Robert Julien

Robert Julien was born in Brighton, England, and migrated to Melbourne, Australia with his wife and family in August of 1970. Several years later, following a visit to Emu Bottom, then a historical working homestead near Diggers Rest, he conceived the plot for his first book, "Bail up 'The Phoenix'". Set in 1852, this is the tale of a fortune in Ballarat gold which is stolen by bushrangers from a barque moored off Sandridge.

"The Moncrieff Beneficence" was a natural sequel to that story.

Robert Julien is currently working on the third book in the Marker Trilogy, provisionally title "Code Name Cardinal".

Welcome to our spotlight of Robert Julien and his work.

Below is an interview Beverly Rearick had with Robert Julien via e-mail.

You will be able to read about Robert Julien and get to know a little about him through this interview. At the bottom of the page is a book cover of one of his books and a list of his books published and soon to be published. Click the title to find a review of that book, if one is available.

THE INTERVIEW

Beverly Rearick: 1. What genre do you write?
2. What genres would you like to write?
3. Where do you get your ideas?

Robert Julien: Q. 1, 2 & 3 My preference is for writing historically-flavoured mystery/adventure novels, as will be seen from the first two books in my "Marker" Trilogy - "Bail Up* 'The Phoenix" (see below); "The Moncrieff Beneficence*', published in February 2001, and the third (yet to be completed), "Code-Name 'Cardinal'". For the record, 'to bail up' * is the Australian equivalent of the highwayman's 'stand and deliver'; and the theme for 'Moncrieff' was triggered by a visit to an area of the Dorset coast several miles west of Weymouth in Dorset on the English South Coast, centred around a visit to a tropical garden centre at Abbotsbury on the Earl of Ilchester's estate where in the early '90s I came upon a semi-circle of Tudor 'Armada' (c1588) cannon 'guarding' the entrance to a large conservatory. 'Cardinal', too, is based on a true occurrence, this time in WW2, when a German column is ambushed by troops of the 2nd Moroccan Division near Mulhouse on the Franco/Swiss border in November 1944 and a highly enlightening German Abwehr document is found in the possession of the aide-de-camp to the General, who has been killed.

The outline for 'Phoenix', due to be e-published in April/May 2002, again by Jacobyte Books, was written in the early 70's, following a visit to Emu Bottom, a working homestead near Sunbury in Victoria. Coincidentally, only a few days previously I had been reading in a paperback facsimile of The Picturesque Atlas of Australasia (1888) - which I have before me as I write - that "the criminal element in the population of Victoria at the time of the gold rush was composed chiefly of convicts who had escaped from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), and they had become a source of danger and depredation to the community." I read that, " . On 2nd April 1852, a gang of these desperadoes boarded the 'Nelson' (my 'Phoenix') lying in Hobson's Bay (Melbourne), and succeeded in carrying off gold-dust to the value of twenty-four thousand pounds." The men were subsequently arrested (and later hung) while carousing in a public house, two days before Black Monday, which heralded the worst bushfires Victoria has ever known.

In addition to the foregoing, and dealing here with my only venture to date into the field of non-fiction, I have just proof-read my Unit History of 549 Fighter Squadron RAF which took me in excess of three years to research and write. I had a very personal interest in that one - entitled "Together Up There", and due for publication in early 2002 by Australian Military History Publications, 13 Veronica Place, Loftus, N.S.W. 2232 - which is a tribute to my cousin W/O Ronald Walter Possé who was killed when his Spitfire and another in the same squadron collided in November 1944 when flying near Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. The other RAF pilot, W/O Les Bushell, was lucky enough to escape with his life, and helped to provide much of the detail which has gone into the book. Their squadron was one of three which were personally sent there by Winston Churchill to bolster the RAAF air defences - hence the title of the book - against a possible Japanese invasion at a time when the enemy had moved formidable forces into the island chain off the north-west coast of Australia, in places less than 100 miles (160 km) from the Australian mainland.

Beverly Rearick: 4. Do you pattern your characters after any real people?

Q. 4 I like to pattern some part of my characters, and in particular their little quirks and foibles, on people I know, or have met, sometimes only very briefly, because I find that this makes it easier to write dialogue for them.

Beverly Rearick: 5. What authors do you admire?

