Thursday, May 3rd Chat Session with Judy Gregerson
11:30-12:25 Central (9:30-10:25 am Pacific)
**THIS SESSION HAS ENDED**
How much would you be willing to lose to expose a lie?
Destiny has a secret. She’s been told not to tell anyone what happened to her, her little sister, and her mother at Crater Lake. Or that her mother is mentally ill and hits her little sister. If she does, it could ruin her family.
But the secret is killing her and every day she remembers the bad thing she did at Crater Lake. Every day, she pays for it. Her life is a nightmare and her boyfriend, Joshua, and best friend, Chloe, don’t understand. When she pulls away from them, and refuses to leave the house that summer, they don’t realize that she’s trying to fix the horrible mistake she made. They only know that she’s slipping away from them.
But trying to hold her family together doesn’t work. Destiny feels a darkness in the house and when Mom gets out of the psychiatric hospital, it takes over. First it attacks her little sister, and then it comes for her.
Destiny has to choose whether to expose the lies and the darkness or tell the truth about what happened at Crater Lake. It could ruin her mother and father and she might never see her little sister again. It could be the end of her life.
Can the truth really set her free? Or will she remain what her mother has always called her–a bad girl?
Bad Girls Club coming July 2007, Blooming Tree Press. See the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngOBf6d_IlI
About Judy Gregerson
During my teen years, I worked as a scallop and an oyster shucker, a waitress, and a chambermaid. I also spent time in the A&P produce department, weighing and putting up fruits and veggies. I ran my father’s fish store on weekends and cleaned houses for rich people.
At eighteen I took refuge at SUNY Oswego and later transferred to SUNY at Stony Brook.
Life began after college. I had some interesting jobs
–a stint as a copy writer trainee at the Syracuse Post-Standard, a seasonal job in the NY Times advertising department, and a very boring time at Viking/Penguin in the marketing department. I got an ulcer working at an advertising agency but while working there, Doubleday published my first book, SAVE ME!. Thus ended my days in NYC. That year I was listed in Who’s Who in America.
I fled to the West Coast and began a new life in Seattle. I’ve been here a long time now.
I worked on THE BAD GIRLS CLUB for over seven years, did multiple rewrites and revisions, and sold it to Blooming Tree Press in 2005.
I am still working on my other novel, CRACKING NORMAL.
For more information, visit Judy’s website at www.judygregerson.com
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Hi everyone!
Hope you’ll give a big warm welcome to Judy Gregerson.
Your moderator will be your teacher Ms. Allan and she’ll be making sure the chat goes smoothly. To make that happen we have some rules for you to follow. Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy!
I’ll be hanging out here if you need me.
Rules:
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Remember to click the refresh button on your browser to regularly update the comments. If you have questions, ask the moderator.
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Hi Judy
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Hello!
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?carrie
mrs allan said to tell you we’re here
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mrs. Allan told me to tell you im here
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What inspired you to write this book???
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Hello in Lousiana, which is, by the way, one of my favorite places in the US. I stopped there while driving cross country and decided that I loved it there.
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What other books have you written?
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I was inspired to write this book by a man who told me about how his mother abandoned him when he was five. I thought about it for a long time, then wrote it. This is my second book, my first one I wrote a LONG time ago. It’s called SAVE ME! A Young Woman’s Journey Through Schizophrenia to Health
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our computers are incredibly slow today so we are trying to cope with it and talking as fast as we can
Crista Allen
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That’s ok, Crista. Sometimes they get sleepy.
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You still live in Seattle?
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Do you guys all write? Any writers among you?
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Who’s your idol in terms of fellow authors?
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we journal in class almost every day
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No, i don’t write. I would love to write but im not good at it.:???:
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I have several favorites. I like Hemingway for his simplicity. I like Sylvia Plath for her complexity. I like Jerry Spinelli for his brilliance.
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Paige, writing is a craft that anyone can learn. It takes practice and some direction, but it can be done.
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who is your favorite poet…and why?
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I love to journal though. Mrs. Allan gives us a topic and we can write about it or just about anything we want to.
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I write sometimes, when im playing video games or on long bus rides. I tend to write dark, and edgy short stories.
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have you ever read the perks of being a wallflower?
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ee cummings, again for his simplicity. I love simplicity. I also like complexity, but simple things can be complex! LOL
Journal writing is fun. It’s a great way to get the juices going.
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I read half of Perks of a Wallflower.
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I just i guess not a creative person. Carrie is a good writer, the girl in my class.
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You like that book?
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Hi Judy,
Thanks for your time with my students. Today’s class is very small today due to students being out for Natl. Day of Prayer. Good news for the ones who are here!
Christa Allan
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how did you like it? not well enough to read the seond half?
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Judy, what persuaded you to be a writer?
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Jaime:
What made you decide to write for teens and not adults?
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We all have talents and gifts, some of us write, some of us sing, some of us are good with people, etc. You will find your strengths and your talents.
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I didn’t like Perks all that well. Mostly, I didn’t relate to the character. But that’s just me. Others loved it.
I like to write about 17 year old girls. For some reason, that is where my heart is and all my stories have a 17 year old girl. So, that’s how I landed in teen literature.
And I love teens. I have one of my own!!
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If you weren’t a writer what do you think your career would be?
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how old were you when you started writing. Did you always love to write? Do you have any children (grandchildren) that took after you?
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What would your advice be for teens who are really serious about being writers?
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I have had an itch to write since I was 8 years old. But I never believed that I could, or that I was good enough. When I was in my twenties, I got a lot of positive feedback and wrote my first book, which was published when I was about 28.
So, don’t ever think that you just can’t do something. Try!!
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If I didn’t write, I’d be a publicist. That would be my second career, and I do some of that for a small publisher. For teens who want to write, I’d say find someone, a teacher or someone, who can help you develop your writing. And write. Write journals, write poems, write whatever comes to mind. And read so you can see HOW other writers do what they do.
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Judy, are you planning on writing another book, and if you are what is it going to be about?
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have you ever had writers block? How’d you get pass it?
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I come from a family of writers, but it skipped a few generations. I think the last person published in my family was around 1880. LOL. Both my kids write. My older daughter is almost 21 and she writes, and my youngest who is 17 is also quite good. But they don’t want to be like MOm, so I don’t know that they’ll become writers. But they have the talent.
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Whats the hardest part, to you, as being a writer
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thats cool
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for someone who is serious about writing, what books would you recemend that they read?
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Writers block. UGH! Yes, I’ve had it. I had it for 5 years on one book and I could not move forward on it. Usually, that means I don’t know my characters or story well enough.
I have another book I’m ready to sell. It’s about a girl who lives in a trailer park and who is picked on at school for that. And she gets tough, maybe a ltitle too tough, and gets in trouble. But she’s fun, quirky, and I really love her.
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If you are serious about writing, find books that YOU LOVE. Books that speak to YOU. Read them, think about them, think about how the author did what he/she did. Think about the themes that captured you in the book. And think about the things that are important to you and what you have to say to the world.
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In fact, when I wrote BAD GIRLS CLUB, I was reading and studying Old Man and the Sea. It helped me in so many ways.
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What happens if you get writers block too long? Where would you get your income from?
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Do you plotster or a panster?
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Whats that book called? How do you get an idea to write a book? Does it just one day pop in your head?
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Most writers do not and cannot make a living at writing. Most of us work or we’re married and us husbands support us. Only the bestsellers can make a living at this, or you have to have a few books out at once to make any money at it.