One of the fascinations of writing fiction is creating characters “out of whole cloth”, then recognizing in them attitudes and dominant traits of myself, the people who shaped me, my children, or others who have left some mark. I remember creating Carla in The Inheritors and puzzling over her familiarity. Then I woke up […]
From my damp, but otherwise cozy roost in the Northwest, I listen to the weather report from Chicago, look at the pictures of the icicle-laden remains of a burned-out buildings and remember. This memory is for you. A New Year’s Message, Chicago Style New Years’ Eve, 1945, and I was invited to spend the night […]
Why is that so often the first question we ask a stranger? To place him or her geographically, sure, but also in the whole universe of language, culture, and attitudes we associate with place. So it used to be, when people asked me that, I’d mumble apologetically. I longed to say “the mountains of […]
In an earlier blog, I urged everyone who hopes to be a writer to look back and relive their times with those magic people whose influence opened the writer in them. One of my magic people died this past summer. Fortunately, I returned to Ann Arbor this spring and visited her in the living […]
For those of you who still love to hold a “real” book in your hands, HOME FIRES is now out in paperback. If you like Stories that “shine a light on real things that matter” Kristen Nathan, Chicago Literati. 12/17/13 Stories that “even when I wasn’t reading it, the story was on my […]
The Path from Writer to Author Many writers claim they only write for themselves. I was one of those once, chiefly because the whole notion of being published was beyond the power of my imagination. However, the University of Michigan’s Hopwood Awards, won by authors such as Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, and Marge Piercy, had, […]
It’s time to get off the Internet and curl up with a book —or a Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo or whatever. To help, this blog will take a break until Friday, January 4, 2013 and offer two books for your (or our loved ones) reading pleasure. THE INHERITORS A mixed-race woman’s search for […]
This is not the post I was going to publish today. Holiday cheer feels out of place and offensive while twenty children lie dead on a Connecticut schoolroom floor. I am crying, like everyone else, “This has to stop!” On the television we hear our commentators turn to Congress and the President, as though they […]
About The Inheritors I promised a blog about the journey from writer to author, but need to interrupt with some news. The Inheritors is now in paperback! You’ll find it at Barnes & Noble and Amazon, but you can also order it at your local bookstore. The book page (link below) will give you a […]
The story of Judith Kirscht, author of The Inheritors and Nowhere Else to Go, becoming a writer.
Judith Kirscht lives and works in the beautiful Puget Sound area. She is the author of four published works of fiction with more to come soon!