Robert Julien: Q. 5 I discovered the English author Dornford Yates in 1943 when I was 16, and over the years since then I have bought and read every mystery/adventure novel he ever wrote, some of them many times. His style may not be to everyone's taste, but I have never found fault with his meticulous plotting and characterization, and I was determined that in the course of time I would try to model myself on him. He died, I should add, in 1960, and in the event I was 43 before I finally settled on the concept of a television serial, in that it would provide me with a much broader canvas, as it were, to present my storyline, and so I wrote my first treatment. I had filled many a waste-paper basket in the intervening years, but had always resisted the urge to write short stories, because I did not consider that they provided enough scope for the sort of plot development that I aspired to. Finally, I wrote two separate treatments which I considered were possible contenders for a television serial. One was "Bail Up The Phoenix" and the other a very early and less involved version, under another title, of "Moncrieff". At the time - and we're talking of the Seventies - "Against the Wind" and "Cash and Co" were examples of Australian serials which were very popular, both being set in the mid to late 19th century, and so I sent both my manuscripts to the Australian Film Commission, tongue in cheek, requesting development funding.

I was incredibly pleased to receive the following response -

"Thank you for your recent application for development funding. I regret to advise it was unsuccessful." But then -"The sheer volume of work has made it impossible for project officers to provide written assessments. However, it may be useful for you to know the readers considered that both scripts demonstrate your ability to write and develop complex plot structures but, however, they felt that they were not so much cinematic as literary. That being the case, we felt you might consider writing your stories for publication rather than scripts.You are of course welcome to apply with another project in the future."

Beverly Rearick: 6. What authors do you read?

Robert Julien: Q. 6 Fiction - Len Deighton; John Le Carré; Nevil Shute; Dornford Yates; Stephen King; Arthur C. Clarke; Isaac Azimov; Agatha Christie, et al.

Non-Fiction - Stephen King ("On Writing"); Sundry biographies and autobiographies; Winston Churchill (incl. "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples" in 4 volumes) and also the 6 volumes of "The Second World War"; Anthony Cave-Brown ("Bodyguard of Lies"), et al.

Beverly Rearick: 7. What Genres do you read?

Robert Julien: Q. 7 World War Two topics (fiction and non-fiction) - Winston Churchill's "History" makes an excellent read for interested people like me who, because of their age, for a fair amount of the time were on the outside looking in. For example, I was reading Volume V seeking plotting inspiration when I was writing the first draft of "Code-Name 'Cardinal'", and I turned a page and there it was. Problem solved as if by magic. Everything fell into place after that.

(a) Every non-fiction book published on the subject of 'Enigma'
(b) Cryptography;
(c) Selected science fiction (mainly Clarke and Azimov)

Beverly Rearick: 8. What other genres do you see yourself writing?

Robert Julien: Q. 8 I shall probably stick to my present format, with which I'm extremely comfortable.

Beverly Rearick: 9: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

Beverly Rearick: 9. What do you see yourself doing in ten years?

10: Do you ever see yourself not writing?

Robert Julien: Q. 9 & 10 As I shall be 85, the answer, like it or not, has to be "precious little". Until then, I shall be on the lookout for 'triggers'.

Beverly Rearick: 11 What books do you have planned in the near future?
Q. 11 For the moment, only Cardinal, where writing the middle section I experienced a problem. See Q.20.

Beverly Rearick: 12. How did you get started writing?

Robert Julien: Q. 12 Refer to answer to Q. 1.

Beverly Rearick: 13. What age were you when you started to write?

Robert Julien: Q. 13 Age 45. I had always believed that "everybody has a book in them" and I hoped that "Phoenix" would be mine. In the event, I've managed to do better than that.

Beverly Rearick: 14. When is your next book due?

Robert Julien: Q. 14 "Together Up There" is due for release in conventional hardback in February 2002, and will be followed by "Phoenix", published by Jacobyte, in April 2002.

Beverly Rearick: 15. Was there any author or authors that helped you get your start in writing, or helped you break into the writing field?

Robert Julien: Q. 15 I suppose that Dornford Yates (see Q. 5) could reasonably be credited with having helped me to make a start, because I was keen to emulate him, first as a writer and then as a published author.

Beverly Rearick: 16. What do you feel makes your books unique or stand out from others in your genre?

Robert Julien: Q. 16 With only one book "under my belt" I can hardly lay claim to having written something unique, that will stand out from others in my genre, so will have to pass on that one.

Beverly Rearick: 18. Do you have a special sub-genre?

