Featured Interview With Judy Penz Sheluk
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the only child of very strict European immigrants. My mother nurtured my love of reading by reading to me every night when I was a young child. When I was about seven, she got a part-time job in the book department of Zeller’s department store. Every week, she would bring me a new Nancy Drew book. It was better than chocolate!
My father used to do the TV Guide crossword puzzles with me. We always did them in pen. It was a great way to learn words at a young age that would otherwise not be in my vocabulary. If I didn’t know what a word meant, whether it was in a book or in the crossword, I was expected to look it up in the dictionary. I can still remember looking up “titian,” which was the color of Nancy Drew’s hair.
I left Toronto when I was in my early twenties, and have moved around some, but I have always lived within a two-hour drive of the city. I currently live in a small, but growing, town about 90 minutes northwest of Toronto.
I currently do not have any pets, but had a golden retriever mix, Sandy, growing up. I’ve also owned three purebred golden retrievers as an adult: Einstein, Ranger and most recently, Copper, who died in December 2014 at age 12 1/2. I do some volunteer work with Golden Rescue, and will likely put in an application for a rescue dog soon. I don’t miss the dog hair, but I miss everything else about having a dog.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t remember a time when books weren’t an important part of my life, but the first time I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote I was mesmerized. In a time long before 24/7 news on television, he painted a picture of the Clutter family and their killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. I read that book when I was about 10 years old and it’s haunted me ever since.
I’ve always written in journals or notebooks. I started freelance writing for magazines in 2003 after years in the corporate world of finance. I began taking workshops and courses in Creative Writing and had three short stories published when I began writing The Hanged Man’s Noose on Christmas Eve 2012. It had started life as a short story, but I knew there was a novel in there. It took me about a year to write it, and about the same length of time to revise it and find a publisher.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I read a variety of books, but my go-to is mystery. In my teens I read every book by Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. My favorite current day authors are Louise Penny, Tana French, John Sandford, Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly. I also enjoy reading short crime fiction anthologies. When I’m not reading mysteries, I still tend to be drawn to darker novels. Two of my favorites are Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden and The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald.
I find inspiration everywhere. Every story starts with “What if such-and-such happened? The premise behind the Hanged Man’s Noose—a greedy developer comes to a small town with plans to build a mega-box store on the town’s historic Main Street—came about when I read about a community in Toronto (Kensington Market) fighting a proposal to bring in a Walmart. I thought, what if that happened in a small town, where the shop owners were already struggling to make it? How far would people go to stop it?
I also have a blog on my website, where I interview other authors I admire. I enjoy hearing about their writing processes and getting their stories out there to potentially new readers. The other thing I write about on my blog is my personal writing journey. That series has been very popular. I share the highs and lows of getting published, along with advice and my experiences along the way. I hope that in doing that, I can inspire others.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Here’s the official blurb:
Small-town secrets and subterfuge lead to murder in a tale of high-stakes real estate wrangling gone amok.
Journalist Emily Garland lands a plum assignment as the editor of a niche magazine based in Lount’s Landing, a small town named after a colorful Canadian traitor. As she interviews the local business owners for the magazine, Emily quickly learns that many people are unhappy with real estate mogul Garrett Stonehaven’s plans to convert an old schoolhouse into a mega-box store. At the top of that list is Arabella Carpenter, the outspoken owner of an antiques shop, who will do just about anything to preserve the integrity of the town’s historic Main Street.
But Arabella is not alone in her opposition. Before long, a vocal dissenter at a town hall meeting about the proposed project dies. A few days later, another body is discovered, and although both deaths are ruled accidental, Emily’s journalistic suspicions are aroused.
Putting her reporting skills to the ultimate test, Emily teams up with Arabella to discover the truth behind Stonehaven’s latest scheme before the murderer strikes again.
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I’m often asked if my main characters are based on me, or on people I know. The short answer is no, although I am a freelance journalist, like Emily. The difference is I’m still waiting for that lucrative undercover assignment! As for Arabella, she owns an antiques shop, and I’ve been the Senior Editor for New England Antiques Journal since 2007. It was fun to incorporate some of that knowledge in the book. Arabella has an ex-husband, Levon Larroquette. In my mind he looks like a young Kris Kristofferson (google A Star is Born). Imagination is a wonderful thing!
To make characters seem real, writers also have to give them quirks. Emily is a bacon eating vegetarian (okay I admit it, I’ve never quite been able to give up bacon) and more than a little bit naive. Arabella is slightly more jaded, and her motto is “authenticity matters.” She also considers carrot cake a serving of vegetables. I admire her thinking!
The Hanged Man’s Noose is available in print and ebook at all the usual suspects, including Amazon, B&N, Chapters.Indigo, and Google Play.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Thanks for the interview! As an FYI, my Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/JudyPenzSheluk — I had given the wrong link!
I’m always happy to answer any questions on writing.