Author Archives: Judy

AJ’s Neighborhood: The Backstory

AJ’s Neighborhood is inspired by my son and our neighborhood, obviously. We love our neighborhood, and we do take walks to the library all the time. And AJ does wear rainboots a lot despite us living in Southern California drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to the backstory of how I came to write this book.

I wrote AJ’s Neighborhood during the summer of 2020. Earlier in the year I had worked on another book with the hopes of self-publishing it, but that project stalled. However, the research and prep I did on that project made me feel that self-publishing something was achievable.

There was a big event that inspired the story in AJ’s Neighborhood. Early in 2020, before the pandemic, I was taking the kids out to meet up with friends. AJ was two at the time, and Jo was just a few months old. I told AJ to put his shoes on because it was time to go. And by shoes, I mean rainboots, because that is all he would wear then.

I went to get Jo only to find she had a majorly poopy diaper that I would need to deal with before we could get in the car. The thing is–we cloth diaper, so it takes a little bit of time to clean up after a poop. So while I am taking care of things, Jo is also screaming her head off. (She was and remains a top-level screamer.)

When I finally finish with the diaper and get Jo to get in the car, I can’t find AJ anywhere. I am looking in hampers, under beds, in the backyard. I figured out he must have gone out the front door and the baby’s screaming kept me from hearing the noise. Outside, I call his name up and down our street, and freak out our mail carrier. I am hoping he hasn’t tried to cross our busy street to try and make his way to the the fire station to see the engines.

Finally, I have no choice but to call the police. I’m almost hysterical at this point. But it’s only a moment before they tell me someone has found a little boy fitting the description I gave. They direct me to go around the block.

I dash around the corner to find AJ being corralled by a couple who saw him run by their house. They thought it was odd to see a child that small running by himself. Plus he’s wearing rainboots from some reason. They went outside, chatted with him and kept him from running any further while they called the police.

Later, when I had calmed down, I had a serious talk with AJ about not running around by himself. As we talked, I realized that even though he had only gone around the block, he had gotten himself totally lost. AJ has always had a thing for maps, so we made a little map of our neighborhood so he would have a better sense of direction should he get lost again.

That day that AJ got lost stayed in my mind for a while. As a parent, it was a terrible experience. But it quickly became a classic anecdote for our family. I am sure AJ will be sick of hearing about it before long. In the retelling, I was able to see past the scary parts into seeing something interesting, fun and inspiring. I hope I was able to put that feeling into the finished project. Only 2 more months, and you can tell me how I did.

(Also, after this we got these super handy child-proof door knob things because mama is not messing around.)

I Am a Writer

I have been a writer my whole life, but only recently began calling myself one.

As a child, before I could really write my letters, I drew little flip books and made cartoons.

Later, I filled notebooks with stories I illustrated myself.

Later, I wrote a few poems, and many songs. I have several unsuccessful attempts at novels. For a short time after college, I wrote theater reviews for a local paper.

As an adult, I pursued careers in academia and the music industry, and worked in schools and offices. But I always had the dream of some day writing a novel and getting it published.

After my kids were born, I became a stay-at-home mom. I tried to get other jobs, but nothing came through that worked for our family. And still I hoped to write. The desire only grew with every year, and increasingly I felt like I was delaying something I was meant to do.

Well, when the pandemic hit, I realized I was not going to be getting a job anytime soon. So I decided to answer the voice that had been calling me for so long and pursue a writer’s life.

So here I am, trying to make a go of it. I have my first book coming out in less than three months, but it still feels weird to call myself a writer. I have always felt like that title was reserved for people making a living from their pen, people with an agent or a book deal, or at least a book in print. It feels like a jinx to use the label before my book comes out. But I have also never worked at something that felt more like my “calling” than this has. I don’t really know what a theology of calling would say about that in relation to me pursuing writing. All I can say is that I feel that I have internal and external confirmation that I am on a good path.

So I say I am a writer. I say this with hope and expectation, with determination and anticipation. If you’re reading this, you have found me only steps from my front door, starting a new adventure. Thank you for joining me and seeing me here at the beginning.

Welcome to the blog!

Thanks for checking out my blog! I hope this will be a space where I can share some interesting thoughts and writing with you all. I am sure there will be a good number of lists, because I love a good lists. There is a chance this will be only lists… but we’ll see.

Either way, I hope to cover some behind-the-scenes stories about my writing and the publishing process, and some reflections about faith, media and the arts, and life. We’ll get to it all eventually, so come back again soon to join the fun!