About Me
The first thing to know about Judy is that she is the tenth of twelve children. Upon learning this fun fact, many people need or want to know certain statistics about her family of origin, so here goes: The age range of the children is twenty-one years from oldest to youngest. There are eight boys and four girls. There is one set of twins. There is one mother and one father. The family house had seven bedrooms, but only one bathroom. Today, Judy has one child, and is actively considering the installation of a second bathroom in her home.
Judy started life wanting to be a writer, but found herself distracted by the fun and drama of local theater. She studied acting and made a brief, but valiant effort to be an actress. She was one of the original cast member/creators of the long-running hit, TONY N’ TINA’S WEDDING. This adventure led to a handful of commercials, a few other projects and the revelation that she was simply not meant to be an actress. Full stop.
Playwright was the next logical role for Judy, who was lucky enough to serve as the playwright-in-residence at New York’s prestigious Looking Glass Theatre, which produced her plays every season. Productions have included WHAT TO DO ABOUT NOTHING, A CAROLE CHRISTMAS and APHRODITE’S DUNGEON, among many others. She collaborated with Kenneth Nowell to create a series of musicals for children: I WAS A 9-YEAR OLD BLUES DIVA, I HATE SPINACH, as well as the work-in-progress, I’M SO INCREDIBLY BORED.
Meanwhile, Judy managed to reach beyond Manhattan to infiltrate the heartland with her play, ALICE IN IRELAND. It has been produced all over the United States, winning the Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest, and the Siena College International Playwrights’ Competition. The play was also chosen by the Kalamazoo Gazette as the #1 Critics’ Pick for 1999. Her play, BRIGHT GIRLS, STUPID LIVES, was a critical and popular success in Portland, OR where it was nominated for a Drammy Award. Judy wrote the popular MURDER AT WATERLOO for historic Waterloo Village. The initial run proved so successful, the play has returned for three subsequent productions.In September, 2000, Judy traveled to China and adopted a baby girl. Along with motherhood, came sleep deprivation and a drastic reduction in Judy’s ability to attend rehearsals in the city or anywhere else. By all common sense, the overwhelming task of raising a child should have brought an end to Judy’s ability to write anything at all. But if you’ve been reading closely, you’ll see that common sense hasn’t applied very well so far. Judy found herself writing more than ever—she just had to wait until the baby was asleep.
Judy started life wanting to be a writer, but found herself distracted by the fun and drama of local theater. She studied acting and made a brief, but valiant effort to be an actress. She was one of the original cast member/creators of the long-running hit, TONY N’ TINA’S WEDDING. This adventure led to a handful of commercials, a few other projects and the revelation that she was simply not meant to be an actress. Full stop.
Playwright was the next logical role for Judy, who was lucky enough to serve as the playwright-in-residence at New York’s prestigious Looking Glass Theatre, which produced her plays every season. Productions have included WHAT TO DO ABOUT NOTHING, A CAROLE CHRISTMAS and APHRODITE’S DUNGEON, among many others. She collaborated with Kenneth Nowell to create a series of musicals for children: I WAS A 9-YEAR OLD BLUES DIVA, I HATE SPINACH, as well as the work-in-progress, I’M SO INCREDIBLY BORED.
Meanwhile, Judy managed to reach beyond Manhattan to infiltrate the heartland with her play, ALICE IN IRELAND. It has been produced all over the United States, winning the Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest, and the Siena College International Playwrights’ Competition. The play was also chosen by the Kalamazoo Gazette as the #1 Critics’ Pick for 1999. Her play, BRIGHT GIRLS, STUPID LIVES, was a critical and popular success in Portland, OR where it was nominated for a Drammy Award. Judy wrote the popular MURDER AT WATERLOO for historic Waterloo Village. The initial run proved so successful, the play has returned for three subsequent productions.In September, 2000, Judy traveled to China and adopted a baby girl. Along with motherhood, came sleep deprivation and a drastic reduction in Judy’s ability to attend rehearsals in the city or anywhere else. By all common sense, the overwhelming task of raising a child should have brought an end to Judy’s ability to write anything at all. But if you’ve been reading closely, you’ll see that common sense hasn’t applied very well so far. Judy found herself writing more than ever—she just had to wait until the baby was asleep.
