Judy Gill

Judy Gill, best-selling author of over 3 dozen published romance novels, loves boating on the coast of her home province, British Columbia, when she's not exploring the jungles and cloud-forests of Costa Rica. Most of her books are set in BC, often on or by the Pacific Ocean, her favorite playground.

Judy was born with an overactive what-if gene. She’s always happy when others want to enter into the worlds she creates. With more than three dozen novels to her credit, she’s invited a lot of people into her imaginary situations. “Where do I get my ideas?” she asks. “From everywhere, out of the air, out of dreams, out of snippets of overheard conversation. Anything can trigger that what-if gene. But what I like best,” she adds, “is when a story starts with nothing more than an intriguing visual image. Those books are a lot of fun to write because I never know what’s going to happen until it happens, or what my characters might do or say until they do or say it. I love surprises.”

Any reader who also loves surprises is sure to enjoy Judy’s books.

PNR: Judy you are a veteran romance writer. Your two most recent novels have contained paranormal elements, NO STRINGS ATTACHED which featured a genie as a major secondary character, and you newest release, WHISPERS ON THE WIND which is a futuristic romance. What influenced you to try your hand at paranormal romance?

Judy G: I grew up reading Science Fiction and Fantasy--though not
Sword and Sorcery-- and still love it as much as I love Romance. To blend the two is pure joy for me. I also wrote my first Harlequin Love & Laughter (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE NANNY) in which the heroine was an elf. It was so much
fun, I couldn't stay away from the concept that Paranormal is where I want to be, at least part of the time..

PNR: WHISPERS ON THE WIND is a near futuristic, meaning that the story takes place on a mid twenty first century Earth. This would seemingly make the story easier to write as one would not expect there to be so many drastic changes in 50 years, yet things have changed considerably, have they not? Tell us about the reorganization of Earth.

Judy G: Oh, my goodness! I absolutely *hated* writing about the after-effects of "the big one" that we expect in the Pacific Northwest any day. Each time we have a temblor, we all hold our breath and try to stem panic, because each one could be IT. And we all know it. In the fictitious breaking up of the Pacific Coast--Vancouver Island cracking into 3 segments, the changing of Puget Sound to Puget Strait (for those who don't know, a Sound ends in land, a Strait lets out into another body of water), which meant the destruction of the city of Olympia and its environs--I had to grit my teeth and try to use geography sensibly. North America had to become one political entity (because I see that as an inevitability, given our close economic and social ties. This idea was precipitated by a non-fiction book I read years ago, THE NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA, which breaks us into logical geographical sections.) Also, I needed to create an orderless society in order to have the glideways work as they did. The different sectors are either residential/industrial corridors, wildlife reserves, agricultural reserves, recreational reserves, or unclaimed wilderness where those who chose to roam free and outside civilization do so, living on the
brink of extinction.

But by bringing in the aliens, somehow I managed to mitigate the personal horror I feel while I wait for it (the disastrous earthquake), to happen.. To me, their benevolence (the good ones) brought comfort and hope for a safer future, though I have not yet established how they might alleviate tectonic tensions..

PNR: The heroine, Lenore is on a strongly recommended retreat in the mountains due to mental exhaustion. What is responsible for her state?

Judy G: Overwork, and overbearing father for whom she works, and her ambivalence about her past, failed, relationship, and her desperate need for a child, which she has sublimated by hard, mental labor, but which manifests itself in dreams of a mother seeking succor for her child, and of a child seeking
companionship and safety.

PNR: She believes that her dreams are a manifestation of her desire for a child. Her own childhood had not been very satisfactory. Has she had difficulty forming
relationships?

Judy G: Yes. She has this difficulty because of her unhappy childhood and a cold, unloving father, and a mother who apparently abandoned her as a child to join a cult. To her, a child of her own means a chance for more than immortality, but for someone to love, someone who will love her, give her the connection she lacked as a child except with her friend and her friend's grandparents, who were, at best, while loving, not *her own.*

PNR: Does her time away banish the dreams?

