From: Judy Goldman
Subject: your review on amazon.com
Hi!
Thanks for your thoughtful, lovely review of my book, The Slow Way Back. It's always such a surprise to see a new review pop up! I found it interesting that you enjoy reviewing books; how did you happen to find mine?
With appreciation Judy
Rebecca :
Hello, Judy Goldman, what a pleasant way to open up my mailbox & find your kind response! Had you been browsing through Amazon.com's readers' reviews when you came across mine? Once again, Judy Goldman, you did good! Lovely story of struggle, sorrow, enlightenment & redemption! With just the right torque of anticipation to keep us reading to the end!
Could I interview you via eMail?
Judy :
Someone had written to tell me he'd reviewed my book on Amazon.com so I looked it up, then saw your review, too. Thank you, also, for your kind words about my book. Yes, I'd be happy to be interviewed by you.
Rebecca :
After so many years of being a devoted library patron, the books on the shelves know me well & so, when I'm browsing along books tend to leap off into my hands! Actually it was the Hebrew lettering & the old photos that caught my eyes.
My first steady job as a secretary, after I emigrated from London to Chicago back in the '60s, was in the Union of American Hebrew Congregations-Midwest. For 5 years I administered to the all-year camp up in Wisconsin & took many a Hebrew class & though I never was really fluent, I knew well what it looked like. What are the differences between writing poetry & prose?
Judy :
Poetry is a distillation, a compression; prose is expansion. What I enjoy about writing novels is that there is a hefty chunk of material to return to every day. I am, by nature, a plodder, so this "settling in" with a lengthy project suits my personality. I still love reading poetry though and feel that it inspires me to push the language.
Rebecca :
How did the idea of those letters come to mind?
Judy :
How did I happen to use letters in my novel? After my 2nd book of poetry was published, I decided to take on the challenge of writing a novel. I just needed a plot!
Around that time, my aunt called to say she was sending me letters written by my grandmother (in Denmark, SC) to my grandmother's sister (in Lebanon, Pa.). I'd never met my grandmother -- she died at age 56, before I was born -- so I was eager to finally get to know her. I also had a feeling that somehow she was going to give me my plot.
The packet arrived; I tore open the envelopes; the letters were all written in Yiddish.
Now I had to find someone to translate my letters -- not an easy task in Charlotte, NC --but I found a generous woman who was willing. She mailed me the translation of each letter, one at a time, over the following months. The letters were charming; my grandmother was adorable; and there was absolutely no plot! I was looking for something juicy and my grandmother was giving a recipe for banana cake!
When I told my daughter about my disappointment, she said, "Mom, just write the story you wish was in the letters."
This novel is that story, invented to wrap around the bones of my grandmother's letters.
Rebecca :
Wow! what a wonderful answer! No, absolutely not too long! Ha! Praise be daughters who get to the root of it! Go, mom, go! Well done. What are your best hours for writing & do you have a set number in each day when you work on your project?
Judy :
I prefer starting work first thing in the morning when I'm closest to my unconscious, closest to my dreams. I don't have a set number of pages in mind each day. I'm happy with whatever I can get done. (Some days the words flow like glue!)
Rebecca :
How strong is the impulse to make everyone energetic heroes & your story have neat folded corners?
Judy :
That is just one of the many impulses I have that don't serve my writing well! With each page, I'm a beginner, learning how to write fiction all over again. This makes me think of a particular quote, but I can't remember whose it is: "The blank page is God's way of showing us how hard it is to be God."
Rebecca :
Do you labor in solitary confinement or do you read your latest chapter to a writing group?
Judy :
The only person I trust with my early efforts is my husband. He knows what to say to keep me writing, which is the most important task for a first reader. I'm too vulnerable to read any of my novel to anyone else before I finish it; someone could make a comment -- quite innocently -- that would stop me from finishing.
Rebecca :
Do I know that one well! How would you say coming-up Jewish in the New South was?
Judy :
I was born in 1941 -- so I'm not sure whether it was considered the "New" South then. I had a charmed childhood. My parents were active in the Jewish community in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and very much a part of the larger community, as well. We felt totally accepted. Everyone knew that we were Jewish and it just didn't matter. I wasn't aware of differences then.
Rebecca :
I was born in 1942 in London. Was evacuated out with all the other children to the countryside. No one came, after the war, to claim me so the family I'd been staying with adopted me & another orphan who was there too. Being Jewish was a definite label from being "One of the People of the Book" to "Daughter of Esther" to all the unprintable, politically incorrect nasty names kids & adults manage to let past their teeth! 1950s in England were still deeply prejudiced & imperial even though the empire was contracting.