Robert Julien: Q. 18 No.

Beverly Rearick: 19. Do you have a favorite place you like to write?

Robert Julien: Q. 19 Preferably directly on to the computer with the door shut (no constant interruptions) and quiet, quiet, quiet.

Beverly Rearick: 20. In what order do you write? For example, starting beginning to end, combining parts, random order or in development cycle?

Robert Julien: Q. 20 Yes. Sounds a stupid answer, but also, 'any of the above' would equally apply. I have a phrase which my wife hates - "circumstances alter cases" - and that is true here, as is "it all depends". Also, refer to Q.11 above, where, having written the first and last "thirds", when I came to take up my pen just before last Christmas to write the middle third, I suffered from a nasty attack of "writer's block" which continues to a certain extent up to this moment. In the last two days, for example, I have written (and "saved") a whole 375 words!!

Beverly Rearick: 21. Do you feel that e-books offere authors a bit more fredom of exprenssion in their books?

Robert Julien: Q. 21 Not really. I shall continue to write short sentences, start a sentence with the word 'And', and follow Stephen King's suggestions in his "On Writing" (refer question 31).

Beverly Rearick: 22. What do yoou feel is, or isn't being done to promote authors?

Robert Julien: Q. 22 Here in Australia our local (Municipal) Libraries regularly hold "Library Information Weeks", when they give library tours, invite local authors to give a talk on various subjects - in my case it was to promote "Moncrieff" and speak about e-publishing - and other similar topics. Perhaps not everything we'd like, but a step in the right direction.

Beverly Rearick: 23. Do you feel that the marketing departments have thier finger on the pulse of readers?

Robert Julien: Q. 23 On the basis of the wide ranging topics/authors/content that is apparent in bookstores, I would suggest that the answer is yes.

Beverly Rearick: 24. How do you feel about review rating systems?

Robert Julien: Q. 24 In the light of personal experience, apart from the one on the Sime-Gen site which has led to this Author Spotlight being generated, I have come to the honest conclusion (and at my age I can afford to be frank!) there are a number of reviews which are disappointing, hurtful even, particularly when even one's friends - who have also read the book - ring you up to commiserate. Such reviews are always disappointing, but it's always the luck of the draw, so to speak, whether you get a reviewer who's on the same wavelength. Often they seem to have read a different book entirely, and I think all one can do is celebrate the good reviews and ignore the bad ones.

Beverly Rearick: 25. Trhough what venues do you feel most of your books are being sold?

Robert Julien: Q. 25 At this time, only via Jacobyte Books website, and some personally by me..

Beverly Rearick: 26. What do you feel is the best part of the publishing industry?

Robert Julien: Q. 26 The publisher's Editor with his/her finger on the pulse of public opinion, plus personal sales experience. My own Editor, Meredith Whitford, was a recent recipient of a Sime-Gen Mystery Award.

Beverly Rearick: 27. What do you feel needs to be changed about the industry?

Robert Julien: Q. 27 I can only speak for Melbourne, Australia here. There is a definite unwillingness on the part of libraries and booksellers generally to handle e-books, although I am told that this attitude may be softening.

Beverly Rearick: 28. Do you think small press and e-books will be the wave of the future?

Robert Julien: Q. 28 Yes, definitely, given the complete change of attitude hoped for in Q.27.

Beverly Rearick: 29. What of your published books is your favorite? Why?

Robert Julien: Q. 29 Moncrieff, unquestionably. Even having written it, from time to time I still take my personal copy to bed occasionally and savour it, reading two or three chapters a week.

Beverly Rearick: 30. What do you feel is the worse piece of advice anyone ever gave you about writing?

Robert Julien: Q. 30 "Don't be frightened of using adverbs".

Beverly Rearick: 31. What was the best?

Robert Julen: Q. 31 Stephen King, in his book "Stephen King - On Writing" (published by Hodder & Stoughton in London in 2000) refuted the answer to Q.30: "Adverbs are not your friend. Like the passive voice, they seem to have been created with the timid author in mind. With the passive voice, the writer usually expresses fear of not being taken seriously . "

S.K. also says, elsewhere, AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT, "The best form of dialogue attribution is said, as in he said, she said, Bill said, Monica said ..."

Recent Or Upcoming Robert Julien titles:

THE MONCRIEFF BENEFICENCE BY JACOBYTE BOOKS

BAIL UP THE PHOENIX

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