Meet Author Julie C. Gilbert

I'm happy to have author Julie C. Gilbert on the blog today. She will impress you whether you're a reader or a writer as she writes in a lot of genres and has a large catalog of titles out. Read on to find out more about her books, what inspires her, and the stories she loves.

Tell us about your Special Agent Megan Luchek Case Files 1-10.

The Megan Luchek series consists of 10 novellas broken across 3 series. The first series is Shadow Council. That includes books 1-4. We meet FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek on a stakeout with her partner, S.A. Daniel Cooper. That goes relatively well, but then, they get sucked into another case involving a bank investigation.

Long story short, Megan’s a trouble magnet. The original series starts and ends set in Hawaii with a detour to Pennsylvania around Christmas for a chilly adventure there.

The Eagle Eyes trilogy includes the misadventures Megan has while on vacation in Las Vegas and then in Dallas.

Cyber League Crimes picks up right as Megan gets back to Hawaii. She’s barely back a day when her sister gets kidnapped. That sends her right back to the mainland states to chase down tentative leads.

What inspired you to write that series?

Once upon a time, the original Shadow Council stories were a part of Toby Neal’s Lei Crime Kindle World. The character was based off of Toby’s FBI agent, Marcella Scott.

When Kindle Worlds collapsed, we got the option to republish the stories as long as we changed anything that belonged to Toby. That switch involved some name changes. I’d made up certain details, like giving the agent an older sister and such, so I got to keep all that.

The original intent was to write a Defining Moments series. Incidentally, that’s how Never Again got its start too.

I believe Money Makes it Deadlier was my second Lei Crime story. I fell in love with the character and that series took on a life of its own. I renamed it Shadow Council.

You have written a lot of novels. Tell us about the different genres you write in.

Yes, I’m a little all over the place. I’m a high school chemistry teacher, so some of my books are nonfiction about chemistry. I’m a writer, so the other half of the 5 Steps series is nonfiction about writing blurbs, publishing audiobooks, and writing better dialogue.

In addition to nonfiction, I write science fiction in two flavors: Earth-bound, genetic engineering (Devya’s Children) and epic space opera (Anotech Chronicles).

I guess my fantasy also comes in flavors. Path to the Chosen Redeemer stories are more traditional fantasy centering on the Chosen One trope. On the flipside, Guardian Angel Files is Christian spec fic that comes awfully close to urban fantasy.
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The mysteries range from Christian to general. Scratched Off is probably as intense as they come. That falls on the general side and features an FBI agent vs. a serial killer. The intense part comes from being in the killer’s head. 

​The other intense book is Beyond Broken Pencils. I file that under contemporary, literary. It’s a school shooting book, so it was a tad hard to place.
There’s a book of Christian poetry too.

What was your favorite book when you were growing up?

I only get to pick one? Yikes. I guess I’ll go with Rebel Dream. It was one of the old school Star Wars expanded universe books. I think it was even part of the New Jedi Order, which was arguably the last good series before the great decline leading up to Disney buying the franchise and slapping reset on everything.

I honestly have no idea why. I just remember that was one of maybe 2 books in my life that I’ve turned around and read cover to cover twice in a row.

Since you write in a lot of different genres, what is your favorite genre to read in?

Most of my reading comes in the form of audiobooks. Plus, most of the ones I’m listening to are ones I’ve been asked to review, so I get all sorts. I run Audiobook Edge which is a Facebook group and a newsletter of clean reads that releases monthly. That’s why I review a lot of audiobooks.

Most of the ones I’ve found myself liking recently have been mysteries. The last one I finished was more of a treasure hunt than mystery, but it was filed under mystery.

That said, I do love some X-files or Firefly audiobooks too, so I guess that’s scifi.

I always reread my favorite books. Do you reread books and if so, which one(s) have you read over again?

I don’t do a lot of re-reading because of the necessity of constantly getting to the ones I’ve promised to look at. The only ones of late I’ve been listening to again are mine. This is sometimes for sheer entertainment and revisiting with narrators I’ve hired in the past. At other times, it’s me prepping to write a sequel and trying to get some details straight.

I caught covid around Christmas last year (2021), so that laid me out for a week. About all I could do was listen to audiobooks. I had a few new ones, but re-listening to mine was good in case I spaced out or fell asleep.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Brandon Sanderson, Dee Henderson (early stuff like the O’Malley series), Lori Bates Wright, Margaret Mizushima, L.A. Meyer (Bloody Jack series), Alexander McCall Smith (Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency series only), Annie Douglass Lima (Krillonian Chronicles), and Kevin J. Anderson.

Yes, I’m aware they’re all over the place genre-wise.

What are you working on now?

I’m on a Kindle Vella kick. Writing for that platform has been downright addictive. I have two nonfiction books there, one about dialogue and one about teaching. My current works are the teaching one written under a pen name, Aeris Legends: Wrath and War (LitRPG/Gamelit), and Assassin School Season 2 (thriller).

Vella is really interesting because it lets you publish stuff as it’s ready. That’s awesome and a tad intimidating.

This or That Questions:

Autumn or Spring? Autumn – better clothes, less allergies, pretty colors

Ocean/Lake or Mountains? Ocean/Lake – honestly, this is a tad unfair to mountains as I haven’t really seen any significant ones up close, so the other won by default.

Coffee, Tea, or soda? Depends on the time of day. Dr. Pepper if it’s with a meal. Tea if we’re just talking straight up drink of choice.

Favorite singer: female: Svcrina; male: Sam Tinnez

Song you could listen to on repeat for hours: changes every few weeks/months. Currently: My World by Warcub. Incidentally, it’s Jeffrey Gatton’s theme song from the Megan Luchek playlist.

Favorite show to watch: I don’t get to watch a lot of TV. Last thing I finished was probably Reacher.

Bio: I’m a high school chem teacher, a Christian, a writer who doesn’t know how to pick a lane, and an audiobook reviewer. I like tea, 1000-piece puzzles, and long walks.

Find her online:
Website: juliecgilbert.com (best way to keep in touch is head here and hop on the newsletter, officially comes out every 22nd of the month)
Blog: https://juliecgilbertwriter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulieCGilbert2013 (book reviews from blog, some news, some promos)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliecgilbert_writer/ (mostly cloud or puzzle pics)

Find  her work here:
Amazon US: amzn.to/3r2yxBh

As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
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