Welcome author Judi Getch Brodman to our blog today!
Honolulu Hawaii – April 1968
As the Vietnam War rages on, a pilot and his fiancé find Hawaii as an oasis protecting them for a week from the raging bloody battles of Vietnam and the constant threat of death that hangs over the fighting men and their women.
As the breathtaking fragrance of orchids, plumeria, and white ginger saturates the heavy humid, they find themselves wrapped in each other’s love, more powerful than ever before. This tropical island shelters and pampers them and allows them to feel as though they are the only two people in the world.
Hours and days fly by…and then they part not knowing how this war could end for them.
Please tell us about your latest book.
My latest published book is a wonderful love story that takes us
back to Honolulu Hawaii – April 1968 --
Amidst
the turmoil of the Vietnam War, a pilot and his fiancée seek refuge in the lush
paradise of Hawaii.
Surrounded by intoxicating scents of orchids,
plumeria, and white ginger, this tropical paradise shelters and pampers them as
though they are the only two people in the world. Time stands still as they bask in the beauty
of the islands, unaware of the looming shadow that this war will cast over
their lives and all the lives of the men and women who serve.
What can we expect from you in the future?
I’m currently working on three
manuscripts – a sequel to Treacherous Waters, a third adventure in the Oyster
Point Mysteries, and a new one story that takes us shark hunting and then back
to a mystery in 1830!
How do we find out about you and your books?
You can find them all on Amazon… https://tinyurl.com/Judi-G-Brodman
or on my Solstice Publishing author’s page - https://solsticeempire.com/products.aspx?categoryid=194
You can also find me at:
My blog: https://judigetchwriter2.blogspot.com/
My website: https://judigetchbrodman.wordpress.com/
And my Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/judigetchbrodman/
I’m also on Twitter:
@judigetch
How much of your personality and life experiences are in your
writing?
I think the more life experiences the writer has, the more
authentic their writing will be. You
know how loss feels… family, a love, a pet or a friend. You understand what it’s like to live in
different parts of the world – what the people and places are like – so many of
those experiences find their way into your stories. I had a reader ask me how I wrote the chapter
in “She’s Not You” where Jamie learns that her parents were killed in an
automobile accident. He said it made him
cry remembering when his son died. I
told him that I wrote about that event remembering how a young me felt when my
father died… quickly of a heart attack. Because of my heartbreak, I could
experience Jamie’s loss, her rage at God and her abandonment deep inside
me. I cried writing it and cry reading
it even today. That’s how deep you have
to dig as a writer.
In “Dark Secrets”, Brielle, an
only child abandoned by her mother, experiences the death of her beloved canine
companion Blackie, at a very young age.
It was her first experience with death as it was mine when I lost my
much-loved Blackie. It’s draining to
write those scenes, but if you’re not authentic, readers won’t identify with
your character and that’s how you as an author connect to your readers.
In “The Looking Glass Labyrinth”,
the house that’s the centerpiece for the story is based on an old Wellfleet
Captain’s house that I stayed in. It was
of the same vintage with servants’ quarters, warm parlors and living rooms with
tall windows and large fireplaces, so I could close my eyes and walk through
those rooms as I wrote.
For “Dark Secrets”, I took you
back to Paris, land an apartment in Montmartre where I lived. It’s a city I adore. The scene in the church is authentic… that’s
all I say here.
One story I’m working on takes
place again in Paris…the sequel to Treacherous
Waters.
When did you first think about writing and what prompted
you to submit your first ms?
I’ve always written – for my college newspaper, in travel journals as well as for technical journals in my career, so writing came naturally, or so I thought. Technical writing is “passive;” creative writing is “active.” Therein lays the very big difference. I began writing fiction years ago because I felt that I had a creative flow that hadn’t been tapped and had a few stories to tell, but writing them well, making them interesting and having them come alive was the challenge, but obviously with study and determination, I overcame that challenge. Not that I’m still not learning, as a writer you are always reading and learning. And “She’s Not You” was my first manuscript submitted, then rewrote, resubmitted and rewrote and submitted again. I was lucky that my first novel was picked up by Solstice Publishing.
Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go
with the flow?
I write every day… 4-5 hours. Sometimes I’m editing earlier pages and
sometimes I’m writing new pages. I
usually have at least two books going at the same time. And I don’t outline my books; I let my
characters take me where they will.
What about your family, do they know not to bother you
when you are writing - or are there constant interruptions?
I have an office so when I’m in
there, I’m alone – with my music. I’m
also great at blocking out background noise; college taught me that lesson J
What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?
I used to be a runner but surgery stopped that so I walk a lot… miles and
miles. It clears my head and sometimes
that’s when my characters solve any story problems I might have. I scream and cheer at the kid’s hockey and
baseball games. I garden… have done that
for many years. I love to cook for
family gatherings and holidays. And of
course, I love to travel. But writing is
also very relaxing for me… J
Where do your ideas come from?
That’s an interesting question – sometimes I see an article that
intrigues me. That happened with Dark
Secrets – a read a story about a long forgotten apartment in Paris and it
became a part of the story that I built around. Sometimes they are cold cases
that pique my interest and sometimes it’s just a time travel story that I love.
I have written a number of those and one of the manuscript I’m writing now is a
time travel.
Humor for the sake of humor doesn’t work for me. That said, I like my characters to have a
good sense of humor, like Jamie in “She’s Not You” – she’s cut, bleeding and is
about to blindside her abductor, but she worried about the blood stains on her Carolina Herrera shift that
had cost her two months’ salary. Will they come out? I like the characters to be sassy and quick
witted when appropriate. I like them to
laugh and joke with each other. In “Dark
Secrets” Brielle jokes about being a spinster with a load of cats… I like that
kind of humor.
What kind of research do you do?
I do tons and tons of research… on the subject, the place, the
styles, the times… everything. Take for example the “Looking Glass
Labyrinth”. I take you back to an 1804
sea captain’s house in a seaport town on Cape Cod. Rachael is transported there unexpectedly…
what does she find, see, smell and feel. I’m sure that those reading the book
can’t imagine the hours of research that went into every detail of the house,
the dresses, and the men of the times and yes, even the maids and what they
wore and called their mistresses. I
scoured articles on what women studied in those times and how my character
became so educated in 1804. I even researched trading routes to see where
Nathaniel, the sea captain, might sail to and what items his ship would carry
to and from destinations. Everything you write should be as accurate as you can
make it. I think a reader will stop if
there’s an error and say, “What, that can’t be.” And I don’t want that to
happen. I want my reader to be immersed in the story and times.
In “She’s Not You” I have old yellowed letters from two young
college students writing back and forth to each other about the beginnings of
WW II. He becomes a pilot over France –
she waits for him, but experiences dreams… tons of research to paint a short
picture of these two young lovers and what they went through.
In “Dark Secrets” we learn about Paris before and after the
Germans marched on it; we look at an apartment that is a time capsule of the
1940s.
As for plots, I scour the Internet and newspapers for stories
that ring a bell in my head – some are cold cases that intrigue me. J
Please tell us about
yourself.
My background is not that of the usual author. I’m an engineer with degrees in Math and
Physics and a Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering. My work has taken me
around the world including the Marshall Islands. I have published many technical papers in
journals. I’m also an editor for Wiley’s technical journal on software process
improvement.
But I’ve always loved books and good stories. I wrote when I was in college, but it wasn’t
until a number of years ago that I began to write in earnest. I also knew that,
like any profession, you didn’t just sit down and write a best seller; if that
were true, there would be a lot of best sellers out there. So I joined a
writers group, took both college creative writing courses and on-line writing courses
and worked hard. I learned how to write well… to dig deep and expose feelings. And
after I took an on-line course from an author whose writing I love and who
challenged me to write fuller and deeper and in doing so, changed my writing, I
was blessed that Solstice Publishing saw something in my writing and stories.
