Julia Dovey is a local author, editor, and copywriter who continues making strides in her community and in the writing world. Readers may recognize her name from her novels Lipstick Tattoo, Potatoes and Pink Vodka, or her most recent romance, A Matter of Mountains and Molehills. Earlier this year, she became the 2024 Writer in Residence at UFV, where she acted as a support and resource “to students who were writing at UFV.” Students had a chance to give her their writing pieces for feedback, ask for advice, talk about plotting, and everything in between. The Cascade had the pleasure of speaking with Dovey about her experience, her novels, the writing business, and her own advice on the industry.
“In a heartbeat,” said Dovey, when asked if she would return as a writer in residence. “It was great talking to writers every single day. I just really liked helping people to get that push and get to that next step in whatever they were working on.” She expressed how a positive comment made by her teacher when she was young inspired her to make an impact on others in a similar way.
“Seeing that light go off in their head,” Dovey said about when students discover something they didn’t think of before. “I love it when that happens because sometimes you just need that outside perspective.” She added that “it’s not easy to find because it’s hard to get people to listen to you talk about your own writing.”
Dovey said that she learned something about herself during her residency. “It helped me along the path of not trying to force people to write it in the way that I would write it, but realizing that everybody has a different style and a different way of wanting to make a plot.”
Dovey’s most recent novel, released in January 2024, A Matter of Mountains and Molehills focuses on the protagonist Jodi, a freelance video editor with a murky past. After being abandoned on a dinner date, Ray, the son of her client, shows up on her doorstep and informs her that his father is missing, and she may hold the key to finding him.
Dovey’s next book will be released next May, and will be a sequel that explores the “past trauma” of the characters in a format of cassette tapes or “analog,” opposed to digital videos. Her sequel will be available for purchase on Amazon, Kobo, and in local bookstores such as The Bookman.
“It’s just all about growth,” Dovey said when asked what her goal is. “I don’t really have a goal that I feel is realistic. Like yeah, I would love to make a screenplay based on my book and sell it as a movie…but, you know, I’m realistic,” she added. “The goal is basically to have people read my stuff and enjoy it,” and she agreed that in the end, that is what most writers out there truly want. She also got excited about the idea of “getting one person to draw a fan art,” for one of her novels. “That would be fun,” she said.
To aspiring writers, Dovey shared some advice on the industry. First and foremost, “it’s a business.” Dovey said that a writer who has a sellable product is more likely to be successful in the industry. She warned that “if you go into the publishing world, publishers might want to change your book or they might want you to rewrite the whole thing.” Dovey advised writers to participate in writing conferences and workshops, and to develop a social media presence. Most importantly, “Don’t be discouraged because you sit down with absolutely nothing and you can’t write a masterpiece.”
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.
