Author Q&A With Julie Navickas
Julie Navickas is a romance author whose Trading Heartbeats trilogy is the recipient of a Literary Global Book Award and five first-place wins with the BookFest in the contemporary romance category. Her debut trilogy has also earned three finalist designations with the American Writing Awards and a Clarion Award.
Julie is an award-winning university instructor in the School of Communication at Illinois State University and works in corporate communications at COUNTRY Financial. She has earned master’s degrees in both organizational communication and English studies, as well as a bachelor’s degree in public relations. Meet Julie:
You are an author, but is it your day job? If not, what fills your days? By day, I’m a Senior Communications Channels Analyst in corporate communications at COUNTRY Financial. That’s a fancy way of saying I help leaders and teams share the right stories, in the right way, with the right internal audiences—whether that’s through new stories, videos, emails, or our digital channels. Additionally, I teach in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. I get to work with students on writing, messaging, and helping them find their voice, which is honestly one of my favorite parts of the week. So, while I’m not a full-time author (yet!), my days are still built around words. If I’m not writing novels, I’m writing for employees—or teaching writing in the classroom. Either way, I’m always telling stories.
Did you always want to be an author? In 4th grade, I won a classroom Young Authors Award for a story I wrote about a group of vegetables escaping from the fridge. It was silly, fun, and absolutely delightful… and it flipped a switch for me. That was the first time I realized stories I made up could make other people feel something—and that feeling never really left. Ever since then, I’ve known storytelling was where I was meant to be, whether that’s on the page, in the classroom, or in my day job. Writing books just feels like coming home to that 4th grader with the runaway produce.
What is your most recent book and what inspired you to write it?
My most recent (published) book is Chasing Love, book three in the Clumsy Little Hearts trilogy. It follows childhood sweethearts who are on the verge of getting married. On paper, it should be their happily ever after—but as the wedding plans move forward, they slowly realize they might not want the same things for their future. It’s less about cold feet and more about that very real, very human question of: “Are we still growing in the same direction?”
I’m really drawn to relatable relationship problems, and I love exploring how strong, honest communication can be the thing that saves a relationship rather than ends it. Chasing Love let me dig into that in a big way, and it became the perfect conclusion to the trilogy and to these characters’ journeys.
Being an author today is like running a business. How do you manage your publicity and social media and maintain engagement with readers? It’s incredibly difficult. And very recently, I had to admit I couldn’t do it all anymore. For a long time, I managed everything myself: writing books, promoting them, updating my social media, maintaining my website, sending newsletters, and trying to stay genuinely engaged with readers.
About a year ago, I realized it just wasn’t sustainable. Something had to give if I wanted a long-term career, not just a short sprint. So, I pivoted. While my books so far have been published with a small press (Inkspell Publishing), I decided the best path forward was to build a team around me. I started querying, and this past summer, I signed with a literary agent, Chip Rice at WordLink, Inc. My first rom-com, Love & Honeybuns, is now on submission to editors.
These days, I still show up on social media, send newsletters, and connect with readers at in-person events as much as I can—but I’m also intentionally building toward a future where I’m not doing it alone. I’m hopeful that with a team of publishing professionals behind me, I’ll be able to focus more on what I love most—writing stories—and collaborate with experts on how best to share them with the world.
How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? I’m a big believer in intentional goal setting—not just “maybe I’ll write more this year.” Every New Year, I sit down with a core group of writing friends for a vision board planning party. We discuss what we want creatively and professionally, map out big-picture goals, and then break them down into smaller, realistic steps. It’s part dreaming, part strategy session.
But the real magic is in the follow-through. We meet quarterly to check in on those goals, celebrate wins, troubleshoot areas that aren’t working, and hold each other accountable. Knowing I’ll be sitting across from people who genuinely care about my progress keeps me honest—and motivates me to move forward.
How do you structure your day and make time for writing? It looks different every single day. Between my day job, teaching, and three kids, I don’t have a perfectly color-coded writing schedule. Instead, I’ve learned to be flexible and grab the pockets of time that make sense for that day. Sometimes I wake up early and write before the house stirs. Other nights, I stay up late and sneak in a few pages after everyone’s asleep. I’ve written whole chapters in my car over the lunch hour. And more often than not, I’m on the couch with my laptop balanced beside me while my kids watch a movie or play on their tablets.
I don’t wait for ideal writing conditions. I just find what works for the day and show up for the story in whatever time I can carve out.
Learn more about Julie and grab a copy of her books via her website.
