Judy
Croome is a
South African writer of spiritual fiction and poetry. She is the author
of Dancing
In The Shadows Of Love and A Lamp At Midday – a collection of poetry.
Judy’s
story reminds us that we all have something special within us, a gift,
with
which we can bless the world. We may not recognize it, we may not
believe in it, but it's always there and only when we finally find the
wisdom or
courage to embrace it do we truly begin to live. She inspires us to
celebrate
our little victories. Judy is our 100th follower on twitter!
To start with, do tell us who you are,where you come
from and what you do.
Although I now live in Johannesburg, the economic powerhouse of Africa,
my childhood was played out in the Zimbabwean bush. Born in a little village called Zvishavane, I’ve
spent most of my life in South Africa. My diverse career path has had me
working as a waitress,a bartender in an English pub (to earn money to pay for a
hot air balloon ride for my Mom and myself!) and as an accountant, which was my
career for many years.
Always fascinated by astrology, I resigned as Chief Financial Officer for an internationally linked accountancy firm when I got married, and spent the next decade practising evolutionary astrology and dabbling in writing novels. I loved helping people through crisis times in their lives but, eventually, I was so drained from all the emotional counselling, I decided it was time to follow my own destiny and concentrate on my dream of writing fiction. So…here I am!
Always fascinated by astrology, I resigned as Chief Financial Officer for an internationally linked accountancy firm when I got married, and spent the next decade practising evolutionary astrology and dabbling in writing novels. I loved helping people through crisis times in their lives but, eventually, I was so drained from all the emotional counselling, I decided it was time to follow my own destiny and concentrate on my dream of writing fiction. So…here I am!
How did you learn about us?
A writing
friend, bestselling romance author KiruTaye,retweeted one of your tweets and I
thought, “Hmmm, that looks like an interesting blog!”
How did you feel when you received the congratulatory
message that you are our 100th follower on twitter?
I
felt…squeeeeeeee! It’s so exciting! And I hope TheEmergeReview will soon be
celebrating your 1000th
Twitter follower.
Lol, Thanks!
Tell us about your books.
I’ve had short stories and poems published in various magazines
and anthologies. One story, “The Place of the Doves” was shortlisted for the
AfricanWriting Flash Fiction 2011 competition. Acollection of poetry “a Lamp at
Midday” (covering a variety of themes such as loss, faith and love) released in
June 2012 and my debut novel “Dancing in the Shadows of Love” (about overcoming
prejudice) in 2011.
How did writing start for you?
My Mom said I
could read before I could talk. One day I woke up and decided I hated being an
accountant. I asked myself what I loved and the answer was…words. I started
writing romances, discovered I’m a terrible romance writer, and moved onto
spiritual fiction and poetry, both of which I love writing.
Who were your influences?
Louise Erdrich,
the award winning Native American novelist and WitiIhimaera,
the Moari novelist from New Zealand.
What's your definition of a good story?
Any story,
whatever the genre, which engages both
the reader’s heart and mind, is a good story.
Your top vacation spots in SA?
Injisuthi, in
the Drakensberg – no cell phones, no TV, no radio – sheer heaven! Second
favourite place, is Sirheni in the Kruger National Park, no quite as remote as
Injisuthi, but still a little piece of Eden.
How do you relax?
I meditate a
lot. And I read…a lot!
Your five favourite books of all times?
Only five? More like five hundred! Off
the top of my head, in no particular order:
Things Fall Apart
(Chinua Achebe), Freedom from the Known
(Krishnamurti), The Last Report of
Miracles at Little No Horse (Louise Erdrich), The Whale Rider (WitiIhimaera),
Hamlet (Shakespeare), Venetia (Georgette Heyer), the English
translation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses
(Pierre Choderlos de Laclos , translated by Ernest Dowson) and …
But that’s already more than five and
if I don’t stop now, I never will!
Your favourite sport?
Sport? Uh, does
opening the fridge door for a snack count as exercise?
We have a little surprise for you … Can you guess?
I can’t! And
I’m bursting with curiosity!!!
lol,Its for your ears alone!
Where can we find you on-line?
I mostly hang
out atGoodreadsor onTwitter, but you can also find me onmy blog,
Facebook,
LibraryThingor onLinkedIn.
You have a surprise for our readers?
I do! I’m
offering two paperback copies of “a Lamp at Midday” OR “Dancing in the Shadows
of Love” to two blog readers. All they have to do to enter the draw is tweet
this interview. It’s important that they include my tweet handle (@judy_croome)
so I can pick up how many times they’ll be entered into the draw. Each tweet is another entry. If they’re not on Twitter, they can share the
interview anywhere, as long as they leave a comment here with the link. The
draw will close two weeks from the date of this blog post.
Ok
guys, you heard it! So go ahead and hit those share buttons for
facebook and twitter and keep the comments coming in! who knows? You
just might be the lucky winner! Dont forget to celebrate your Little
victories!
Thanks Judy for coming!
Thank you!
