INTRODUCING
JUDY RYAN HALL
Okay, a few questions!
Because you have dyslexia you
paid another child to write down
your first story (a unicorn story,
nice!). Did you find that the
stories were trapped because or
your disability? How did you get
them down, going forward?
Mark, the boy down the street,
actually wrote a few for me.
And my Mom wrote a few for
me. I tried writing myself, but it
wasn't until I was 12, after my
mother died, that I got
proficient. And then I wrote all
the time. I always had a
notebook. As I got older, my
best friend was my audience.
And she didn't make fun of my
spelling problems.
I tried to hide my dyslexia. I
was ashamed of it. I
memorized things and my
sister read to me. We were a
family of big readers. I still
have issues with spelling. My
sister edits for me now.
What a testament to your
tenacity and ingenuity!
For years, I doubted my
intelligence. My father (who
died when I was 25) once
called me "retarded" and I
overheard. Then in 2014, when
I was doing research for my
memoir, I wrote to friends of
my parents on an unrelated
issue and found out that my
father was also dyslexic.
I stopped writing for a while. I
can't quite describe the anger
I felt.
That's what writing is for--
getting it out 💗
Definitely.
Your new book, Max Runs, -- how
long did it take to write?
Good question - the bulk of it
took me about 3 weeks. I was
manic. Then years to edit and
make it make sense and add in
parts that made it more
palatable.
The first chapters were written
after I'd been sending it out for a year.
People were really put off by
the idea of a ten-year-old
trying to commit suicide.
So I needed to add in stuff so
you know it'll all be okay.
The story is based on your
younger daughter: Was there
ever thought of just writing a
non-fiction account?
I may - but she is transgender
and I feel like people get so
hung up on that and really, it's
not a big deal in the way that
bipolar disorder is. And the
mother, Rebecca, doesn't have
bipolar and I do. She had to
learn about it. For me it
was much more organic.
I think some day Sammy and I
will write something together
about her childhood.
She is also dyslexic.
It's hereditary, just like bipolar
disorder.
I love that idea. A familial collaboration.
Last question:
Do you ever read the work of
your students, and just know
they've got a future in writing, if they choose?
A few, but I don't teach as
much creative writing as I'd
like to. But I've had a number
of students over the years who
were in a variety of classes
and have encouraged them to
write. One in particular was
going to major in accounting.
Now she's double majoring in
English and Women's Studies
and I know she'll at least be an
academic of some sort.
You've planted the seed👍
I also had an eleven-year-old
in China who was very
imaginative and wrote really
well.
Planting seeds, internationally!
Thank you, so much, for allowing
me to get to know you better!
Thank you!
STANDARD TWEEP TATTLER INTERVIEW
1) Where do you live?
Montclair, NJ
2) What is the first thing you remember writing?
I am dyslexic and I paid a boy down the street with a matchbox car and a kiss to write down a story for me. It was about unicorns.
3) Why do you write?
I am a natural storyteller. In person or on the page and in the classroom, I am always telling stories - sometimes to instruct but often just to entertain.
4) Have you published any of your work?
I have published many short stories, poems, essays and pieces of memoir and have been published in newspapers and literary journals and a few of my pieces have been anthologized. Recently my first novel was published by Eliezer Tristan. It's called Max Runs.
5) What are you currently writing?
Several things, always, but centrally on a memoir focusing on my relationship with my father, who was quite a character.
6) Are you currently querying?
Not yet.
7) Finish this sentence (three lines or less):
IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT…
and I decided that I'd write a story all in cliches.
8) Which activities do you like to participate in, in the Twitter writing community (VSS365, etc.)?
I'm not as active on Twitter as I wish I was. I'm more a Facebook person.
9) Do you have any formal training/education for writing?
I have an MFA from William Paterson University, although life is the best teacher of writing.
10) Do the people in your life know that you write?
Yes. I even have a tattoo of a quill on my left forearm. I've been calling myself a writer since before I was published.
11) Tell me about the people in your life. Family? Pets?
I am married to Anson Pope and have three kids, Alexander, Elisabeth and Samantha who are, at the moment, 26, 24 and 17 respectively. I dedicated my novel to Samantha because Max is based on her. She has a lot of challenges: bipolar disorder, she is dyslexic, and she is transgender. The book is about childhood bipolar disorder, although I've written about her being transgender as well. The Blair Reader recently purchased my article, “Mommy, I'm Not That Type of Girl.” It was originally published in Huffington Post and went viral. She is very like me - both bipolar disorder and dyslexia are hereditary and I got these from my father and passed them down to her.
Outside my immediate family, my sister Meg Hall and my brother, David Anshen and their families are the most important people to me. Meg is a professor of Anatomy at Midwestern University and David is an English Professor at the University of Texas. We plan to move to Arizona when Samantha has finished her transition. Elisabeth is already living out there.
12) Where do you wish your writing to take you?
I want to publish my memoir and I feel like I have many more novels and short stories inside me.
13) What did you expect when you joined the Twitter writing community? Did it turn out as expected?
I am more involved in the Facebook writing community - I think they are very related. I've gotten writing gigs, stories requested and I found my publisher through another writer.
14) Where do you write?
My bed. Panera. The car. I would like to write in the bath. I need a waterproof laptop.
15) How much time do you dedicate to writing, weekly?
No set amount of time. As much as I can.
16) Do you have other talents?
I swim, I knit, I make jewelry - I am always looking for new crafts.
17) CHOOSE ONE:
I do not mind when other writers ask for advice.
I’d rather keep to myself!
A - If I have time, I am happy to. I am a teacher.
Judy and her daughter, Samantha
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judy Ryan Hall is a writer and itinerant teacher of writing who has lived in such far flung places as Iceland, Sudan, and New Jersey. She currently lives with her youngest daughter, Samantha, on whom Max is based, and her husband, Anson Pope, in Montclair, NJ. No one in her family approaches normalcy. Although Judy has been published in many journals and anthologies, “Max Runs” is her debut novel.
Twitter: @judashalah
Facebook: @voluptuousmermaid
Judy's website: www.judyryanhall.com
Judy at the Barnes and Noble book signing for "Max Runs"
PORTLAND, Oregon. February 15, 2019 - Author Judy Ryan Hall’s new book, Max Runs, released by Eliezer Tristan Publishing, dives into the story of stay-at-home mom Rebecca, whose youngest son, Max, gets diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder following an unanticipated suicide attempt. Her sister Sarah, an ER doctor, is convinced that she knows what is best for him, despite the advice from his own psychiatrist. But after some family secrets surface, Sarah kidnaps Max, and Rebecca embarks on a journey leaving the reader turning pages for more.
Hall wants readers to learn about mental illness and how it affects families. She says, “Bipolar disorder in particular is often hereditary and can occur in young children, sometimes leading to suicide attempts. But with treatment, people can live good, full lives. There is a stigma surrounding mental illness but until we talk about it, we can't break it.”
