The Diamond Valley Writers Guild Rocks!!

Wow!

That’s all I can say about Diamond Valley Writers Guild !

 Our president, Lynne Spreen, described me as a firecracker when she introduced me as the main speaker on Saturday, but did you realize what an energetic and enthusiastic bunch of writers and poets are beginning to make up this outstanding guild?

We are growing and evolving in our first year. The fascinating folks who are joining comprise every facet of the writing profession imaginable. You will definitely be able to find your kindred spirit at the Diamond Valley Writers Guild in Hemet, Ca. on the fourth Saturday of the month!

Thank you all for coming and listening to my take on, What Makes A Good Story?  I hope you all came away inspired and excited, because I love giving back what I have learned over the years.

Hope to see you all in June!

Thank you all for your book purchases. Reviews on Amazon are an author’s lifeblood. Please support me and the other authors whom you have enjoyed. Let the world know how the writers’ words moved you and perhaps changed your outlook.

In honor of the sacrifices of our veterans and their families on this Memorial Day, I am discounting my two books in The Masada Series.
Beginning on Memorial Day,  and for a limited time, MASADA'S MARINE  and MASADA'S MISSION  will be available for $1.99 each.
That is a  65% discount for both books combined!!

Take advantage and discover how dogs  save veterans lives.

22 Veterans a day commit suicide.

Judy Howard's Amazon Author Page 

 

 

INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION DAY

Today is Motivation Day.  People use words like Inspiration and Brave to describe me. Even my cat, Sportster has an electrifying personality.

I believe everyone who crosses our path,   who touches us, those whom we have shared moments with, whether good or bad,   become a part of us. They change us.  Our encounters are like pouring thick cream into a black cup of coffee, the contents become forever altered. The action itself may be long forgotten, yet the mug carries the combination into eternity.

I recently reconnected with my best friend from high school, Jan Gingold. We shared a love for horses and were inseparable. Saturdays and Sundays,  sun up to sundown, we rode anywhere and everywhere, breathing in nature and feeling the freedom, racing down abandoned country roads. That time with my best friend nurtured my love for freedom, the outdoors and adrenaline rushes. Today, when I am asked to name an enjoyable moment in my life, I recall my time with Jan.

We cannot always control who shares  our journey, walking along with us for a while. Are those  interactions divinely guided and predestined? We might never know, but what I do know is those events  change us, hopefully like rich cream.

 But, maybe not. Sometimes it is more like sour milk.

During my 70 years, I faced the shame of a teenage pregnancy in the fifties and the aching guilt of an estrangement from my teenage daughter, which lasted sixteen years.  I’ve endured   despair, watching three people whom I loved fight futilely against cancer, the last, my granddaughter, who succumbed only a month ago at the age of twenty-eight.  So how can I swoosh  into a room with an explosion of energy?

I am motivated to change the world. And I fear I will not reach my goal.  

The desire to make a difference, is it a lofty goal?   Many days I believe my dream  is like the nonsense of a young girl’s fantasy  to marry the prince.

 Everyday I  wake up afraid, yet every day I am driven to overcome the fear, because if I do not believe in the dream, then change will never have a chance.

Dreams and imagination are seeds for a better world.

Every day I sit down to write. To inspire. To motivate.  To make a difference. Every day I search for the inspiration to motivate others.

What are you afraid you might  not achieve? What do you care about? What makes you get up in the morning?  What are your dreams?

Here are my mine.

I want to save the lives of 22 veterans a day. That is the number who lose their lives on home soil to suicide.  I want them to find honor, to rise above their anguish by using their stories to reach out to others. The public needs to know. What was it like? What happened? What is it like now?   By traveling across the country presenting writing seminars and motivational workshops, I hope to help veterans and their families to find the courage to tell their stories, their history and speak of their sacrifices.

 I want to save our youth from the ugly world of t human trafficking, which generated an estimated $7 billion to $9.5 billion per annum as of 2004. The average age a girl disappears into the grasps of sex traffickers is twelve.  Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest-growing activities of trans-national criminal organizations.

With so much at stake, motivation is everything. Discover what you care about and light your fire.


I was recently interviewed by Jim Hitt​  of the Diamond Valley Writers Guild​. If you are one of the 80% who have thought about writing a book, please listen  and then mark Saturday, May 28th on your calendar. I will be speaking on the subject of "What Makes  A Good Story?" Whether you are a seasoned author or an aspiring writer, you will come away INSPIRED  and MOTIVATED.

SEE INFORMATION BELOW.

 

The Diamond Valley Writers Guild

The DVWG meets from 9-11 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of each month from January – October, at the Hemet Public Library, 300 E Latham Ave, Hemet, CA 92543. We invite our audience to engage speakers during their presentations, to discuss and question the topic at hand for the greatest amount of feedback and interaction. Speakers will sign and sell books after the meeting. Hope to see you there.

