Every Writer's Story is a Hero's Journey.

Julie Cordova, the talented author of The Other Side of the Rainbow and The Other End of the Lie, first knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of ten. She stayed after school to talk about the novel Where the Red Fern Grows with her 5th grade teacher at Kenton Elementary school. When Julie perked up about adults who wrote books for bookstores and libraries as their job, Mrs. Casey told Julie she had a vivid imagination and if she wanted to, she could write her own novels when she grew up. She could sell them in the same bookstores and libraries. 

Julie ran home to tell her mother her plans. When she did her mother said, "Oh people like us don't do that sort of thing. I think you should be a nurse or teacher." 

Julie believed her. 

       (In fiction, we call a moment like this: the origin of the false belief.)

Julie felt crushed. Until her husband, Phil, asked if she could have any job in the world what would she do? 

She was twenty-eight-years-old and had been home with their youngest son after his birth two years earlier. It was time to decide if she would return to her job as a medical assistant or try something else. 

Even though she remembered the disappoint she felt after her mother's reactions, she decided to tell her husband the truth. She said, "I'd write novels." 

He didn't even know she liked to write. His response was laughter followed by a simple question: shouldn’t writers write?

She pulled down the box she kept in the baby’s room. It was in the back of the closet where no one would find it. Although, she couldn't type more than a few words a minute, she had managed to type up the first chapter on her mother's typewriter before she and Phil met, fell in love, and were married. 

She knew the chapter wasn't perfect, but she held it out and gave it to him anyway. He took it. Stunned that she had managed to keep it from him. 

             (In fiction this moment is known as an Inciting Incident.)

As he read, she felt sick. She left the house to go on a long walk. When she returned, he was on the phone asking about what kind of computer she would need to write novels. He picked one up that night.

           (In fiction, he would be considered a catalyst

                                                                 and the romantic lead.)

She didn't know how to use a computer. She barely had time to read books. And her grammar was rusty Mrs. Casey would be sad. 

Still, her journey began. 

She was alone. She didn't know where to start. She didn't know any writers she could ask for advice. So she decided she would first learn to use the computer and then she would learn to type. 

           (This BEAT would be known as the End of the Beginning.)

By the time she was typing almost as fast as she could think, she had started reading books on writing. She used them as text books and guides to edit her stories. 

Finally, after working alone in her basement for years.  She found a group of writers who had advertised their Tuesday lunchtime meetings and welcomed local writers to attend. 

The organizer, Kitty Hirs, helped Julie with her grammar by giving her a few private lessons. The group encouraged her to keep at it. Often providing feedback about how she wrote memorable characters in dynamic situations and used engaging dialogue. 

She believed them and kept writing and improving her grammar. She may never be perfect at it. She'd rather create and trust an editor. Although, she is better at editing other people's writing than she is her own just like most author's she meets. 

When her first novel was rejected, she decided to go back to school. She applied to the University of Denver at the age of thirty-seven after a series of amazing manifesting and confirming events, she will share at another time. 

They mailed her an acceptance letter. She graduated with honors in 2008. She went on to get a graduate's degree and returned to writing novels before finishing her Master's in Liberal Studies with an Emphasis in Creative Writing. 

She learned about a local writer's community while in school and signed up for more classes with them. There, she met an author, Ona Marea, who invited her to join a writers group. They met every Monday. 

She joined the multi-genre group and her writing improved with their amazing feedback. 

Still her books were rejected when she submitted them to publishers. She wrote new ones. 

Before her mother died in 2021, aware of her pending death, she told Julie: "I wish you had published a book so I could have held it." 

Julie's responded, "I tried. I guess you'll have to be my angel to help me find a publisher." 

Her mother promised to do her best. In 2022, good to her word, an acquisitions editor at New Degree Press, contacted her about her novel and asked for a meeting.

The Other Side of the Rainbow was published in 2023. The Other End of the Lie was published in 2025. 

The writers group still meets every Monday, although some of the original writers have had to drop out and others have joined in. Every active participant is now published. Two, Reina Callier and Andrew Moore, are award winning authors. Julie feels blessed to be part of this amazing creative group. 

They are publishing an anthology in the Fall of 2026 that will be available as an eBook, paperback, and audiobook. 

Hers is not a story of overnight success. But that doesn't bother her. She celebrates it for what it is: a story of perseverance. 

As a former teacher and medical assistant, she now loves to help new writers shorten their journey from an initial idea and dreaming to finishing and publishing, while staying healthy. She has taught courses online and in person, locally. She has been a presenter at conferences. She's also helped a few writers in private sessions. 

Feel free to connect with Julie through email: hello@juliecordova.com. 

You can also find her on Facebook: thewriterjuliecordova 

Instagram: @authorjuliecordova 

X: @juliecordova 

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