Getting to know Judy
Judy’s utmost passion is Jesus, and she desires to shine His light and love. An extrovert who also enjoys solitude, Judy loves people of all ages and walks of life. The Lord has given her a deep longing for others to experience the incomparable joy of knowing Jesus intimately.
The mosaic of Judy’s life is mortared with her love of words that began in childhood as a voracious reader. Decades later, Judy retains her childlike spirit that abounds with curiosity and a sense of wonder. In prior "word-lover jobs," Judy served as a school librarian, newspaper copyeditor, and nonfiction editor at Multnomah Publishers. Currently she edits a children’s picture book series for a nonprofit.
The Lord’s promise of a godly husband became a joyful reality for Judy in October of 2022. After over twenty-two years of prayerful waiting, Judy welcomed the amazing gift of Craig, a widower and fellow classmate from their junior high days. Living in picturesque southwest Oregon, Craig and Judy enjoy spending time with friends and family. They also relish visiting their three sons, daughters-in-love, and six delightful grand-gems, who live too far away in three different states.
Judy's writing journey
Judy’s first book, Good Mourning: Help and Understanding in Time of Pregnancy Loss, based on her own loss, was written with her sister. Published by Word in 1989, almost 8,000 copies moved in two months. Revised and reprinted as Silent Cradle in 1998 by Light and Life, the book caught the attention of Family Christian Books, which published 5,000 more copies with a third cover.
Next came four fun little gift books, released by Broadman & Holman Publishers in 1998: Boomerabilia: I Remember; Life’s Too Short to Live Only for the Weekends; I Wish I Could Fly; and The Best Thing About My Teacher. The latter two are compilations of endearing sayings by elementary school children.
She enjoyed writing five gift books for Howard Publishing: You and Me Grandma (2004, WFH*) and four others based on the theme of Life’s Too Short: to Yell at Your Computer; to Give Up Slumber Parties; to Look for Missing Socks; to Leave Kite Flying to Kids (2005).
*Work for Hire
Humbled to be asked, Judy wrote nine devotionals for the Women’s Devotional Bible, (Zondervan, 2006) and partnered with David C Cook and Voice of the Martyrs to write the I Am N Devotional (2016, WFH). She co-wrote with Anita Higman How God Grows a Woman of Confidence: A Devotional (Barbour Books, 2019, WFH), later repackaged with a new title.
Gleaned from Judy’s prayer journals, The Listening Heart: Hearing God in Prayer, released in late 2013 with Regal. Their trade books sold to Baker Publishing in 2014, with her devotional given the Bethany House imprint. Judy is grateful to often hear from readers blessed by the daily writings.
Reflecting on her winding writing journey, with its many stops and starts, Judy can’t help but echo the lyrics of a favorite hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” With a new agent signed, only God knows what lies around the next bend—and Judy welcomes you to come along for the adventure!
These are a few of Judy's "favorite things...”
...in her own words and in random order!
- Singing with exuberant joy, especially favorite hymns
- Beachcombing and savoring the sea air and sounds of the surf
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Visiting old cemeteries, imagining the stories behind
the markers, and reflecting on life - Watching high school football at our alma mater
- Burying my nose in the first lilacs of spring—heavenly!
- Laughing a lot, especially with my dear husband
- Beginning the day with Jesus, coffee, and my marked-up Bible
Fun things Judy's known for...
Fan of Whimsy
Pearl Girl
Seeker of Hearts
Keeper of Hymnals
Crazy about Christmas
Forever Nostalgic
The joy of winsome words
Judy prays to use "winsome words" that will draw others to the joy of knowing Jesus personally. Her writings have appeared in publications such as Virtue, Aspire, Light and Life, Clubhouse Jr., Angels on Earth, and Guideposts.
A writer of poetry and song lyrics, she felt blessed to co-write The Lullaby Bible (1998, WFH) with Melody Carlson.
In 1996 Judy won first runner-up in the annual poetry contest at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. In 2019, at the fiftieth anniversary of that beloved conference under the redwoods, she received the Special Recognition Award for her years serving as a faculty member, mentor, and leader of the prayer team.
A story Judy wrote about a couple’s escape from the fire in Paradise, California, won her a spot among the twelve writers selected from over 4,000 entries for the 2020 Guideposts Writers Workshop Contest. She enjoyed the valuable training and the subsequent access to submit stories directly to the editors.
Judy delights in speaking at events for women and writers and has been interviewed on television and numerous times on podcasts and radio, including listener call-in programs. She’s presented keynotes at writers’ conferences, taught workshops, and served on faculty panels, always enjoying those times when she can encourage other writers.
