Hi everyone! I wanted to introduce a fellow Novelists, Inc. member, Judy Gill. 

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By way of introduction, I should tell you I’m Judy Griffith Gill, author of 50 published novels. I live the best life possible—six months here on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada aboard our 34 foot cabin cruiser, La Niña and six months in our really tiny house on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. It’s tough, but someone has to help the economy of those third-word countries and we’re willing to make the sacrifice.

However . . .

I’m sitting here, ashore, when I should be afloat in something a bit bigger than my inflatable kayak because our &*^%$ port engine simply refuses to run. (If any of you know a good, cheap marine mechanic, please ask him if he’d like to come and visit us here in this little part of paradise. Free room and board guaranteed! (Along with grease remover, if my dh has left any after all the monkey-wrenching he’s done.)

Not that I really should complain. I have the wonderful old waterfront house I grew up in to wander into when I get tired of being aboard the boat, when I want to go online, or just use the phone. (We’re so far into the wilderness of this coast, there’s no cell-phone coverage.)  It’s great. My sister, who now owns the place, is more than generous and we moor our boat right out front on the family dock. This view of the house was taken through the kiwi arbor in early spring shortly after we came back from CR. 

Okay, enough of that. We’re here to talk about writing, right? And that’s what I’ve been doing. After preparing two more of my former Loveswept books for electronic editions, I’ve been writing articles on Helium, a neat site where there’s a market for all sorts of stuff. http://www.helium.com is worth looking into. There are always companies, magazines, newsletters etc. looking for material and I’m happy to provide. The pay scale varies from cruddy to not-so-bad for a half-hour’s work if the article is picked up and it makes for a nice break when I know there’s no point in getting deep into a manuscript because sure as shootin’, someone’s going to come along and want to stay for a weekend, or a week or more. The whole family, and a lot of friends use this house. Even if I hole up in the boat to write, there are multiple distractions, such as small kids wanting to use our kayaks, or lying on the dock with their little fishing lines dangling over the side and shrieking with glee when they catch little bitty shiners or big perch. These little fish become bait for the men of the family to use to catch bigger fish, which is always nice. There’s nothing quite like fresh from the ocean. But . . . Uh-oh! I digress again from the subject of writing. My steel-trap mind has turned into a sieve, rusty from all this delicious salt air. 

My e-books can be found on my web site www.jggbooks.com where there are links for downloading from my two main e-publishers, Awe-Struck and Belgrave House. Anyone looking for futuristic with a hint of sci-fi might want to try “The Dawning” up at Belgrave. It’s a story that takes place two generations after a bio-organic war has nearly depleted Earth’s population—and left a fair segment of humans with extra-sensory powers, which causes fear and hatred among those who don’t have such powers. There’s conflict, blood and gore and maybe even a few chuckles. 

Another site I encourage everyone to check out is www.ninc.com/blog, where every day there’s a new blog by a multi-published author or an industry professional. Agents & editors usually appear on Wednesdays, but go take a quick read every day. It’s worth it. It must be. Even I have a blog there! And for those of you who have two novel-length works of fiction already published and are interested in joining Novelists’ Inc., please email me at jggbooks@hotmail.com. 

If you’ve hung in on my blathering this far, I thank you and wish you the best summer day you’ve ever spent. And no, you can’t use my kayak unless you bring along that marine mechanic!