Judy Powell is the award-winning romance novelist who wrote Hot Summer, which was published in 2005. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages/International Business, a Master of Arts in Spanish, and an MBA in Marketing. She is working on a third Master’s degree in Humanities/ Literature. Living in Ontario, Canada, she is hard at work on her next novel.

How did you decide to become a romance novelist?

Well, I have always loved reading. I got my first library card when I was five, but as a teenager I used to read a lot of romance novels and I thought, I could write romance. This is easy! What made it even more appealing was that the romance novels I read were primarily targeting a white audience, and I wasn’t really finding much for Jamaicans or other ethnicities, so I decided I would try writing some with appealing black characters and some sort of Caribbean heritage.



How do you handle rejection?

There is a lot of rejection that writers must experience, because even when a writer is talented, many others are always out there. You just have to believe in yourself.

I have done a lot of studies in universities, and my lecturers have told me that I have a talent for writing. I have also won writing competitions in the U.S. and Jamaica. So I said to myself, I have to have confidence. So regardless of the rejections I have had, I feel I have something worth selling.



What is a regular day like when you are working on a novel?

Normally, I try to get up at about 5:30 and work on my novel for two hours or so, and then get ready for work; which is doing sales for SoftSheen-Carson [the hair product company]. So my day is split between my “work-work” and my writing, which is what I really love. I tend to use the early hours of the day to focus on my writing … when I can wake up.



Is it difficult to focus on writing while balancing your other duties, such as caring for your son?

It gets very difficult because of my job, which requires me to travel from time to time. So that throws off my schedule. Apart from that, my son is a big part of my life – the most important part. Sometimes I want to write but I just can’t get to it. There are times when I don’t do anything on my book for weeks.

In addition, I’m also studying; I’m doing a part-time master’s degree at California State, so when I have major papers to do, I have to drop my own writing and focus on that. So a lot of things get in the way: studying, family, and work, but I still try to squeeze some time in to focus on writing.



What entices you about writing?

I love the freedom to express myself. Whenever I read, it’s like I’m in a different world. I feel the same way when I’m writing: I’m visiting another country, even another planet. It just takes me away. Writing, for me, is a kind of relief.



Which authors/poets motivate you?

I admire a number of black writers; Maya Angelou is one, as well as Toni Morrison. I also enjoyed a couple of books by Terry McMillan. Not just black writers, though. One white writer, Kathleen Woodiwiss, is great when it comes to romance. I actually like people from various genres.



Any new projects coming up?

Yes, I have a new book out called Coffee, Cream and Curry, which is not a romance; it’s a literary novel. It traces the history of Jamaica through the lives of people from different generations in the same family. It begins in 1817 with one boy and then focuses on his grandchild and then that grandchild’s grandchild, right up to the current time.

What I try to do is present the story through the eyes of people of different races. So the first one is white, the second is mixed, the third is black, the fourth is Chinese. Because Jamaica has people of several races, our motto is: “Out of many, one people.” So I’m looking at representing everybody in the story.

Then I have another romance novel coming out called Hot Chocolat, set in New York and Kingston, Jamaica. Every book I write will have something that links it back to the Caribbean or Jamaica where I am from, because half of the reason I write is to promote my culture. A lot of people don’t know very much about these cultures and this is a user-friendly way for them to learn about it.