WOMEN IN HATS
Her name is Leigh Majors and she isn’t going to change it. She works hard in her off-Broadway theatre as a director of small, critically acclaimed plays. She has a sane and happy marriage with Michael, and a delightful best friend in Maddie. Her mother, the famous Bridie Hart, was America’s favorite TV sitcom mom, who can only play the role of a good mother if somebody else writes the dialogue. Leigh and Bridie have a tense, standoffish relationship on a good day. Still, Leigh’s life is quiet, calm and under control.
But what if Leigh could have more? What if she could have a passionate, romantic relationship? What if she could have (or even become) the mother she always wanted? What if she could step out of her small downtown theatre and direct a Broadway play? What if all of these possibilities open up for Leigh when her husband writes a Broadway-ready play that could become Leigh’s big directorial break? But there’s just one catch: the play will star her mother, the one and only Bridie Hart.
What follows is a Six-Million Dollar adventure where Leigh directs her mother in her husband’s play, Women In Hats. Leigh steps through the looking glass, where her whole life turns upside-down and gets so much better.
Her name is Leigh Majors and she isn’t going to change it. She works hard in her off-Broadway theatre as a director of small, critically acclaimed plays. She has a sane and happy marriage with Michael, and a delightful best friend in Maddie. Her mother, the famous Bridie Hart, was America’s favorite TV sitcom mom, who can only play the role of a good mother if somebody else writes the dialogue. Leigh and Bridie have a tense, standoffish relationship on a good day. Still, Leigh’s life is quiet, calm and under control.
But what if Leigh could have more? What if she could have a passionate, romantic relationship? What if she could have (or even become) the mother she always wanted? What if she could step out of her small downtown theatre and direct a Broadway play? What if all of these possibilities open up for Leigh when her husband writes a Broadway-ready play that could become Leigh’s big directorial break? But there’s just one catch: the play will star her mother, the one and only Bridie Hart.
What follows is a Six-Million Dollar adventure where Leigh directs her mother in her husband’s play, Women In Hats. Leigh steps through the looking glass, where her whole life turns upside-down and gets so much better.
...AND BABY MAKES TWO is a funny and poignant debut novel which chronicles a New York career woman's meandering path toward motherhood and the unforgettable characters she meets along the way.
...AND BABY MAKES TWO is an honest and addictive novel about love and loss, family and friendship, and the delights and dilemmas of the scariest job in the world: motherhood. At thirty-seven, Jane Howe is pretty sure she has attained the perfect life, until she spots the perfect child – the Christ Child, angelic and beautiful, magnetic and serene. He makes Jane question everything she has and everything she thought she wanted. When Jane has an encounter with the adoptive mother of a Chinese baby girl, her life changes forever, as we see in the excerpt below.
"This is my daughter. Jane was sitting in an extra seat in the Trying to Adopt circle. A petite woman in the chair next to her held up a snapshot
of a three-year-old girl in a red bathing suit. The little girl was in mid-air, arms outstretched, mouth grinning. Nice shot. The little girl was Chinese.The photo went around from her body around. The glossy paper vibrated with happiness. The petite woman, who was Italian by heritage, looked like her daughter, which made no sense to Jane at all. But there it was."
...AND BABY MAKES TWO is an honest and addictive novel about love and loss, family and friendship, and the delights and dilemmas of the scariest job in the world: motherhood. At thirty-seven, Jane Howe is pretty sure she has attained the perfect life, until she spots the perfect child – the Christ Child, angelic and beautiful, magnetic and serene. He makes Jane question everything she has and everything she thought she wanted. When Jane has an encounter with the adoptive mother of a Chinese baby girl, her life changes forever, as we see in the excerpt below.
"This is my daughter. Jane was sitting in an extra seat in the Trying to Adopt circle. A petite woman in the chair next to her held up a snapshot
of a three-year-old girl in a red bathing suit. The little girl was in mid-air, arms outstretched, mouth grinning. Nice shot. The little girl was Chinese.The photo went around from her body around. The glossy paper vibrated with happiness. The petite woman, who was Italian by heritage, looked like her daughter, which made no sense to Jane at all. But there it was."