Interview published this week...

Q&A: Judi Getch Brodman publishes mystery novel

Judi Brodman two weeks ago fulfilled a lifelong dream: she published her first-ever novel.

“She’s Not You,” is, as Brodman describes, a mystery with a splash of romance. It follows Jamie Janson as she returns to her family member’s home in Cape Cod, only to be caught up in a whirlwind of murder and intrigue.

Brodman, a software consultant, has previously written several travel articles, as well as a short story and two children’s books: “Fiona - The Lighthouse Firefly,” and “Fiona the Firefly - Lost!” She is also an editor for Wiley’s technical magazine, Journal of Software: Evolution and Process.

Brodman said she first began writing the book 10 years ago and has been working on it on and off since then. The book is currently available for purchase on Amazon.com for $14.99.

Why did you want to become a writer?

I always wrote, I wrote professional pieces that were published in computer science magazines. But when you write technically, it’s passive. There’s no “I” or any feeling in it, you have to wipe all that stuff away and it’s very dry. So I wrote a lot, but I always wanted to write something creative. Then when my sister died, I wrote two children’s books that she had always wanted to write, and that kind of got the juices flowing.

What authors served as your inspiration?

Last winter I took an online course taught by Heidi Jon Schmidt and I love her. I read a book of hers called “The House on Oyster Creek,” and her writing is so beautiful that I felt like I was right there as she told the story. I think she inspired me to write deeper stories and better characters. Some other novelists who inspired me are Nora Roberts and Mary Higgins Clark. I like mystery writers. My husband is a spy novel guy, but that’s not for me.

What kind of reader is this book for?

I think anybody who likes mystery. It has romance in it, but it’s not a smut romance, it’s a nice building romance. So I think it appeals to women. It appealed to my husband, which was surprising, so it’s not a chick book. It has the mystery and the murders, it has a little bit of everything.

What was your biggest challenge?

I don’t know if there was a challenge, really. The challenge probably was trying to publish, because as a new author with no background, most publishers didn’t want to pick me up.

Do you have any other books on the horizon?

I’ve already started a sequel to this and I’ve submitted another novel to my publisher, so I’m hoping that will come out. And I have two other books I’m working on. It’s funny, I started with one and as I was writing it I got to a point where I asked, “where am I going with this?” So I put it away for awhile and I went back to another one I had started, and then I would return to the first one. It just works for me.