Interview with Judy L Mohr

Judy of the many hats as she takes on so many different roles from writer to radio host.

Tell us about your latest novel or project:

Within nonfiction, I will have three chapters in Putting Science into Fiction, which will be published by Writer’s Digest during the US Fall 2018. The entire project is about those little aspects of science where fiction often gets it wrong. My own chapters discuss satellite imagery and holograms; however, other topics covered include genetics, space travel, medicine, entomology, and so much more. (I want this book myself.)

I also have a book published about the dangers associated with online platforms. Hidden Traps discusses strategies that writers can use to protect their internet security, their writing, and their reputations. It looks at all aspects of building an online platform, including social media, basic website design, and SEO.

I am working on a book about websites, going into more details of basic website design and SEO, but this will not be available until early 2019 at the earliest.

On the fiction front, I have two novels that I’m currently working on—both thrillers. I’m currently editing a thriller where an assassin has had enough and wants out, but to gain her freedom, she has one last assignment: to bring back a rogue agent. There’s only one problem: the rogue agent taught her everything she knows about being an assassin. The rogue is her mother. When edits are complete, it will be time for submission.

However, I’m also drafting a second thriller about a writer whose Google search for the perfect pen name turns up photos taken by a serial killer. I’m enjoying sinking my teeth into that one.

Something else that I do, related, but not writing, is host a regular radio show about science, explaining science in a way we all can understand. Conversations in Science airs weekly on KLRNRadio.

Wow, so many things on the fire. Must be exciting.

What got you started writing?

If I think about it, I’ve always written stories. Originally, they were little plays, spoken onto a tape recorder (I was four or five). As I got older, I turned to poetry and song lyrics. During university, my writing took on a technical and scientific slant, as too did my publications. It was roughly ten years ago that I embarked on a journey of writing a fiction novel.

It was one of those vivid dreams that you can’t shake. I wrote it down.

Back then, my fiction writing became the release I needed to shift my mind from the technical, high mathematics, just so I could sleep. Now, fiction is what I love the most, and my nonfiction has dropped the formal tone and has become more conversational.

What challenges did you face when you first started writing?

In the beginning, it was just for me and just for fun. Now that I’ve decided to make this my career, it’s the exposure and marketing that I struggle with. I’ll get there, but only because I refuse to give up.

Do you ever get the opportunity to travel for your writing? Either to market or to research.

To date, the only travel that I have done for my writing is to attend conferences and to give presentations on various topics associated with writing and online platforms.

However, in my research efforts for my writing and with my radio show on science, I have had some awesome video and audio calls with some amazing people, including a geneticist, a forensics expert, active US military, and a civilian gun expert. My favourite conversation was with an expert of Robot Ethics.

Who in your life is your greatest cheerleader or support in your writing?

My greatest supporter of all of my projects is actually my US-based writing partner. She is always going out of her way to remind me that I have a talent, helping me to score opportunities that I would never get otherwise.

My husband is supportive too, but sometimes he doesn’t understand the obsession that writing can be.

What is it like writing in New Zealand that would be different if you lived anywhere else?

The biggest disadvantage to being a Kiwi writer is the lack of conferences here. We just don’t have the population to support big events like what you can get in Australia or in the US. Hence, if we want to experience that side of the business, we need to pay big bucks. Sometimes, finances just don’t stretch that far.

Saying that, the internet has become a massive asset to Kiwi writers. Because so much communication is done through the internet, doors have opened. Writers’ Digest has begun running annual conferences through their online portals, making them accessible to Kiwis too.

Where do you get your ideas? Is there anything about New Zealand that has inspired you to write?

There are two things that are inspiring about New Zealand: the setting and the can-do attitude.

Let’s face it, New Zealand is a gorgeous country—filled with diversity in such a small area. If you don’t find inspiration in that, you’re not looking hard enough.

And the joke about the “number 8 wire” or “she’ll be right” is real. It’s who we are, and it reminds us that we can do anything if we put our minds to it. It doesn’t matter that we’re a small country in the middle of nowhere. History is filled with Kiwis who have made it big on the international stage, including Ernest Rutherford, Edmond Hillary and William Pickering. I intend to have my own name added to that list in the future.

What advice would you give for other writers in New Zealand?

It’s really the same advice for writers everywhere: don’t give up. Make a decision to stick with it and hone your craft. Perseverance is the only way you’ll survive.

