Judith R. Hendricks

Judith R. Hendricks' new novel is The Laws of Harmony.

From a Q & A at her publisher's website:

Q: The Laws of Harmony is your fourth novel. What do you know about writing now that you wished you had known when you started out as a novelist?

A: I wish I'd known that each book is utterly different and it's always like starting over. That probably would have saved me from panic on many occasions. I wish I'd known that you have to be gentle with yourself and patient with the story. No matter how many times I've thought I'd never find my way through the maze, or how many times I've been ready to quit in frustration, things have always worked themselves out . . . and I mean that literally. The knots have unraveled with very little help from me. The problem is that what I know now I could only learn through the experience of writing four novels. And still, I forget.

Q: To what extent do you actively resist writing works that can be categorized by genre or theme? For example, The Laws of Harmony seems to introduce and combine mystery, romance, self-discovery, and all things culinary.

A: I enjoy reading certain genres, such as mysteries, but when someone who's a school teacher or a cab driver keeps stumbling over dead bodies, there's a part of me that thinks, Oh come on. You just solved a murder last month. What are the chances? When I write, I like to include different elements in the story because real life is a fascinating pastiche of mystery, romance, self-discovery and—at least for me—all things culinary.

Read the complete Q & A.

The Page 69 Test: The Laws of Harmony.

--Marshal Zeringue