Judith Mikesch McKenzie
"If you're doing what you should be doing with your life, then your life becomes a teaching." -E. F. Carney
GRATIS out of GRATITUDE
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WHY? Because....Since I was old enough to hold a pen, I've written stories and poems and books, essays and articles and editorials. I've published writing, taught writing, and edited other people's writings. I've been a field journalist and a college faculty, a playwright and novelist, an activist and a grantwriter. In the end, what matters to me is that I write not for the market, but for the truth of the story.
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WHAT? My many friends and fans of my writing have been so supportive that it's time for me to give back -- It seems to me now that what maters is the work, not the profit - so, every month, I'll be GIVING AWAY e-books and video lessons and other works here on the website and through my blog. I hope you take the giflt, and I hope you enjoy.
BIO: There are places in your life that draw your heart right out into the world, and Judith Mikesch McKenzie was lucky enough to be born in one such place: the high mountains of western Montana - the Flathead Valley, specifically. The child of working-class parents (an auto mechanic and a cafeteria cook) she left home early, and has traveled to many parts of the world, but is always drawn to the mountains and valleys of the Rockies as one of the places on the planet that feeds her soul.
Her working-class roots also consistently feed her soul - she was inspired by the sharp minds and even sharper wit of her Irish-American parents, and their strong ethics, both in work and in life. They, along with the ever-gentle presence of her Bohemian grandmother, shaped her view of the world, and continue to do so to this day. Themes related to the working class and family drive her to the page over and over, creating characters whose connection to family and their family roots are their strongest foundation for living their lives.
The combination of Irish and Bohemian (with a gypsy great-grandmother) influences are evident in her life - outspoken, direct, and eclectic, she is drawn to friends and groups of people who reflect those characteristics. She is also a wanderer, never content to stay in one place for too long. When friends who have been out of touch call her, their first question is always "and where are you living now?" She loves change - new places, new people, new challenges, but also has a strong connection to friends who have been in her heart for many years.
Writing is her home.