Judy :
I loved reading your "history." You told it in such an interesting way -- you must write, too, in addition to your editing work.
Rebecca :
Yes, I do write other than for our Website although I've been a bit overwhelmed with the reading & composing of the text for our weekly eZine, so my books have sat upon their shelf awaiting another boost of energy! I really liked your answers - hadn't thought about prose & poetry that way - great! Me too - I get up at 5 am-ish so I can have about 4 hours before the Webmaster rises & shines & married life takes over! What was the hardest choice you had to make in forming the plot for The Slow Way Back?
Judy :
The hardest decision was point-of-view. I thought that, since my background was in poetry and personal essays (I'm a local NPR commentator), 3rd person would help me distance myself from my material and I wouldn't be tempted to write memoir. After writing the first draft in 3rd person, I rewrote it in 1st person. I realized that it needed more immediacy. I don't mean that I changed pronouns; I started with a blank page in the computer and completely rewrote it. I lived with the ms. in 1st person for awhile, tinkering, revising, then completely rewrote it(blank page in computer again) in 3rd person. I realized that the voice wasn't distinctive enough to carry a 1st person narrative.
Rebecca :
Why did Thea not have children?
Judy : The Slow Way Back is about 3 generations of sisters in a family in the Carolinas. Because Thea never feels that she belongs, I thought it would be important for her to break the tradition of women in her family having 2 daughters. She breaks tradition so thoroughly, she is not able to have children at all. Because motherhood has been so important to me and my son and daughter are such a source of joy, I thought it would be challenging to write about a character who does not have this in her life. "What if" is the question that fuels fiction. "What if my main character is unable to conceive?" I asked myself.
Hope all's well with you. Yes, I did receive your newsletter. It was very interesting and lively. Oh Rebecca, this issue was wonderful! After reading your interview with Beverley, I figured out what makes you such a good interviewer: It's almost as if you're leaning in, eagerly awaiting the author's response! I had that feeling when you were interviewing me and I had that feeling again when I was reading your interview with Beverley. Your enthusiasm is palpable! Your intense interest in books permeates every line of every one of your questions! And please convey to the Webmaster what a good job he did. I'm a person who doesn't even own a microwave -- that's how technologically backward I am -- and it was fun and easy to "interact" with the newsletter.
Rebecca :
Many thanks for the kudos! Perhaps it's my partial deafness & intense myopia that gives you the impression I'm leaning in to get closer - I am! & yes! I do have a passion for books & the reading thereof. What are the differences between doing a reading in libraries & bookstores? What's the strangest question you've been asked? Do people come up & show you their letters?
Judy :
Regarding libraries: I really don't see any difference between reading in a library, at a bookstore, at a writers' conference, at a college or university, or at a Jewish community event! We all have families, and all of our families bring us great blessings and difficulties -- so, regardless of the setting, our subject is the same. Usually, libraries have a wonderful room set aside for author events or they use a public facility off the premises, like a welcome center.
The most surprising question I've had was from a gentleman who asked why the price of my book is so high and was I the one who decided on the cost! I can't remember where that was, but I think it was at a bookstore. Often, people tell me their personal stories of their own grandmothers and mothers and sisters and yes, letters received and mailed within their families -- which is very interesting to me.
Thanks for nominating me as a teacher in Centrum's 2001 Writers' Conference(Port Townsend, Washington), I'd love to teach there & would jump at the chance for us to meet! That would be great.
Rebecca :
By the way, thank you so very much for all your kind words, insights & thoughtful answers - you have made this Interview like a pot of the best brewed tea - mm-good!
Judy : Your format for my interview sounds wonderful. You're very thorough. Please add that The Slow Way Back was published in September, 1999 & is now in its third printing, the paperback edition is due out in November, 2000. It was shortlisted for the Southeastern Booksellers' Association Fiction Award.
Rebecca :
Judy Goldman is a commentator for National Public Radio in Charlotte, North Carolina & the author of two books of poetry: Holding Back Winter & Wanting to Know the End.
A former high school English & journalism teacher, she taught creative writing for a number of years at Queens College in Charlotte. She is on the permanent staff of the Duke University Writers' Workshop & teaches at other writers' conferences throughout the region.
She has published poems & essays in many literary magazines, numerous anthologies & textbooks.
Check out the site link Author Sightings as she will be seen a lot.
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