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JUDITH HAND 
Judith, I don't know how long it took you to find a publisher for "...Goddess", but I ever since I joined RWASD (over a year ago), I was aware of its success in contests, etc. So, how did it feel to become published at last? JH: I am profoundly gratified. I began this book over ten years ago. The effort involved lots of research, including a trip to Greece and Turkey. Along the way my mother and my husband died, prolonging the work. And I tried submitting again and again to agents and editors. My pile of rejections is quite impressive. Finally I decided out of desperation to "do it myself" and wore myself nearly to a frazzle in the effort to set up a publishing company, design a cover, do the book's interior layout, etc.. But at the last moment, the nearly finished book caught the eye of small publisher who fell in love with the story and the setting. This is a writer's dream come true--an editor or publisher, even if from a small press, who loves your work. So in the end the book is being published by Pacific Rim Press, while I learned from the inside out, the process of getting a book put together (much more than I ever wanted to know). And now, at last, I am so happy that other people will be able to spend some time in the wonderful and strange world of the ancient Minoans. My heroine and hero's struggles won't have been in vain. They will see the light of day, not the bottom drawer of a cabinet.If you could teach aspiring writers one thing, what would it be? JH: Ah. That one's easy. Never, never, never give up. And there is always more than one way to achieve your dream. If one path is blocked, look for another. Best advice given or taken? JH: Write what you love (not just what the market wants). Have you ever worked with a mentor, critique group, or writing/plotting partner? JH: My critiques groups (plural) have been critical above all in teaching me the craft of writing. They have also been critical--by exposing their thinking to me with their honest comments about what I've written--to teaching me to see my work as others see it. From those comments I learned how to make my writing clear. In short, I could not have written Voice of the Goddess without my critique groups. The old fashioned editors of the past no longer exist, and my view is that my critique groups serve that ever-so-important function. No writing partner. I'm not sure I could work with a partner. My voice and my ideas of plot and story are very "me." And a mentor? I've had many people who helped me along--many--but my publisher, Bob Holt, is now my mentor, not about writing, but about the nuts and bolts of promoting Voice. And I feel in him a genuine mentor because he's helping me with something about which I know nothing, and about which, from years inthe publishing business, he knows volumes. All those at RWA who were experienced writers who taught me in classes or critiqued my work when I was just beginning are also generous mentors, notably Marian Jones. How did you get inspired to write about Ancient Crete civilization? JH: I knew from ancient history classes in college that the Minoans had beautiful art that lacked depictions of violence. And then about ten years ago I learned from a book by Riane Eisler called The Chalice and the Blade that their chief divinity was female--a goddess. And further I learned from Eisler that although there were many cities on Crete, there is no archeological evidence of warfare between the cities. That clinched it. A goddess worshipping society where women were highly respected and where they did not practice war! I wanted to spend time with them, bring awareness of them to other people, and do so while writing a fabulous love story. Is your life anything like the romances you write? JH: There are parts of me in all my heroines. Isn't that true of all of us? I write about strong women. And I had the great good fortune to be loved by a macho man who enjoyed it that I was a strong woman. We were lovers and friends, something I think is central to the dream of all romance readers and writers. So I can honestly say that yes, in many ways my life when I had my husband and we adventured through life together had many elements that I build into my romances. What's next? JH: If you read all the way to the end of Voice of the Goddess you will find that a sequel is strong in my mind. Likely title: The Amazon Queen. (There I go again, with strong women). Check out Judith's new website: http://www.jhand.com/ |
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