Conversation with Judy Penz Sheluk

The room is softly lit, the walls lined with deep rich mahogany shelves filled with books and you notice there are still a few empty seats. A low murmur of amiable voices gently greets your ears and immediately you sense you are among friends. You sink down into the arms of a luxuriously padded wing back chair savoring the feel and scent of its buttery soft leather as all your cares drift away.

A hush falls over the room as a well modulated baritone voice begins, “Welcome to the Reading Room, my friends. We’re glad you could join our conversation. We have the great pleasure to introduce, Bestselling author of The Glass Dolphin Mystery and The Marketville Mystery series, Judy Penz Sheluk.

Good morning Judy and welcome back to The Reading Room where you’re among friends. We’re very glad you joined our conversation, for the love of books. I thought it worthwhile to reiterate our earlier conversation for new members and we’ll touch on a few new areas for old friends.

James: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Judy: I’ve been writing stories “inside my head” for as long as I can remember, but it was when I first read Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) that I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up. It’s the story of Emily Starr, who wants to be a writer when she grows up – and succeeds in doing so. That said, I followed a Corporate world path for several years, and didn’t actually start writing anything “outside my head” until the early 2000s.

James: We’re very glad you let those stories in your head out, Judy. Do you want each book to stand on its own or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Judy: The hope is that any of my books can be read as a standalone, but I currently have two series (Glass Dolphin and Marketville) and if you enjoy reading series, then it’s always best to read them in order. Arabella Carpenter, a main character in the Glass Dolphin series is a minor character in the Marketville series, and in the third book (A Fool’s Journey) her ex-husband, Levon Larroquette, gets a spot. In my newest Glass Dolphin release (coming Nov. 10), Where There’s a Will, a lawyer from the Marketville series, Leith Hampton, makes an appearance. It’s fun writing the crossover characters, and for regular readers of either series it’s a bit like knowing a secret someone else might not.

James: The crossover concept is very interesting. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Judy: In summer, I love to golf and try for 2 to 3 times a week. I’m not particularly good, but I’m passionate about it. I belong to two ladies leagues (9 hole). I walk my dog twice a day (Golden Retriever, Gibbs). And I’m an avid reader. I try for a book a week, though during Covid, I’ve been reading more. I do watch some TV, but not a lot.

James: I like all dogs but I’m partial to retrievers. Our golden retriever/German shepherd passed away several years ago and we miss her. Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

Judy: I’ve been a full-time journalist since 2003, and added writing novels and stories into that in 2012. I went full-time author in Nov. 2018 but ironically, I’m not much more productive than when I juggled many balls at the same time.

James: That always seems to be the way time goes. Tell us three things about yourself that might surprise your readers.

Judy: 1) I write listening to talk radio (well, I used to pre-Covid, these days I find myself having to tune out to silence). I can’t write to music. Music distracts me whereas talk radio doesn’t. 2) I’ve run four marathons, at least 30 half-marathons, and finished one half Ironman. These days I’m more of a 5k runner, but I miss the gruelling training and discipline of distance running. I’m a decent swimmer but I hated cycling, so 1 half-iron (70.3) was all I had in me. 3) I have an LED pen and notebook on my bedside table so I can write down ideas in the middle of the night without turning the light on.

James: I’m very impressed indeed, Judy. I have to push myself just to get a daily walk in. Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

Judy: I love reading mysteries.

James: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Judy: I’ve mentioned earlier that I do character crossovers, so that’s sort of a secret, but not for regular readers of my books.

James: What was the source of your inspiration for The Hanged Man’s Noose?

Judy: A developer comes to town with plans to build a mega-box store on the town’s Main Street, thereby threatening the indie shops and businesses now there. Who hasn’t seen that before? Big box in, small stores out. I just thought…what if someone was willing to kill to stop it?

James: Where do your characters come from?