They published “She’s Not You,” the first mystery in the Oyster Point
Mysteries. The rest is history as they
say. “The Looking Glass Labyrinth” came
next, then “Dark Secrets” and others and recently “Treacherous Waters” and this
year, “Paradise Revisited”.
Who are some of your other favorite
authors to read?
I’m not sure I have a
favorite book, but I do have favorite authors.
I love to go back and read Dickens and Hemingway, but then love Nora
Roberts and John Grisham mysteries.
Sometimes I find an unexpected local author like Eugenia Price whose
books I found when visiting Saint Simons Island; in Ireland, I read
Maeve Binchy’s books. I love a taste of
the local culture wherever I am. So I guess that I haven’t found my favorite author yet.
Sometimes I find myself not just reading a book, but thinking about how I would
have written it and that takes the joy of reading away. I’ve gone to audible
books – easier and I can get the ‘reading’ in as I walk.
What do you think of critique groups in
general?
Absolutely necessary
for every writer in my opinion. Good writers groups! I was lucky and landed in a super group for
years and I truly believe that was how my writing improved initially.
How many books have you written, how
many have been published?
I’ve written twelve published books:
-
two children’s books (Fiona the Firefly series),
-
two Oyster Point Mysteries – She’s Not You and Treat Me
Nice; and
-
nine mystery/romance/time-travel novels – Broken Christmas Promise (eBook), One summer Night, The Looking Glass Labyrinth, Dark
Secrets, Tales of the Silent, Til Death Do We Part, Unanticipated Consequences – A Second Chance
and Treacherous Waters.
-
Paradise Revisited – A Vietnam Era Love Story, her newest, takes place
in a time when love, family, home – nothing was guaranteed.
After you've written your book and it's
been published, do you ever buy it and/or read it?
Interesting
question. I read the Fiona series to
children. I’m invited frequently to
speak to groups about my writing, how I began, etc., I usually choose passages
to read from the book were discussing, so I do reread parts of them. I think authors have to be careful when going
back and rereading their work that they don’t judge their own writing. I’ve seen authors whip themselves over
passages that could have been written better, etc. But we have to realize that we’ve grown since
we wrote the last book. Not that I don’t
do the same thing… I find a passage and think, “How much more powerful it would
have been if I had written… whatever.” I
think that’s okay – you are learning from your own writing and need to
recognize that your writing has changed.
Among your own books, have you
a favorite book? Favorite hero or heroine?
I have to admit that
I fall in love with all my heroes and heroines.
But my readers love Jack in “She’s Not You.” And I do too which is why
he’ll be returning with Jamie in the third Oyster Point Mystery. But that being
said, Nathaniel and Rachael are an awesome twosome in “The Looking Glass
Labyrinth.” Many readers fell in love
with them as well. Then, there is Jacques and Brielle in “Dark Secrets” – he
was unbelievable! Nick and Sabrina are well-loved characters as well in
“Treacherous Waters” which is why they will be returning in one of the
manuscripts I’m working on.
I’m sure all authors
hate to come to the end of a story and say goodbye to the characters that
they’ve spent months and months with. But I find that the next characters I
create are just as lovable and unforgetable.
What is the most rewarding thing about
being a writer?
I think the most
rewarding thing is when you hear from readers that they loved your book and
can’t wait for the next one. That’s why
I enjoy going to book clubs… feedback is real-time and you discuss everything. Also when you receive that first copy of
your new novel… priceless!!
What other
profession allows you to create handsome/beautiful, strong characters and then invent
the setting where they live…none!
If you weren't writing, what would you
be doing?
What is your greatest desire?
As an author, maybe to
have my work recognized? Made into a
movie? In my personal life, to keep
traveling, stay healthy and have my family around me ALL the time! I love to be productive on all fronts.
Are there any words of
encouragement for unpublished writers?
Never stop writing…
never stop learning… work hard, learn to take constructive criticism and use it
to become a better writer. WORK
hard. Becoming a “good” writer comes
after many years of learning, writing and rejection. But never give up – the best seller might be
right around the next corner!
