About the Author

About me:

I’m a Midwesterner, born and bred (Kansas and Minnesota) but am now happily settled in a small town in Oregon. When not writing, I like to read, travel, swim, garden, embroider, eat chocolate, cuddle with my cats, and spend time with my grandchildren. I love discovering great finds at thrift shops, flea markets, and garage sales. Nearly everything I own is second-hand!

Careers:

I’ve had three major career phases in my life: 1) ten years as a computer systems designer and teacher of computer programming, 2) ten years farming with my husband, Jim, in northern California—raising apples, Asian pears, and raspberries, and 3) in Oregon, teaching childbirth preparation classes and serving as doula to over 450 women in labor.

Travel:

I’ve travelled all over the world, climbing Popocatepetl in Mexico and Mt. Demavend in Iran and kayaking 180 miles on the Mahaweli Ganga River in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In 1969 and 1970 I went on a year-long trip by Land Rover, with my brother, his wife, and my then-husband, driving from England to India, Ceylon, and Nepal and back. We prepared our own meals and camped, stopping in villages, beside the road in the desert, or well… wherever we found ourselves. We were always welcomed.

Setting out on a kayak trip down the Mahaweli River in Sri Lanka. My account of this trip was printed in the article “180 Miles on the Mahaweli Ganga” published by The Journal of Ceylon Wildlife in 1970.

On using a pen name:

After writing non-fiction under my married name, Judy Gabriel, I decided to use a pen name, my maiden name Judy Meadows, for my romance novels. I didn’t think my friends who are proud of their refined literary tastes needed to know what I was up to. But it turned out I was rather proud of what I’d written and soon became comfortable telling the world.

Yep. I write romance novels.

On writing romance:

I love it when readers tell me they “couldn’t put the book down.” What I want when I read and what I want to create when I write is a good story that grabs the reader from page one—with irresistible characters and sometimes a little humor. As a reader and as a writer, I love utterly satisfying, happy endings. Writing sex scenes was originally a bit daunting, but I came to enjoy the challenge of making them erotic without being too graphic. The love and longing parts of romance touch me more than details about what went where and how it was employed while it was there.