After itching for greater commercial success for years, someone finally asked me a profound question that helped put my career goals in perspective. I have a love-hate relationships with bookstores. I love the thrill of discovery, my eyes gazing at the expanse of sumptuous new releases, taking note of trends in cover designs and popular topics. I prowl the shelves of backlist titles like a kid on a treasure hunt, searching for [...]

After enjoying both successful and disastrous public speaking engagements, I learned the most important lessons of all for engaging an audience.   There had to be a mistake. I was sure of it. No one in their right mind would have arranged such a lopsided line-up of speakers, all competing against one another for an audience during the same time slot. It was so ludicrous that I laughed out loud when I saw [...]

It's been a long time since I posted Episode 13, so if you missed it or want to refresh where we are in the story, please click here. A double, then triple-whammy of bad news challenged my commitment to my book and made me question my writing purpose. My mother, Liebe Rosenfeld. Many authors deflate emotionally after their books are published. This is normal, the literary equivalent of a mild post-partum [...]

There were long odds against my success as a first-time, self-published author. I decided that I wouldn’t let any of it stop me. While waiting for the light to turn green at a busy intersection and innocently wondering what movies were playing at the Cineplex across the street, three little words suddenly fell like creative pixie dust in my imagination. In that split second, I decided to write my first book. Before [...]

During my fleeting gig as an editor for a Hollywood industry publication, I realized how much my self-image and creative satisfaction derived from wordsmithing. “Last month Hollywood mourned the death of screen legend Gene Kelly, who died February 2 in his sleep at the age of 83. . . ” I was engrossed in writing an obituary of the legendary Kelly for a Hollywood industry publication when my office phone rang. “Judy? [...]

My dismay at how I felt our culture was hurting the innocence of children had a positive flip side: It handed me an untapped and virtually limitless new arena for my writing. "Mom bats the ball. See it go!" My five-year-old son, Avi, read from Clifford at Bat as his four-year-old brother, Noah, sat next to us listening attentively. Noah had been a book hound since he was still crawling, dragging a [...]