Since the end of 2001, Julia has re-energised her life journey with a new application of her knowledge and experience. Her contribution has shifted to facilitating the creative process for writers in her capacity as a publishing consultant and creativity coach offering information and inspiration regarding any aspect of the publishing process. Her talks and workshops on The Writer’s Journey: From Inspiration to Publication are also the subject of her book of the same name and more information generally can be see at www.ffmedia.co.uk.

P.S.: 'There is so much in a name,' what does your first name mean? Favourite colour? Soul number (sum of the digits of your date of birth reduced to numbers between 1 and 9. example: 12.04.1956 = 1+2+4+1+9+5+6=3+4+3=1)

Julia: The name has a Roman connection I think although it doesn’t feel all that important to me as in reality it is just a ‘label’ … Having said that, I guess the resonance of my name and who I am has a much closer ‘fit’ these days as I am more consciously true to my Self now than ever before. My favourite colour would probably be purple but generally I love bold, rich colours. My soul number is 5.

 

 

P.S.: Why do you do what you do?

Julia: I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience of writing and publishing over the last 20 years or so and it is part of my journey to share that with people who find it helpful. It is a joy to me to be able to draw on both solid information as well as my intuition, which I have consciously worked with over many years, to be the catalyst for anyone who might benefit from a bit of extra clarity or guidance regarding the next steps on their creative journey.

 

 

P.S.: When did you start?

 

Julia: I began in publishing in the late 1980s and have been working as a coach since 2001.

 

 

P.S.: And what is in it for you-personally?

 

Julia: This is what I am meant to be doing right now … and in the process of developing the service I am offering to other people, my own creative unfolding is spontaneously gathering a huge momentum … and that is an immensely motivating and upward spiral.

 

 

P.S. A Turning point? Was there a teacher, a book, or an event that inspired/influenced what you do, or started you on your path?

Julia: I’ve always been interested in Truth … and its expression through the major spiritual traditions and great works of art – writing, music, the visual arts and so on. The main reason for me starting out in publishing was my commitment to the content of the books we published and the opportunity to communicate perennial wisdom in lots of different ways and to as wide an audience as possible.

 

If I had to choose one book that stands out as having lit me up when I read it a few years ago it would probably be The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. My experience of resonating with Truth or Consciousness (or whatever words you choose to use to describe what is essentially indescribable) as I read each page has never quite left me since then – it has simply continued to deepen.

 

The event that comes to mind as a turning point in recent years is an accident that changed the course of my life at every level. One day I was the MD & Publisher of a major independent publishing house and the next I was in hospital following a head injury sustained by a falling spotlight whilst in the auditorium of a Penguin sales conference. My journey back to health and wholeness has been the most incredible initiation for me. I have journeyed from a sense of nothingness back to a sense of peace and congruity with my True Self and its expression in the world (well, most of the time anyway!) and for all that I feel totally blessed.

 

 

P.S. What are you working on currently, and what is your next project?

 

Julia: I’m currently taking my work out to a slightly wider audience by doing more events alongside working with increasing numbers of people on a 121 basis helping them with their creativity, their writing and on their journeys towards publication. My creativity is finding some expression with new projects such as a couple of audio CDs that I am recording at the moment and I have plans for another book, as well as one or more e-learning programmes later in the year. My next project after that is to do with The Inner Writer’s Journey – watch this space!

 

 

P.S. A favourite book/quote you were influenced/inspired by? 

 

Julia: I’ve already mentioned The Power of Now and there are others which have inspired me as being of special significance at different times in my life – such as a book called This: Prose and Poetry of Dancing Emptiness by Sri H. W. L. Poonja (or Papaji as he is commonly known), the I Ching as a book of wisdom and others on creativity and writing that I am inspired by at the moment …

 

 

P.S. You are going on a much deserved holiday, what treasured items are you most likely to always pack and take with you?

 

Julia: a huge range of music on a good MP3 player, a journal for writing and a good book to read – whatever inspires me at the time but probably non-fiction although fiction does make the occasional appearance!

 

 

P.S. What would you like to be when you 'grow up'?

Julia: More of who I am now.

 

P.S. When you are not working, how do you have fun?

Julia: African drumming and percussion, sharing time and space with friends, listening to music and dancing, cooking supper outside on a stove whilst watching sunset skies …

 

 

P.S. If there is a next life, what would you choose to come back as? Why?

Julia: I don’t really have a preference as this doesn’t really feel all that significant to me.

 

 

P.S. If there is no next life, how do you imagine you would be spending your time 'up there' anyway?

Julia: I don’t really believe in ‘up there’ because my reality is that ‘it’ is all right here, right now. In fact, we are ‘IT’! So there isn’t really any time, just being, and that’s good enough for me - bliss in fact!