Little victories, A chat with South African author Judy Croome

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 100^th 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! 

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 1000^th  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!