Rising Stars: Meet Jolie Moore of Mid-City/Fairfax

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolie Moore

Hi Jolie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I write under two names, romance as Jolie Moore, and thrillers as Aime Austin.

The road to becoming a full-time novelist was a long one. I started my first book nearly twenty-five years ago right before I moved to Los Angeles. It took me almost seven years to finish it. After that, I did all the usual things an aspiring novelist does, edited it to within an inch of its life, and found an agent. Then it was…crickets. All the excitement of completing a project and getting that elusive big-time agent went nowhere.

So I wrote another book, then another, and that third one sold to a new imprint of a large publisher. Fame and bestseller lists didn’t descend upon me from heaven like I’d dreamed. Maybe a few hundred people purchased the book in its first year. I sold a second and it too wasn’t a runaway hit. I dusted that first book off, found a writing group, and finished that one, which was my first thriller, Judged.

Most of my romances are set in Los Angeles. I love writing about how we really live in the city and neighborhoods like Studio City, Benedict Canyon, Malibu, South LA, and Mid-City. My characters are doctors and lawyers, but also work in standards and practices, as unionized make-up artists, cops, contractors, and even a stand-up comedian living in West Hollywood. One of my first published titles, Maybe Him starts on the 101 freeway as a dog runs into and stops traffic

The tide turned for me when I joined two local romance writers’ groups, one here in Los Angeles, and the other in Orange County. Serious, professional working writers took me under their collective wings and helped me make my way from a nascent newbie to a professional writer.

Long story short, I’ve now written twenty-nine books, twenty-eight of which have been published. I’ve sold hundreds of thousands of books and even hit the USA Today bestseller list.

The next release, His Last Mistress, will be in January of 2025. My life has had many ups and downs here in Los Angeles. Despite all that has happened, the writing has been my inspiration and salvation.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been two big struggles in my quest to pursue a writing career. The first plagues many artists: self-doubt. The second was writing without the support of my family. The two formed a vicious cycle that fed each other for years.

I’m not the first writer nor the last whose family didn’t support them. For years, my mother thought I should do anything but write. I remember going to a party she threw and everyone who came up to me assumed I was an attorney, a job I went to school for and held briefly. By then I’d written and published six or seven novels and hadn’t practiced law for nearly a decade. She still hoped I’d quit and return to a real job.

Unfortunately, my ex was similarly unsupportive. On the upside, he supported us financially, allowing me to pursue this dream. On the downside, he never wanted to talk acknowledge my work or success. As long as I could do it in the background and not disturb our lifestyle or career, I could keep writing.

With doubt coming from all sides, it was hard to believe in myself. I’m grateful for other writers and good friends who propped me up when I fell down. My confidence in my writing didn’t solidify until I got divorced. With few naysayers around, I realized that I could not only write and publish but bloom as an arftist.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Over my career, I’ve written only genre fiction. I have fourteen romance novels to my (Jolie Moore) name and fifteen legal (Aime Austin) thrillers. I grew up reading many, many romances and nearly everything else I could get my hands on. Thankfully I grew up in a family of readers and there were books of all kinds on every shelf in everyone’s houses. Even better, there was no judgment on anyone’s reading choices. That meant some people read pulp fiction bought at subway newsstands. Others, like my father, only read tomes on politics. My mother was a fan of the English novel, imported books with thin pages and tiny font.

These books influenced me to write stories heavy on plot, characterization, and conflict. I also inject a fair amount of political corruption in my stories. These are the kinds of things I love to read and what I love to write for readers. What sets me apart from other genre writers, in my opinion, is my willingness to ‘color outside of the box,’ so to speak. I have a taboo romance that starts as an affair. Another features a heroine who is a sex worker.

In my legal thrillers, I push the envelope by having a protagonist who is not afraid to take on the seedy underside of the law as a defense attorney. The world isn’t always sunshine and roses and it’s important to me as an artist to share the parts of life that we rarely talk about (publicly) the least.

I’m most proud of the fact that I have dedicated readers who buy and red the stories I like to tell.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Right now at this phase of my life what makes me most happy is time spent with my fourteen-year-old son and travel. Often the two combine. I split my time between Los Angeles and Budapest. Living abroad fills me with great joy and broadens my perspective on life. I also love to share my wanderlust with my son. This year we went to Macchu Picchu, which was not onlyva fun, but educational trip. Last year it was Belgium and Scotland. There are many other trips across the years. I love that a single eight-mile ride to LAX can take me almost anywhere in the world.

Then there are my podcasts. In the last few years I’ve indulged in making episodes. As Jolie Moore, my podcast is Fifty First Dates. It was a yearlong chronicle of dating post-divorce. My ongoing podcast is A Time to Thrill. In it, I feature interviews with brilliant, creative women, including writers, visual artists, and filmmakers. They are the most fun conversations and I love sharing long-form interviews with listeners.

Lastly, I love to bike on the Marvin Braude trail a few days a week. I regularly pedal between Venice and Pacific Palisades. It’s the best way to ruminate over new story ideas and get in a good workout.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joliemoore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legalthrillerauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legalthrillerauthor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@legalthrillerauthor
• Other: https://aimeaustin.com/

Image Credits
headshots photo (c) Paul Smith (https://www.paulsmithphotography.com/)
avatar (c) Patricia Krebs (http://patriciakrebs.com.ar/)
Covers;
Wicked Good Book Covers
The Cover Collection
Jocelyn Grant
Cover Me Darling
Qamber Designs