| Interview with Judy Gregerson |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com!
My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time
out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers
and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I knew in the third grade, when my teacher read Charlotte’s Web, that I wanted to be a writer. That year, I
met an old couple who wrote books for kids and I was so awestruck by their job that I decided that one
day, I’d do that too! I don’t remember who they were, but they lived not too far from me and one day I
needed to use a phone to call home and knocked on their door.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started out by being a copy writer and copy editor, worked in public relations, and then I made friends
with a guy who had written a book and he encouraged me to write one, too. I did, and then he gave me
the name of an editor who was looking for new authors. I sent it to her and she bought it four weeks after
that. That was my first book, SAVE ME!, published when I was very young.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
I think that we all have times in our lives when we cannot speak or express the things we feel, or we feel
so hopeless to change our lives that we despair of things ever changing. Anyone who has ever felt that
they needed a voice to say the things that no one else will say, or to speak a truth that everyone is
hiding, should read this book. It’s about a girl whose mother is crazy and who wants to kill her little sister.
My character, Destiny, wants to save her sister and also her mother but she was long ago silenced by her
family. It’s the story of her finding herself, her voice, and her way out. The story is called BAD GIRLS
CLUB because the main character was told all her life that she was a bad girl and it turns out that really,
her mother is the bad girl.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My greatest inspiration has been the people I’ve met throughout my life. I study people. I listen to them.
They all have a story. When I find a story that really grabs me, I write it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I have a very lovely husband and two girls, aged twenty and sixteen. My oldest is away at college and my
youngest is now an only child and loving it. We also have a dog named Moose, a cat, a hamster named
Lloyd, a frog, two mice, and a cat named Baby. My family is very thrilled to have an author among them!
On the other hand, it seems very normal to them. They grew up watching me write.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Potatoes.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Go to my computer, check my email, and read a few blogs.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Nothing. I save nothing. I have not a bone of sentimentality in me and I could honestly take off with my
computer, a few suitcases of clothes, and manage just fine.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I am red. I have always been red or some variation of red. Fuschia really sums me up. I am passionate,
intense, and bold.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I like Sponge Bob. But my all time favorite character was George of the Jungle simply because he always
smashed into that tree. It really made me laugh. Which is most like me? I have no idea!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I would have liked to travel across the country on a wagon train. I figure I’d probably die young with all that
hard work and stuff, but it just seemed like a time of such potential. I also would like to have watched the
infrastructure of this country built, like the roads and telephone wires, and such. Ok, I’m odd. But I would
have loved to be alive during the Industrial Revolution.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists?
I like some rock. Adore David Gray and Van Morrison. I like Interpol and The Cure. I play classical and
jazz piano, so I like that, too. I listen to a lot of what my sixteen-year-old listens to. She has great taste in
music, so I let her burn CD’s for me.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I love CSI. And American Idol. I like watching kids grow each week with their art. The last movie I saw was
RV. I did NOT think it was that funny, but my husband was in tears. Must be a guy thing.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Believe in yourself. And have faith. Nothing in life remains the same, so this too will change. Ok, that’s
three. But I tried.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I am working on selling a book about a girl who lives in a trailer park and has been sent to counseling at
the county mental health clinic because her parents want her to “crack normal”. She’s lost her best friend
to a popular girl, loves the boy next door, and spends her summer discovering that she doesn’t have it all
together but she’s also not really THAT screwed up.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time
out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers
and fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I knew in the third grade, when my teacher read Charlotte’s Web, that I wanted to be a writer. That year, I
met an old couple who wrote books for kids and I was so awestruck by their job that I decided that one
day, I’d do that too! I don’t remember who they were, but they lived not too far from me and one day I
needed to use a phone to call home and knocked on their door.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started out by being a copy writer and copy editor, worked in public relations, and then I made friends
with a guy who had written a book and he encouraged me to write one, too. I did, and then he gave me
the name of an editor who was looking for new authors. I sent it to her and she bought it four weeks after
that. That was my first book, SAVE ME!, published when I was very young.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
I think that we all have times in our lives when we cannot speak or express the things we feel, or we feel
so hopeless to change our lives that we despair of things ever changing. Anyone who has ever felt that
they needed a voice to say the things that no one else will say, or to speak a truth that everyone is
hiding, should read this book. It’s about a girl whose mother is crazy and who wants to kill her little sister.
My character, Destiny, wants to save her sister and also her mother but she was long ago silenced by her
family. It’s the story of her finding herself, her voice, and her way out. The story is called BAD GIRLS
CLUB because the main character was told all her life that she was a bad girl and it turns out that really,
her mother is the bad girl.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My greatest inspiration has been the people I’ve met throughout my life. I study people. I listen to them.
They all have a story. When I find a story that really grabs me, I write it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I have a very lovely husband and two girls, aged twenty and sixteen. My oldest is away at college and my
youngest is now an only child and loving it. We also have a dog named Moose, a cat, a hamster named
Lloyd, a frog, two mice, and a cat named Baby. My family is very thrilled to have an author among them!
On the other hand, it seems very normal to them. They grew up watching me write.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Potatoes.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Go to my computer, check my email, and read a few blogs.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Nothing. I save nothing. I have not a bone of sentimentality in me and I could honestly take off with my
computer, a few suitcases of clothes, and manage just fine.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I am red. I have always been red or some variation of red. Fuschia really sums me up. I am passionate,
intense, and bold.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I like Sponge Bob. But my all time favorite character was George of the Jungle simply because he always
smashed into that tree. It really made me laugh. Which is most like me? I have no idea!
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
I would have liked to travel across the country on a wagon train. I figure I’d probably die young with all that
hard work and stuff, but it just seemed like a time of such potential. I also would like to have watched the
infrastructure of this country built, like the roads and telephone wires, and such. Ok, I’m odd. But I would
have loved to be alive during the Industrial Revolution.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists?
I like some rock. Adore David Gray and Van Morrison. I like Interpol and The Cure. I play classical and
jazz piano, so I like that, too. I listen to a lot of what my sixteen-year-old listens to. She has great taste in
music, so I let her burn CD’s for me.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I love CSI. And American Idol. I like watching kids grow each week with their art. The last movie I saw was
RV. I did NOT think it was that funny, but my husband was in tears. Must be a guy thing.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Believe in yourself. And have faith. Nothing in life remains the same, so this too will change. Ok, that’s
three. But I tried.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I am working on selling a book about a girl who lives in a trailer park and has been sent to counseling at
the county mental health clinic because her parents want her to “crack normal”. She’s lost her best friend
to a popular girl, loves the boy next door, and spends her summer discovering that she doesn’t have it all
together but she’s also not really THAT screwed up.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
