As I’m sure most of you are aware, Judi McCoy lost her battle with diabetes last month. She fell into a diabetic coma back over Thanksgiving and never rose back to awareness. Her family really held out hopes, but in the end…it was too much for the lady.

I don’t think Judi’s family really understood how much their
wife and mother had given to the romance community or how important she was.

As news of her passing spread through FB and other social networks, the deluge
started. Fans, other writers, students, all coming forward to offer condolences
and praise Judi as something they cared for.

Judi was one of the few established writers who made it her mission to work with the absolute rank newbie writer. The person who had an idea for a story, and that might be it.

She inherited the Beginning Writers Workshop at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention from Anne Peach. Anne was Judi’s teacher and when cancer took her, Judi stepped in.

Now, Judi made it her business to always be honest with her students. She shared what her advances were, how the system worked. She was blunt about the market, about genres… She strong-armed authors into offering critiques for her students. She met with each and every one of them at RT for a private one on one conference.

And she was funny. I’ll never forget in Pittsburgh when she coined the phrase ‘humping fairies’ when asked about Laurel K. Hamilton’s Mary Gentry series. She wasn’t being insulting, that was all she knew about the books! Judi really didn’t have a filter when it came to what she said.

It made her quite charming. She also stood up for writers to write anything. When faced with another author who was furious at the very idea of MM romance, Judi just shrugged. She admitted it wasn’t her thing, but people wanted it, people bought it and she wasn’t going to fly in the face of that. Judi gave her e-mail out to her students, answered every e-mail, and listened to them when they needed to chat, or vent, or get advice.

RT is in April and it will be my first without Judi being there. The class is going on, this year, with one of Judi’s regular presenters taking over, Linnea Sinclair. But will the class be there next year? I just don’t know.

What I do know is that Judi was the example I want to live up to. Be there for the rank beginners, those who aren’t sure what they write, if they can write, how to write…and encourage, encourage, encourage. I don’t have the experience with the industry, or the reputation of Judi McCoy, but in her honor, I’ll do what I can. As a member of my local RWA chapter, I make it my business to reach out to the real newcomers and encourage. I am THE cheerleader. I may not know all the ins and outs, or all the right writing phrases, but I can smile and tell them what works and what doesn’t. (I just can’t always explain why…)

Since I’ve explored writing I’ve had doubts that I write romance. This year, I sorta figured it out and I do write romance. (With a little ‘r’.) But the Romance Community is one of the most supportive groups I have ever encountered. Yes, they suffer from growing pains and battles with social changes. But through it all, they remain accessible and welcoming of new authors.

I want to do my part to represent it that way. Because of Judi, I discovered the RWA. Because of Judi, I went to the Nationals in San Francisco and picked up the promo postcard for the Revenge. Because of Judi, I met the pirates.

I will miss her so very much. From her I learned that giving back to the community is sacred. When Judi wrote that she was proud of me, it made my heart sing. I want her to be proud of me as I move forward.

Giving back is its own reward. No matter how much you know or think you don’t know…we can all give back. I hit ‘like’ on FB when someone posts they signed a contract, or I sit across from a newbie at Starbucks and read a few pages…I do what I can. I figure from little to big, they all count.

We all have those days when even the smallest wink from a stranger can lift our
spirits and renew our faith in ourselves. And writers need a lot of encouragement. Those imaginary people in our head are wonderful, but sometimes they bring along nasty cousins who hammer away at our self-confidence. Judi was good at dismissing all of that.

I may never have a best seller. I may never win any awards. I may never get that one first class flight for by my royalties. But I will make Judi proud of me and give to my community. And that counts for something.

*****

She didn’t write what I write. She didn’t inspire me to create new worlds or take chances with what she wrote. But she made me laugh and I count her as one of my mentors. Her example inspires me. What about you? Ever been smiled at and told you can do it…and it sticks? Just what you needed? Are you turning it around and giving it back? Let us count the ways we can make Judi proud of us…