Judy: My head! Oh…you probably mean are they generated from someone I know. Not really. They’re a compilation of different people, though I’ll admit I do take traits or situations where I’ve felt wronged and exaggerate them. That can be quite cathartic. One of my favorite examples is ‘Live Free or Die,’ a short story in my Live Free or Tri collection.

James: Out of the protagonists you’ve written about so far, which one do you feel you relate to the most?

Judy: Definitely Arabella Carpenter. Her motto is Authenticity Matters. I try to live my life that way.

James: What advice would you give to a writer whose manuscript has been rejected several times and told he or she will never make it as a writer?

Judy: The Help by Kathryn Stockett was rejected 61 times. She just kept tweaking her manuscript until someone believed in it. But she believed in herself, and her story. You have to believe in yourself and you have to believe in your story. Don’t let the naysayers get you down.

James: Great advice, thank you, Judy. What is the most important tip you can share with other writers?

Judy: Make time to write every day (and I mean 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year) even if all you can spare is 15 minutes. If you write just one double-spaced page a day, that’s 365 pages in a year and about 110-115,000 words. The average mystery is 60-75,000 words.

James: What was one challenge you had to overcome to become an author? How did you overcome that challenge?

Judy: I’m a journalist and editor by trade – worked as an editor for New England Antiques Journal, among other magazines. It’s easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of research, or edit so much as I go along that I spend a day taking a comma out and putting one in.

James: You are very disciplined. Do you use any special writing software? If so what is it, and why do you like it?

Judy: There are no magic bullets. I personally use Word, no bells or whistles. I tried Scrivener and hated it. Whatever you use, you still have to write the story. No writing software will do that for you.

James: What question do you wish that someone would ask about your books, but nobody has? Write it out here, and then answer it.

Judy: Ha! How about…”Would you be willing to sell the film rights?” Answer: “Where do I sign?”

James: I guess that’s a question all writers would like to hear. How would you describe Skeletons in the Attic to someone who has not read any of your previous novels?

Judy: Amateur sleuth / cold case mystery. That’s the underlying theme of all three Marketville books.

James: Will your next book also feature any or all of Callie’s neighbours and new friends such as: Ella Cole, Misty Rivers, Chantelle Marchand, Gloria Grace Pietrangelo and Royce?

Judy: I’m actually working on the prequel, which will tell Abigail’s (Callie’s mom’s) story. It takes place in 1977-78. So, all new cast of characters. I do plan a book 4 Marketville, but Abigail’s story is the one in my head right now. I’m hoping to complete it this year.

James: I’ll be watching for Abigail’s story. Which part of researching Skeletons in the Attic was the most personally interesting to you? Were there any facts, symbols, or themes that you would have liked to include, but they just didn't make into the story?

Judy: I found researching tarot interesting, because there are many interpretations to every card. I quickly learned it would take years to be anything close to an expert. As for facts etc. making it or not, not really.

James: Did your research include a visit to a tarot reader or medium? Are you a believer?

Judy: No it didn't. When I was about sixteen, my mother and her best friend, Kay, dragged me to an “event” where a blind psychic would go into the audience, take a proffered object, and tell the owner something about it (for something like $10 a pop). At the time, Kay and my mom were big on going to fortune-tellers, Kay being recently divorced and actively looking for a replacement husband and impending news of where or when she’d find one, whereas my father had died of stomach cancer two years earlier, widowing my mother at age 41. She was looking for answers, too, though her hope was that she’d hear from my father on the “other side.”

Anyway, being the stellar teenager that I was (hey, this is my version of the story), I agreed to go with them and so off we went. I’ll admit to being a major league skeptic, especially after the first few objects garnered generic responses like, “The person who gave you this ring meant a lot to you, didn’t they?” and so forth. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.

