Look and Listen

Biography

Known by my grandchildren as Gramma Judy, and to my friends as Jude; Judith Jean (Walts) Miller was born and raised on a farm in Mid-Michigan. “Because I was young when my children were born, I grew up with them. I made up stories to tell them and then we acted the stories out. Great elaborate plots of sneaking through the woods looking for bad guys or burying treasure, making a map and the next year, digging up our treasure. I now use some of those incidents as background for the children’s stories I write.” I have one sister Susan, born when I was thirteen. I also have four grown children, a son and three daughters and eight grandchildren. I have many flower gardens, two bird feeders, squirrel and rabbit feeding areas and watering containers for all. I also enjoy cross-stitching and crocheting blankets for the Linus Project. I graduated from two correspondence courses at The Institute for Children’s Literature, and have an article published in Children’s Playmate magazine, two illustrated children's book published at WEE Publishing/Edens Den and one illustrated children's book in the publishing "queue".

Inspiration

I started writing when I was twelve, but as an only child (for 13 years) I always had a vivid imagination. Some of my friends still think I "think" in a weird or different way. When I get an idea for a children's story, I can actually see the characters moving through their day and even hear their conversations. All I have to do is let the characters go about their business and write down how they react and what they say. Most of my children's stories are based on my experiences as a child or on things I have observed in children.