Do you get to network or meet up with other New Zealand authors?

Being around other writers on a regular basis is vital. I have joined several national and local writing groups, some of which have regular meet ups. The trick is to find a group that you can connect with—a group filled with others who have the same drive and ambition as you. These are the people who will be there for you through the ups and downs, and will understand. (It’s a sad truth, but unless your family and friends are also writers, they won’t really understand.)

What was the first thing you did after your first book was published?

Panicked. I had timed the book’s launch to coincide with a major conference that I was presenting at. The book had been published, but I still had so many things to do. By the end of the conference, I just collapsed and slept for a week.

Did I celebrate? Nope. There wasn’t the time.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you handle the good and the bad ones?

I can’t control myself. I need to read all of them, but I never respond. I have to protect my reputation.

So far, I’ve been lucky. I haven’t had a bad review that completely trashed my book. It’s coming—I know it is—but here’s hoping that it’s a long way off yet.

It seems like everything has Easter Eggs (surprise reference to your other work) do you have any Easter Eggs in your books?

Yep. At the back of Hidden Traps is a link to a hidden page with worksheets and checklists that writers can use to help them when building their online platforms.

As my fiction has yet to be published, for a variety of different reasons, there isn’t anything there yet.

How long does it take you to write a book? Do you have any secrets to productivity?

It depends on the nature of the book. For nonfiction books, when I just sit down and get on with it, I can go from concept to publication within 9 months, with the editing and final preparation stages taking 4 months. For the fiction… I have one book that I started in 2008—I’m still working on it, and it took nearly 8 years to actually finish the draft. However, my latest project, I had a full draft that was somewhat presentable in my hands within 4 months.

I have found that the true key to productivity is to limit the distractions. I do most of my writing while my children are at school. That won’t work for everyone, but find some time that you protect viciously. It’s your writing time. Don’t let other things suck it way.

Where did you get the idea for your first or latest book?

My latest manuscript is about a writer whose Google search for the perfect pen name turns up photos taken by a serial killer. The idea came from when I was helping a friend to find a pen name of her own. My searches of the name she liked turned up arrest reports and criminal records. After I saw those, my imagination ran wild.

What is your best experience meeting a fan?

Not with a fan, but with an acquisition editor. At a cold read of my first two pages, the editor smiled as she shivered. She loved everything about it and wanted to see more. Shame the manuscript was still under development at the time. The manuscript in question is currently being edited. When it’s ready, I will be definitely be reaching out. (She gave me her business card.)

How important do you think marketing is for authors today?

Marketing seems to be the bane of every writer’s existence. It doesn’t matter if you are self-published or traditionally published—you will need to build an online presence, so you have a way of doing marketing when the time comes.

Do you have any book you have written that won’t ever see the light of day and why?

Everything I wrote as a child and a teen is long gone. No idea what even happened to the manuscripts.

Everything else is 100% dependent on me actually finishing them.

Many authors have a word or a phrase they automatically use too often. Do you have one?

I have a whole list of crutch words. It turns out that I have this thing about eyes (seeing the true nature of a person through their eyes), and my characters do a lot of breathing.

What quirk or trope of your genre do you like or dislike?

Actually, I don’t have any issues within any trope or quirk. It’s all good to me, as long as the author makes unique and good use of what they are doing.

There is a saying: there are no new stories, just new takes on an old theme.

Often writers get to approach some serious subjects. Which serious subject are you most proud to have written about or was the hardest to write about?

I always walk the line. I have characters who are self-professed killers. I have those who relish in torture and murder—and not all of them are the bad guy. There are the prostitutes who contrast against the queens. There are the demons who counter the heroes. And you have those who just walk the line between good and evil.

There is the sex and the violence. You have the torture of women. There’s the homosexual relationships, as well as the heterosexual.

For me, there is no topic that I’m too scared to broach on. It’s just a matter of how they are tackled and the respect given to the issue.

I respect life, but I hold no delusions about how nasty some people in this world can be. My stories capture all aspects of humanity: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.

The scenes that have made me the most proud are actually the ones that were so hard to write because the themes were bringing me to tears. Typing through blurry vision is never easy, and editing something that made you cry when you wrote is even harder. But those scenes are the ones that I cherish. They define me as a writer.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and good luck with all your many projects.