When my turn came, I handed him a gold locket given to me by my father two months before his death. I was expecting the usual rhetoric when the psychic doubled over, clutching his stomach, his face writhed in pain, tears trickling down. I watched transfixed, wondering how he could have felt my father’s pain while holding that locket, when he handed me back the locket and said something along the lines of “He is watching over you.” My mom and Kay became lifelong believers. I never went to another psychic. This was an excerpt from a guest post on Chicks on the Case.

James: Pick an excerpt from one of your books you would like to share with readers.

Judy: From Chapter 1, Skeletons in the Attic. Protagonist Calamity (Callie) Barnstable learns she has inherited a house in Marketville from her late father. A house she didn’t know existed.

“There is one provision,” Leith said, dragging me out of my reverie. “Your father wants you to move into the house in Marketville.”

I sat up straighter and looked Leith in the eye. Clearly I’d missed something important when I’d zoned out. “What house in Marketville?”

Leith let out a theatrical courtroom sigh, well practiced but over the top for his audience of one. “You haven’t really been listening, have you, Calamity?”

I was forced to admit I had not, although he now had my undivided attention. Marketville was a commuter community about an hour north of Toronto, the sort of town where families with two kids, a collie, and a cat moved to looking for a bigger house, a better school, and soccer fields. It didn’t sound much like me, or my father.

“You’re saying my father owned a house in Marketville? I don’t understand. Why didn’t he live there?”

Leith shrugged. “It seems he couldn’t bear to part with it, and he couldn’t stand living in it. He’s been renting it out since 1986.”

The year my mother had left. I’d been six. I tried to remember a house in Marketville. Nothing came to mind. Even my memories of my mother were vague.

“The house has gone through some hard times, what with tenants coming and going over the years,” Leith continued. “I’ve done my best to manage the property for a modest monthly maintenance fee, but not living nearby…” He colored slightly and I wondered just how modest that fee had been. I glanced back at the photo of his vibrant young family and suspected such treasures did not come cheap. There was probably alimony for the other trophy wives as well. I decided to let it go. My father had trusted him. That had to be enough.

“So you’re saying I’ve inherited a fixer-upper.”

“I suppose you could put it that way, although your father had recently hired a company to make some basic improvements when the last tenant moved out.” He flipped through his notes in the folder. “Royce Contracting and Property Management. I gather the owner of the company, Royce Ashford, lives next door. But I’m not sure much, if anything, has been done to the house yet. Naturally all work would have stopped following your father’s death.”

“You said he wanted me to move into the house? When was he going to tell me?”

“I think the initial plan was that your father was going to move back in there. But of course now—”

“Now that he’s dead, you think he wanted me to move there?”

“Actually, it’s more than wanted, Calamity. It’s a provision of the will that you move into Sixteen Snapdragon Circle for a period of one year. After that time, you are free to do what you wish with it. Go back to renting it, continue to live there, or sell it.”

“And if I decide to sell it?”

“Homes in that area of Marketville typically sell quickly and for a decent price, certainly several times your parents’ original investment back in 1979. You’d have to put in some elbow grease, not to mention some basic renovations, but your father left you some money for that as well.”

“He had money set aside? Enough for renovations?” I thought about the shabby townhouse, the threadbare carpets, the flannel sheet covering holes in the fabric of the ancient olive green brocade sofa. I always thought my dad was frugal because he had to be. It never occurred to me he was squirreling away money to fix up a house I didn’t even know existed.

“About a hundred thousand dollars, although only half of that is allocated to renovation. The balance of fifty thousand would be paid to you in weekly installments while you lived there rent-free. Certainly enough for you to take a year off work and fulfill the other requirement.”

Fifty thousand dollars. Almost twice what I made in a single year at my call center job at the bank. Leaving there would definitely not be a hardship. And my month-to-month lease would be easy enough to break with thirty days notice. “What’s the other requirement?”

Leith leaned back in his chair and let out another one of his theatrical sighs. I got the impression he didn’t really approve of the condition.

“Your father wants you to find out who murdered your mother. And he believes the clues may be hidden in the Marketville house.”