A Visit with Judy Alter

Texas Literary Hall of Fame inductee Judy Alter received the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from Western Writers of America. in 2005, and has won Spur, Wrangler and Texas Institute of Letters awards for her adult and juvenile books.  The former TCU Press director calls cooking her avocation and her new blog, Potluck with Judy, focuses on not only Southwestern cuisine but other areas as well.

Judy, how long did you serve as editor and director of TCU Press?

I was editor from 1982 until 1986, and director from 1987 until 2009.

What are some of the biggest mistakes writers of the West make when submitting manuscripts to a university press?

Not recognizing our academic requirements. TCU cannot publish so-called genre fiction, though it publishes more literary fiction of the American West, particularly Texas. Academic presses also require documentation of nonfiction—I think somewhat the trend is away from footnotes, at least toward end-notes, and sometimes a bibliographic essay replaces a bibliography.

Advice to aspiring western writers.

Depends on your goals—for fiction, I’d generally advise trying commercial presses. For solid, groundbreaking nonfiction, TCU Press and other academic presses—New Mexico, OU, Nebraska, and others—welcome submissions. University presses discourage multiple submissions because academic review guidelines involve a lot of time on the part of staff and generally payment of honoraria to two outside readers. I used to try to shorten the waiting period for authors, because being one myself, I know how difficult it is to wait, especially on an exclusive. A publisher, with an exclusive, once kept one of my manuscripts a year, which I think is unconscionable. Now I know better than to go along with that.

Forge and other publishers have been dropping well known writers. Do you see a trend, especially with western historicals?

I think I saw that trend developing at least a decade ago. TCU Press began to get well published and reviewed midlist authors who could no longer find a home in New York. C. W. Smith came to TCU Press with several novels of the West, and the press recently published Jan Reid’s epic Comanche Sundown. I suspect Jan knew that TCU Press would understand the value of his work, while it might get lost on a minor list with a national publisher. 

You’ve written an extraordinary amount of books. Tell us briefly about your latest ones.

I’m trying to work myself out of the two pigeonholes I’ve been in all my career—young-adult author and western author, though I’ve loved writing for both audiences. I seem though not to be in tune with the current market. As a lifelong devotee of cozy mysteries, I’ve turned my attention to mystery. My first, Skeleton in a Dead Space, will launch from Turquoise Morning Press in late August or early September. It’s the first of three projected novels in a series, and then we’ll see. A recent trip to Scotland whetted my interest in the potential for mystery in that land, both historical and contemporary.

You’ve started a new food blog. Are you going to feature Western cuisine?

Cooking is my avocation, and the new blog, Potluck with Judy (http://potluckwithjudy.blogspot.com) is an outgrowth of that. My first blog, still in existence, is Judy’s Stew (http://www.judys-stew.blogspot.com) is a mix of writing, grandmothering, and cooking. Now I’ve moved the cooking part to this new twice-a-week blog. But no, I don’t plan to write about only western food, though of course Mexican cooking and barbecue will creep in—they’ve become national now, but the West, especially Texas, still does them best.  I have also written what turned out to be a cookbook memoir, Cooking My Way through Life with Kids and Books (available from University Publishing, 1-800-826-8911). I’m having a lot of fun with all these new projects. 

Who, in your opinion, has been the greatest western writer? 

I know I’m prejudiced by a long and close working relationship, but I don’t think anyone beats the late Elmer Kelton. He was authentic Texan, from his wonderful narrative voice with its amazing touches of irony to his thorough sense of the history of the American West and Texas. And don’t forget his research—he was a tireless researcher all his writing life. And a true gentleman. I can’t say enough good about him. It’s hard to pick a favorite book, but the classic The Time it Never Rained is high on my list, as are The Good Old Boys and the Hewey Calloway trilogy. I also liked a lesser-known novel called Dark Thicket that TCU Press reprinted years ago.

Who most influenced your own work?

Oh, hard to say. When I wrote western historical, I think Jeanne Williams was a major influence. I also always greatly admired Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose, and I came to appreciate Mary Hallock Foote. Of contemporaries, I really liked Charlotte Hinger’s Come, Spring. Now that I’m writing mysteries, there are several authors that I’d like to be like: Susan Wittig Albert, Julie Hyzy, Julia Spencer-Fleming (though she can be a bit dark), Diane Mott Davidson, for her combination of food and mystery. I know there are others I’ve left out, and I bow in humble apology. 

Which of your awards means the most to you and why?

The Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement from Western Writers of America—because it’s for a continuous level of achievement, not just one work. For that reason, I’m also grateful to be in the Texas Literary Hall of Fame at the Fort Worth Public Library.

Thank you, Judy.

You can also visit Judy online at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/judy.alter; and
Twitter @judyalter; as well as Goodreads.

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