Oleanna

One of my joys is noting authors who thrill; Julie K. Rose is such a writer.  Her second novel Oleanna was released today, a tale of love, loss and rediscovery set in 1905 Norway.  Picturesque and haunting don't begin to describe this tale as Oleanna and her sister Elisabeth tend the family's farm in the western fjordland.  Sweeping mountain vistas and a shimmering, secretive lake draw readers into past days awash in emotions vital and feverish.  Rose was inspired by the lives of her great-great aunts, transporting us to Norway on the cusp of freedom from Sweden, as two women ponder their own paths.  The prose is lush and hypnotic; you stand on the fjordland, run along the hills or wander deep in the woods, trapped within Oleanna's heart.  A heart that beats with wild hopes and lost dreams; Oleanna pines for freedom as ghosts lurk in the shadows.

I asked Julie how long this novel was in her head:

I started writing Oleanna in November 2006.  I had started a different novel for National Novel Writing Month, and it went nowhere and I gave it up.  Toward the end of that month, my brain presented me with an image: Oleanna on the top of a hill above Lake Jølster and from there, Oleanna was born.  I worked on it on and off for five years, with other novels drafted, other novels published (The Pilgrim Glass) in the meantime.  It feels like I’ve been working on this novel forever, but I guess that’s just my way; I started The Pilgrim Glass in 2003, and it was published in 2010.

Was it more difficult to write than your first novel, The Pilgrim Glass, which is set in contemporary France:

Yes and no.  I’d grown and changed as a writer in the years between writing The Pilgrim Glass and Oleanna, so in some ways it was easier.  But the subject matter was so close to my heart, it was difficult to write some passages and I literally had to put the manuscript away for months at a time because it was hard on my heart.

What advice would you offer novelists considering indie publication:

Find writers and readers that you trust to read your work, and insist that they provide you honest feedback, and then listen to it.  Don’t think that one or two drafts is enough; The Pilgrim Glass went to twelve drafts, I think, and Oleanna to seven or eight.  When you think your book is ready to be published, put it away for a couple of months and come back to it to be sure.

What's next for Julie K. Rose:

I’m working on a novel set in Tunisia, which has been fantastic fun.  I’m also revising another novel, and working on a screenplay.  And of course working to promote The Pilgrim Glass and Oleanna!

Oleanna is available as an ebook through several online distributors, or in paperback via Lulu.  It's coming soon to iBooks, in wide paperback release within the next two weeks.  I have my copy on order; Rose doesn't disappoint her print readers, but if you can't wait, which I completely understand, get the ebook on Kindle or Nook today!