I’d like to welcome author Julie Bates to the blog for this edition of #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite summer traditions: freezing and canning. I like making strawberry and blackberry jam. I also make pretty good apple butter. Summer is also my time for getting large stacks of books from the library and working on crafts like knitting and quilting. I love being home and having time to do the things I love.

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again: Anything that involves long periods of time outdoors. I am not a good DIYer.

Favorite summer beverage: A large Chick fil A lemonade

A drink that gives you a pickle face: Dr. Pepper

Best summer memory: Among my favorite memories stems from my early childhood in Michigan. My dad worked for GM and left for work before we went to school. Afternoons he’d come home tired, so weekends were a treasure. In the summer we would pack up and go to Point Huron and play on the beach all day. Then we would go to a nearby restaurant where they served shrimp and fries in a basket lined with a red checked napkin. I still love almost anything to do with water.

Something you’d rather forget: Summers are HOT here in NC. One time I tried a huge garden and completely overwhelmed myself. I fought bugs, ground hogs and clay soil all summer, not to mention weeds from hell. I keep my gardening small and contained these days.

Best thing you ever grilled in spring: Chicken breast or burgers.

Your worst kitchen or grilling disaster: Do not ever use sesame oil in a wok! I very nearly set my kitchen on fire. My exhaust fan was charcoal and smelled awful.

Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer: I have a chair near a window where I can watch the birds. In my dreams I will renovate our back porch into a sun room and hang out in there.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions: The living room. My husband keeps the TV going constantly and it drives me cuckoo.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Go star gazing

Least favorite thing about summer: The HEAT!

Favorite place to visit in Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg

Somewhere you’ve visited way too much. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt: Amusement Parks. I outgrew those when my son reached adulthood.

The thing you like most about being a writer: The freedom to create my own world, painting an imaginary canvas in all the colors of the rainbow with words and thoughts and feelings.

The thing you like least about being a writer: deadlines. I always feel there is more I should have accomplished, done better, researched more. I can drive myself batty with details.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: Coke zero, chocolate, missing ingredients for what I plan to cook for dinner.

Things you never put on your shopping list: collard greens, liver, sardines

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Riding a roller coaster

Something you chickened out from doing: Mountain climbing. I’m fine with hiking but I’m not crawling up a bare rock face.

About Julie:

Julie Bates grew up reading little bit of everything, but when she discovered Agatha Christie, she knew she what she wanted to write. Along the way, she has written a weekly column for her local newspaper and published a few articles in magazines such as Spin Off and Carolina Country. She has blogged for Killer Nashville and the educational website Read.Learn.Write. She currently works as a teacher for special needs students. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Southeastern Writers of America (SEMWA) and The Historical Novel Society. When not busy plotting her next story, she enjoy doing crafts and spending time with her husband and son, as well as a number of dogs and cats who have shown up on her doorstep and never left.