Dahl. So far they've enjoyed Matilda very much.”

If you want to get better acquainted with Julie and go to https://www.facebook.com/julieacave/. I enjoyed learning who introduced her to reading, how in her teen years she was already writing novels, who influenced her spiritual commitment to God, and more.

Now, for my take about Deadly Disclosures.

As I read through this book two things stood out: Julie's writing abilities, and her extensive knowledge on a subject we usually leave to the scientists--evolution vs creationism. The way she respectfully and creatively presented both views via two of the characters in the story impressed me. 

Several times I stopped my reading to appreciate her nicely paced mystery and admire what Julie did to make the characters seem real. So real in fact that I wanted to take the FBI agent aside and reprimand her. 

I learned Julie's been studying great authors for years while honing her own skills, and it shows. Once upon a time I wanted to write a novel, but I'm well aware today that it is not a simple task. It requires a lot of research, many hours of writing and rewrites, plus editing. So for me, Julie Cave/USA I plan to stick to non-fiction and this blog and let Julie Cave/Australia continue her endeavors as a novelist. 

But it is fun to fool others by asking them if they have seen my novel.

Julie Cave/USA
P.S. Who has been to Australia, and what’s a happy memory from your trip?

This is one site I'd like to see if I ever got to Australia: The beautiful Sydney Opera House