Judy G: No. It merely changes them, because of geography, from those of the desperately frightened woman and the needy child, to an equally needy man.

PNR: How does she respond to the new dreams she’s experiencing due to the new location? They are extremely erotic?

Judy G: She doesn't understand them at first, but sees them as yet another indication of her mental stress. Yet, they are so strong, so compelling ,she must obey their dictates. Try as she does to ignore them, she finds she cannot. She *knows* on some subconscious level, that they are more than dreams, even if
they represent a reality her logical, accountant's mind cannot readily accept..

PNR: The hero of this piece is Jonello, an alien from Aazonia, who crash landed there and is lying injured, perhaps dying in a cave farther up in the mountains. How has he arrived on Earth, and what is his reason for coming here?

Judy G: He has come, with his group of seven colleagues (an Octad, together), each one a specialists in her/his own field, to attempt to rescue his sister, Zenna, who has been missing for 4 years. Sunspot activity during a very risky window between Aazonia and Earth has dispersed the Octad, leaving Jon injured and alone, reaching out mentally to anyone who might be receptive--Lenore
is the one he finds.

PNR: How is it that he is able to reach out to Lenore?

Judy G: She has a strong affinity to mental telepathy from an Aazoni.

PNR: Jonello is on a mission, he has a villain to apprehend and someone to rescue. Can you tell us about his mission.

Judy G: As I mentioned, his twin sister is missing, believed by some Aazoni to be an accomplice to the villain. Jon cannot accept this assumption.

PNR: This intergalactic villain has an advantage over the group sent to apprehend him?

Judy G: Yes. Along with kidnapping Jon's sister, the villain has stolen an imperfect device she helped develop, that allows fewer than the normal eight of an Octad to make their way to and from Earth, without waiting for a proper "window." This device is extremely dangerous, a fact substantiated by Zenna's mate, who wasworking with her to refine its capabilities when she was taken.

PNR: Jonello reveals that it is particularly urgent that he reassemble his Octad. What is an Octad and what is its purpose?

Judy G: An Octad is the minimum number of Aazoni that can travel through space and time to Earth and back to Aazonia. The window he has risked is of short duration, but he must take it because there won't be a other for 10 more years.

PNR: Aside from their ability to travel through space and time, do the Aazoni have other special ablilities?

Judy G: They have collective memories of all their family members contained in a necklace each one wears. This necklace also provides them with some protection and adds to their innate mentaland physical strength and well being. Some have other abilities, such as creating illusions, or tracing other Aazonis, or
teleporting.

PNR: Lenore and Jonello have a unique affinity unusual for couples of mixed interstellar race. Suffice it to say there is a wonderful secret to be revealed. If Jonello’s mission is successful Jonello must return to Aazonia as part of the Octad in order for the others to return home. What does this mean for him and
Lenore?

Judy G: They both believe, and accept it will mean separation for the next 10 years. She is willing to wait for him, the love of her life, for 10 times that if need be and he promises to return. Together, they have discovered love, not just as it is known on Earth, but as a joining of souls as well as bodies, as it is known and experienced on Aazonia. They agree they can exist on the memories, and will do so, if not with great joy, at least with the understanding that he will return as soon as he is able. If things could possibly turn out differently, they'd be overjoyed, but neither expects a happy ending.

PNR: Will you be writing additional paranormal romances in the future? More Futuristics? What is next for Judy Gill?

Judy G: I plan more books about the Aazoni. I also have a rough outline (mental only) for two more paranormal romances, one a shorter one, dealing with a mismatched couple who are guided together by a match-making angel, and one about the same length as WHISPERS, that involves telepathic children and those whose task it is to protect them from evil government agencies who see them as either a dire threat or worst, a weapon.

Featured in this Issue:

Interviews with :
Catherine Asaro
Judy Gill
Susan Grant
Robin D. Owens
Catherine Spangler