BooksandAuthors.net

Books-and-Authors.net: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Judith Kittredge: I believe we are a product of the land and circumstance of our birth. I was born and raised in a country area just south of San Diego and just north of Tijuana, Mexico. A rural place, aptly named Bonita, of lemon groves surrounded by a huge cattle and farming ranch called Otay. Due to endless development, it no longer resembles much the place where I spent many of my formative years.

I was not a big reader when young, but I did like to paint and write little books about insects, plants, and animals and give them to my mom when I was in early grade school.  I spent most of my free time as a child on a horse’s back and later on a surfboard.  There were hitching posts behind the market, post office, and church to tie our horses, but I had to walk to school. I raised goats, ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits, parakeets, and goldfish and sold some to pet shops. Other pets included lizards, cats, and dogs.  I always liked to write poems from as far back as I can remember.  I also was always engaged with and inspired by my church and priest, Fr. Frank Maguire, whom I have known since I was nine.

I went to a boarding school for middle school in Mayer, Arizona that was a working cattle ranch where I could take my horse as well.  I had a wonderful eighth grade English teacher there named Mrs. Carter that inspired me, and another great English teacher, Mr. Wolfe my senior year in high school back in Bonita.  With both of them, it really wasn’t about the subject of English so much as the example they set as a human being and encouraging mentor.

Books-and-Authors.net: Why do you write?

Judith Kittredge: I just have always written since childhood.  Certain poems just come to me in the middle of the night and I write them in the dark, because if you don’t get them down at the moment they evaporate.  I believe that I have two sources of inspiration. There are the poems that I write. I work on them and craft them consciously.  Then there are those that just flow I believe from God, they come at night or in dreams before waking, or after praying for someone.  They are effortless and when I read them I just know I couldn’t have written them without help.  That phenomenon inspired my poem “Inspiration.”

Books-and-Authors.net: Discuss your book Pious Poems & Holy Homes.

Judith Kittredge: After a serious illness and miraculous recovery I promised God I would finally put the gifts He had given me to work again, and try to publish my Christian works first.  I had been consumed with raising four children and figured I’d get back to doing more creative things in old age.

The message I got was clear, “Start now.”  Even though I was still very ill at the time I got the brutal hint, I could write in bed and the inspiration really started to flow.

I would have liked to illustrate my first book but I knew I didn’t have the time, strength or place really to do that, so I decided to use photography.  Since my first book was to be religious I conceived of the title and decided to take pictures of churches etc.  About that time my husband’s job changed and I needed to travel more with him. I spent ten years gathering pictures and also found many of my old poems I thought were lost in all our moves.  It was amazing how easily it all went.  I could walk up to an empty church at 5:00 on a week night, take a few shots and wish I could get inside the locked doors. No sooner wished than a car pulls up to the curb and out pops the priest because he forgot something.  He lets me in, turns on all the lights, and tells me about the church.  If it wasn’t the priest, it was the janitor, the office lady, or even the taxi driver, and on and on.

The only thing that wasn’t easy was the editing.  I had all the poems, I had all the pictures, and I thought it would take maybe three or four months to put it together.  Maybe if it hadn’t been a photography/art book it would have been quicker, but there was always something wrong, with a photo, the text, the way it printed out vs. looked on the computer, etc.  It has taken more than two years!

Books-and-Authors.net: In your opinion what makes Pious Poems & Holy Homes different from other poetry books?

Judith Kittredge: I was warned that poetry does not sell well.  I wanted to change that.  Studies show people today have shorter attention spans and are very visual.

Poetry by nature is short and that should be appealing, but I find that much of the modern poetry is not very easy to follow. I guess I am old fashioned, but I like poetry that has some sense of rhyme, rhythm, and/or meaning.  One or any combination of those three is engaging and enjoyable.  Poetry should be the music of written language.  Pious Poems has that sort of poetry and verse.

Now for the visual, this is where Holy Homes really pushes the envelope. Churches are such beautiful expressions of the art of architecture. I wanted it to have a visual story as well, and so there are the religious sites and their interesting points and history. Each page spread is designed to take the reader to a different place and sensation. Sort of like National Geographic meets poetry.  I want people who never even thought they liked poetry to be able to pick it up and get enthralled.  I wanted this book to speak to the everyday person, not just the English major.  After all, what it has to say really isn’t about poetry or photography; it is about God’s love.

Books-and-Authors.net: Why should someone buy Pious Poems & Holy Homes?

Judith Kittredge: It will sooth their soul, reassure them during these hard times, delight their eye, rekindle or augment their relationship with our Lord and inspire their quiet moments. For all those reasons it makes a wonderful bedside companion, or loving gift.  It is perfect for those that have everything and you don’t know what to buy them, as well as those that are struggling and need something inspiring to focus on.  It is encouraging for anyone sick or suffering loss and it is the “reason for the season” when it comes to Christmas.  Speaking of which, all author proceeds go to charity, so give the gift that gives.

Books-and-Authors.net: Do you have a favorite poem in Pious Poems & Holy Homes? and why?

Judith Kittredge: Of course I have several favorites, but I think my favorite long poem is “Dragon Slayer” and my favorite verse is “Acts Unsung.”

Books-and-Authors.net: What are readers saying about Pious Poems & Holy Homes?

Judith Kittredge: I have lots of feedback, they all have favorite poems, and it is interesting that each person tends to like different ones.  Here is an example, “Your poem has just expressed for me all that I have always believed in but was not able to put in words. Thank you Judith. You are a treasure to my heart.”  They have called the book “stunning, inspiring, comforting, loved the churches and pictures, etc.”  The one thing many complain about it that their parents took it and won’t give it back!

I have been asked to give presentations just on the churches, which I have done.

Books-and-Authors.net: What do you hope to achieve with Pious Poems & Holy Homes?

Judith Kittredge: Two things: bring people closer to God, and bring back a love of poetry for the general population.

Books-and-Authors.net:What was the last book you read?

Judith Kittredge: I usually read two or three at a time so it was Pilate’s Wife: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Antoinette May and In the Hands of the Great Spirit, The 20,000-Year History of American Indians by Jake Page, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and The Cardturner by Louis Sachar (I love bridge).

Books-and-Authors.net: What's next?

Judith Kittredge: War’s End by Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney and Stages of Faith by James Fowler, both were given to me by friends.