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If we had to say what writing is, we would define it essentially as an act of courage.
Cynthia Ozick
You develop a style from writing a lot.
Kurt Vonnegut
To be a good writer, you not only have to write a great deal, but you have to care.
Anne Lamott
Look for a long time at what pleases you, and longer still at what pains you.
Colette
Start to write, and let one thing lead to another.
Ring Lardner
You do your best work when you're not conscious of yourself.
Peter Matthiessen
…always wish that you may find patience enough in yourself to endure, and simplicity enough to believe.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Writing is always a voyage of discovery.
Nadine Gordimer
You have to give yourself the space to write a lot without a destination.
Natalie Goldberg
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When she was eight years old, Judy discovered, or decided, she was a writer and the written word shaped her life from that time forward.
After more than 25 years in a variety of commercial writing-related jobs (newspapers, radio, television, public relations, advertising, marketing), she chucked everything except her notebooks, booked an around-the-world airline ticket and took off in search of a new Muse.
But like Dorothy, the yellow brick road that went all the way around the world lead her right back to her own back yard where, in 1993, she co-founded The Writing Center, a nonprofit literary arts organization, which had a glorious, albeit brief five-year life as the center of San Diego's (California) literary community.
Out of the ashes of The Writing Center came her first book, A Writer's Book of Days, A Spirited Companion & Lively Muse for the Writing Life (New World Library, 1999), which was based on her popular lunchtime writing session at The Writing Center, the Brown Bag Writing Group. Over the years, hundreds of writers have written on hundreds of original topics during these sessions and others like them. The book was chosen as a Featured Alternate by Quality Paperback Book Club and Writer's Digest Book Club. Writer's Digest magazine named it one of five "Hottest Writing Books."
Her second book, Writing Alone, Writing Together, (New World Library, 2002), evolved from her experience as the creator and teacher of a variety of creative writing classes and workshops, and leader of dozens of writing groups.
A Creative Writer's Kit, a gift package based on A Writer's Book of Days, was released in the fall of 2003.
Judy wrote a feature column for Personal Journaling magazine for three years, and her work appears in other publications and journals including The San Diego Reader. She edited Brown Bag Anthology and Weavings, Collected Writing from the First Year, which were published by The Writing Center, and served as managing editor for Into the Deep End and From These Walls, additional Writing Center anthologies. She's also edited a number of chapbooks and was contributing editor for CUPS, a literary/cultural publication in the Bay Area. The Fritz Theater in San Diego produced two of her plays, which she wrote with the Second Story Writers, a women's writing ensemble. The first, Women of the Violet Wynn, was based on a colorful bit of history of the Quong Building, which was, many years before it served as home to The Writing Center, a brothel.
With 20 years experience as a workshop leader, Judy has taught at the University of California, San Diego; California State University-Fullerton, The Writing Center and The Writers' Room in San Diego. She's conducted workshops at a number of writers conferences including San Diego State University Writers' Conference and Southern California Writers' Conference, where she is especially known for her late-night lively read and critique sessions, the Ventura County Writer's Conference, Pasadena Writer's Forum, and other venues including online writers workshops.
Judy was selected as San Diego Writer's Monthly magazine's "Woman of the Year" for 1999 and received the 2001 Odin Award for Community Service from the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.
She currently lives in Barcelona, Spain where she is at work on a novel.
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