About Me: An Interview With Judy

Q. What can you tell me about your early years?
A. I was born in Seattle, Washington, and lived in various places growing up. I graduated from West Senior High School in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1964, then headed to BYU. From 1967 to 1969 I served in the North Argentine Mission, then returned to BYU. I graduated from the College of Family Living in 1970 and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where I met my husband, Donald. We were married in 1971.

Q: What started you on your writing career?
A: I was living in a 10x50 trailer with two small children while my husband built us a home. There was one little window in the front room that looked outside, and all I could see was the house framing, some sky, and the roofs of homes in the distance. One day I thought, I have to stay in these tiny rooms and care for my small children, but my mind can soar! I found an ad for a correspondence course for writers, and I signed up. That was the beginning.

Q. When was that?
A: Around 1978. I actually produced a short novel for teens, Dive Into Danger, which was published in 1980.

Q: Did you write more novels after that?
A: Not for a while. We moved into our new home, and I had a third baby. Suddenly I had too much to do and not enough time.

Q: Did you give it up, then?
A. Actually, I was curious. Was the book a fluke because of the guidance from a writer’s course? Or could I really write? I wanted to find out.

Q: So, where did you find time write?
A. I traded babysitting with a dear friend for several years. We each took all preschool children for one morning each week while the other used her free morning as she pleased. Tuesday morning became my writing day, Thursday my babysitting day.

Q: Just once a week?
A: Amazing, really, when you think about it. That’s when I switched to short story writing!

Q: How did that go?
A: I published many stories during the 80s, mostly in The Friend magazine, which accepted fiction in those days.

Q: When did you turn to writing for adults?
A: We moved to Utah in the early 90s. Our children were in high school and college, and I finally decided to go to work. I became an editor for the Ensign magazine.

Q: Was that hard to go from writing fiction to writing non-fiction?
A: Not at all. I’d been writing to, for, and about Latter-day Saints for several years because of my Church calling, which was in Public Affairs during the time I lived in Las Vegas.  

Q: Are you still writing?
A: Yes. I am writing and editing both fiction and non-fiction books for Covenant.

Q: What can you tell us about your family?
A: My husband Donald and I just celebrated our 40th anniversary. We have four children and sixteen grandchildren living in three states.