It is Wednesday once more and every Wednesday we showcase authors, publishing professionals, library people, readers, and more in our weekly BALLER Profile post.

This week we are bringing the METAL to Wednesday in our interview with Julie Hiner. You’ll probably want to read this one while listening to an 80s glam metal playlist…

Stacey: Thank you for rocking our Wednesday, Julie! Can you please introduce yourself to our readers and share a bit about what you do?

Julie: I’m Julie Hiner, an 80s metal rocker. I grew up in Calgary, Alberta. My entire life I’ve been a massive book worm and lover of music. I spent a lot of my younger years buried in a book or lost in the rock god wails blasting from my walkman.

After a decent career as a computer scientist, I switched paths. I wrote a work of non-fiction to as a fundraiser. I shared my personal battle with weight and anxiety and how I found a new path by cycling up big, famous European mountains.

I now write Heavy Metal Horror. My fiction is a complete fusion of music and storytelling. My stories provide a front row spot to the sweatiest, heart pumping metal and rock concerts. They also plunge the reader into a deep mind dive into broken detectives, bonafide serial killers, and other types of killers and demons.

Stacey: Your writing journey started with your nonfiction memoir project – can you tell us about that book and what it means to you now?

Julie: Yes. The book is called Just a Girl and a Bike. It will forever mean more to me than I can express. In my 20s, I had very little confidence. I struggled with my body image and a load of anxiety. I loathed my physical being, and was the least athletic person in the world. When I merged my life with my soul mate, he introduced me to road cycling. Together we cycled up some of the toughest mountains of the pro cycling circuit. I found my inner athlete. I did things that I thought were impossible. I found a flow that merged my physical and spiritual beings on the side of a mountain.

I thought that if even one person read this and felt less alone, and took away something that would help them, then it would be a success. I have been able to connect with many people of so many walks of life that took something valuable away from the story. It’s also a fundraiser which feels really good.

Stacey: Since your memoir project, your writing has taken the horror path but with a unique twist. How did you come up with the idea to meld metal music with horror stories?

Julie: Honestly, when I decided the write my first fiction story (and a full novel at that), I knew I wanted to write a detective/serial killer story. For a long time I’ve been addicted to true crime, especially serial killers, and the psychological state of these human monsters. I’m also a sucker for a detailed homicide investigation. I wanted it to be in the 80s when the investigations were totally different than they are now. I’m also quite nostalgic about that time period. The music part simply came to me. It overtook my mind that this had to doused in heavy pour of 80s metal (to this day my favorite of every type of music). The murder scenes appeared in my mind as reenactments of 80s metal videos.

I thought the idea was too bizarre and weird. I was completely stressed out that this was just – well – ridiculous. But, the idea would not go away. So I wrote it.

I’m about to launch the fifth book in the series, and will be throwing the biggest metal book launch of all time. It took a lot of work, and a battle against a lot of self-doubt.

I guess if you follow your gut, you’ll be happy. That’s what I think.

Stacey: Can you tell us about the best and worst parts of being a female indie horror author?

Julie: Oh, I love it. I love that there seems to be more and more of us women coming forth with our own strange brews of messed up horror.

I think the most fun part of it is when people learn about what I do (especially from other areas of my life) and they say something like – “You? But you’re like this little lady and so nice and sweet and how in the heck do you write THIS???”.

The most rewarding part is being part of a community of people who write unique, extreme, creative, and interesting stories birthed from the depths of their souls. Now that I have found some of these people and am immersing myself more and more into the community, I see how it is growing. This is a great time to be writing weird horror. The community is very supportive and a lot of fun.

Stacey: You have a brand new book releasing soon and you go above and beyond for your book launches. I have tragically missed all of them, but that will change this year! Please tell us about your upcoming book and launch event.

Julie: The first time I held an 80s metal book launch was for book 1 in the 80s metal murder series (Final Track). I had no idea what I was doing. I threw myself into the pits of the unknown!

The launch was in the seedy basement of Vern’s, with a cool 80s metal cover band (Noize Boyz). I did a lot work to market the event. I showed up with a tonne of books and hoped people came. It was a success. But I had a lot to learn.

Over the years, I have followed my passion for scary books and heavy metal. I have continued to throw myself into the writing community, and also the music community. I dreamt of a true collaboration with a band writing their own music to throw the best 80s metal book launch ever.

This year, it’s happening. A killer local 80s hard rock inspired metal band, Lynx, is launching a new album, and I am launching a new book. We are co-hosting a double release party and giving exclusive early access to both the album and the book.

Along with the book, I am releasing a two track soundtrack. The book is thrash metal meets murder. A local thrash metal band, Hazzerd, is providing the vocals and music. A local producer is doing the mixing and recording.

True passion lead me to meet all of these people and to find collaborations that are a dream come true.

Stacey: And last question – you recently signed a deal for a traditionally published novella. What prompted you to go the traditional route with this project and please tell us what the novella about and when can readers expect to find it available for purchase?

Julie: Oh yes! I have always loved Jaws, and am extremely afraid of the deep, open water. I wrote a novella (Fear of the Deep is the working title) that explores my fear of the ocean. It’s about a life guard living in San Diego in the mid 80s. She’s a metal head. Ever since an accident surfing with her boyfriend, she’s been afraid to cross the wake. When a body shows up on the beach with familiar bite marks and emitting a familiar stench, she ends up facing her fear of the deep.

This will be published by the extreme horror imprint of Crystal Lake Publishing (Torrid Waters) in 2025.

I love self-publishing. It’s also a lot of work. I have come to the point where I am writing more books than I can publish myself. I have also been following a number of presses that I have come to admire for how they represent their authors, and that publish books I love. I kept watching for open submission windows that seemed like a good fit. This one was the perfect fit and I’m quite excited about it.

Stacey: Exciting news! Thanks Julie for sharing all this with us!

And, dear reader, thank you again for joining us. Happy Reading!

— Stacey