The last couple of years have been a challenge. 2016 saw a massive wildfire force the total evacuation of my home city (Fort McMurray, AB) for a month. Since then, I’ve had several family members become sick and/or pass away. It seemed like just when I thought things were going back to normal, some new horrible thing would happen. The stress was unrelenting and my creative output suffered as a result. Thankfully, I have an amazing editor who stuck with me, offered advice, and encouraged me to keep writing despite the often overwhelming grief I was mired in. Writing Sleight of Hand, the latest release in my Outbreak Task Force series, probably saved my life for several reasons: - It gave me an outlet for my grief and stress - It was something positive to focus on - I worked through some of my own trauma while my characters worked through theirs - Daily writing meant keeping a schedule, setting goals, and feeling a sense of accomplishment - Achieving a goal (creative or otherwise) releases dopamine in the brain (the happy chemical) All of this reduced my stress level, which had a direct, positive, impact on my health by: - Lowering my anxiety and elevating my mood - Lowering my blood pressure - Lowering my heart rate and respiration - Lowering my tendency to stress eat - Lowering my blood cortisol level (a stress hormone) - Providing a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment Along with writing, I’ve found a couple of new creative hobbies: Book-folding 
Exploding box cards 
Not sure how to fit creativity into your life? Here are some tips to help you achieve the best results in fitting creativity in: - Start simple: listening to music, coloring, or journaling can all provide a creative outlet - Use your hands: not just to draw, but write, sculpt, make a card or scrapbook - Give yourself the gift of time—just thirty minutes to an hour of creativity can lower your blood cortisol level - Try new things—take an art class, go to a group paint- night, or check out new craft ideas at your nearest craft store - Craft with friends—take that painting class with friends and create a masterpiece (or several) together Have fun—no matter what you try, do something that makes you happy.
Outbreak Task Force Series #3
CDC nurse Joy Oshiro is stressed to the breaking point. College students are dying and no one knows why. And her new partner Dr. Gunner Anderson is frustratingly annoying--and sexy, but mainly just plain annoying--and proving difficult to avoid. He spent three years with Doctors Without Borders, and disillusioned is just the tip of his issues. They’ll need to learn to trust one another if they have a chance at figuring out who is behind the attacks. She makes him laugh, makes him forget--for a little while. But each new clue keeps them one step behind the terrorists, with buildings and evidence being destroyed just as they near. Now they’re in a race against time to not only find a cure but also to avoid becoming the next targets themselves.
Romance Suspense | Romance Military [Entangled: Amara, On Sale: January 28, 2019, e-Book, ISBN: 9781640637245 / ]
Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “Fiction has to be believable”. Julie writes romantic suspense and romantic military thrillers.
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