MAY 28, 2016

Judy Howard and Sportster

“Getting Started on Your Bestseller”
with Bestselling Author Judy Howard

“I should write a book!” How many times have you said that? Here’s your chance to answer that yearning – to check it off your bucket list! On Saturday, May 28, 2016, 9:15-11 a.m. at the Hemet Public Library, Judy Howard, author of Coast to Coast with a Cat and A Ghost, Going Home with a Cat and a Ghost, and Masada’s Marine, will reveal the secrets of writing a book you can’t put down.

Judy will cover the critical elements of plot, structure and character development. Informative handouts will be provided. If you’d like to see more about Judy and her commitment to writing, click here for the video.

 

 

 

 

The Best Day of Your Life

What was the best day of our life?  The miracle of your child’s birth? The moment you met “Her”? Or was it that private moment when you sat by a creek, the heat of the sun on your cheek and a brisk breeze tugging at you hair?

Was your best day the one moment when you swelled with a desire for the freedom to soar into vast world before you?

It probably happened when you were young, at least it did for me. Before experience proved the consequences of dreaming impossible dreams.   

On my best day, my eyes watered as I urged my horse, Trigger, to chase his own dream of running free. I was sixteen.

The old forgotten coal mine was home to a few jackrabbits who protested our presence and sprinted across our path, failing to spook the spirited palomino.  My heart raced as his hooves pounded the black dusty mine road. He  kicked up long ago coal chunks discarded from the rusty boxcars, which had come to rest on the abandoned railroad tracks tracing the road.

I hugged his neck and never wanted to stop, but I had been riding since morning and had to be home for dinner. That was the rule.

 Reining my steed in, his nostrils puffed hot breaths into the frigid air and I thought of the bad boys smoking in the alley behind the school. Trigger snorted and shook his head. His flowing golden tail switched  across my leg as I slid off the horse’s bare back. His body heat rose like smoke as he puffed and then pawed the earth.

“Just catch your breath, boy.” I panted from my excited exertion as I smoothed my hand over his thick muscles, wet with sweaty foam.  I pulled the reins over his head and kissed his velvety nose. “Let’s walk awhile.”  And we headed home.

The best day of my life.

Tell me yours!

 Studies show that when you recall moments when you felt powerful, and believed nothing could stop you, those memories will recharge your soul.  Don’t let those adult doubts and fears invade and over power your ability to dream.  Everything you see before you, EVERYTHING! -- Began as someone’s dream.

Last month, I raced a Mario Andretti race car at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. 

to celebrate my 70th birthday.  I was terrified and afraid not only of dying in a fiery crash, but worse, of embarrassing myself by driving at a grandma speed.

  But, I am afraid every time I sit down at the computer to write. My stomach flip-flops when I hit the publish button and expose my creations to you, my fans. My hands tremble when I walk to the podium to inspire you, to tell you how I made it this far and what I am doing today. I am always racing scared.

So why do I do it? Whether I only achieve, writing one page, or publishing one book, or racing the slowest speed at 128 miles per hour, the effort of the journey is how  I  grow, blossom, and bring Inspiration to others.  And doing that makes it my BEST DAY EVER!

I am not telling you it is going to be easy, I'm telling you it is going to be worth it!

Check out  the latest books on...

Judy Howard's Author Page

 

Sportster the cat always envied the huge cats who lived the big life in the jungle until opportunity sends the motorhome in which he travels veering into a roadside ditch. When strangers whisk away not only his Winnebago, but also his chauffer, Judy, he is alarmed. However, once the dust settles, he purrs a happy tune as he discovers he is free! I He is in the wild. And he is in the Olympic Forest

ACTIVATE LION MODE is just what Sportster does as he spins this yarn in his own words. Living wild and free brings on encounters that he never imagined. The life he dreamed becomes an adventure full of bears, pit bulls, drugs and more. Sportster weaves this story of his incredible journey as only a coddled cat of leisure can do.

 

 

Masada, a bumbling golden retriever puppy, struggles through eighteen months of training to become a lifeline for a veteran with PTSD.

As part of her training, the puppy is assigned to prison life, where she matures and adapts to the cold concrete life of confinement and experiences hair-raising risks, tension, and the ache of loneliness.

She forms unusual bonds, first with Roy, her inmate trainer, and in the end, the total prison population as well.  

When she walks point for her veteran down the graduation aisle, an awe of respect silences the crowd.

Will the readers also be led down the wedding aisle?  Brad and Judy, founders of the K9s for Warriors training facility,  who have reunited after a forty-year separation, face monumental responsibilities that test their relationship as they try to build the dog-training program for veterans.

A touching yet educational story, about the world of service dogs who save veteran lives.