Jude Berman grew up amid floor-to-ceiling shelves of books in many languages. In addition to a love of literature, her refugee parents instilled in her a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and social justice.
Jude has a BA in art from Smith College and an EdD in cross-cultural communication from UMass Amherst. After a career in academic research, she built a freelance writing and editing business and ran two small independent presses. In her free time, she volunteers for civic causes, paints with acrylic watercolors, gardens, meditates, and blogs at www.judeberman.org.
Jude lives in Berkeley, California, where she continues to work with authors and write fiction. She blogs at https://judeberman.substack.com and https://judeberman.org.
About the book
An acclaimed author’s collection of short stories for fans of genre-bending fiction, Shot blends social impact fiction and activist fiction, tackling the gun violence crisis head on.
Anna argues with her mom about a school science award. Ben discovers in his seventh decade that he is Jewish. Chester searches for his little sister in a snowstorm. Dixie is pregnant with her second child.
Their stories and twenty-two others read like the ABC’s of everyday life. One way or another, the challenges that bring drama to our lives work themselves out, right? Or maybe not. Sometimes the ending isn’t at all what you expect.
Shot is a collection of short stories about gun violence, organized as a dictionary, with a story for each letter of the alphabet. Each life is precious. And life itself is to be celebrated.
The interview
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
I’m, generally speaking, not a big fan of genres. I tend to see them as an artificial means created by the publishing industry to deal with the deluge of self-published books in recent decades. For this reason, I prefer to think of my books as cross-genre.
My latest book, Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost, has a cross-genre quality because, while it is a collection of short stories that can be viewed as political fiction, most of its comp titles are nonfiction. Among genres, I resonate most with political fiction and visionary fiction. You might think they’re mutually exclusive, but I see them as the perfect handshake for writing that invites readers to think deeply about their lives and our world.
Do you keep a notebook of ideas?
I keep a notebook of ideas…in my brain. Ideas can arise at any moment—whether it’s while I’m taking a walk or taking a shower or even in a dream.
I had the basic idea for my book The Die for many years before all the pieces came together. The initial inspiration was to use the wisdom of the Mahabharata in a collection of short stories set in Silicon Valley in the near future so that young people today could grasp its relevance in their lives. Ideas about one or another aspect of the setting and characters collected in my brain over time, but something was still missing.
Then, a week after the 2016 election, a new idea popped into my mind: I was missing the present moment. As soon as I added that to my notebook, the story was complete and ready to be written.
Do you have a muse?
I think all creativity ultimately comes from the same primal source: the ocean of universal consciousness. It’s just a matter of tapping into it. There’s no need to personify it as a muse.
Yes, that ocean can seem a bit abstract and impersonal, and it can be tempting to create a friendly muse. But I find that the most powerful ideas come directly from the source.
Are you more of a fan of plot-driven stories or character-driven stories?
As someone who is deeply interested in humans, I am more a fan of character-driven stories. The characters bring the plot with them.
Each of the twenty-six characters in Shot is unique with respect to character as well as demographic traits. While you have a general idea about the likely outcome of each of their stories, how their character interacts with their circumstances is what creates a plot that draws you in.
Ultimately, what works best is to have the character and plot share the driver’s seat and steer the story forward. And it’s even better when the reader feels they are no longer in the passenger seat, but also behind the wheel. That’s what I’ve tried to achieve in Shot.
What are your thoughts on typewriters?
My thoughts about typewriters are mostly fond memories. I wrote my first book (about family size) on a typewriter. I wrote my doctoral dissertation (about cross-cultural communication) on a typewriter.
There’s something to be said for typewriters. For one thing, typewriters make the physical task of writing more challenging. You can’t just change your words around without retyping the whole page, so you may write on paper before you even approach the typewriter. I remember doing a lot of literal cut and paste with pages I typed.
Even then, someone has to retype the finished version. All of that discourages people who are not real (or good) writers. On the other hand, computers give many people a false impression that they can write well.
Would you rather own a bookstore or run a library?
Rationally and intellectually, I would rather run a library. Because a library has a lot more books and offers a greater breadth of choice. However, if I had to make a real choice right now, I would choose the bookstore.
Why? The newness of the books attracts me. Also, if I can create this vision, I would like to own a bookstore that specializes in metaphysical and political books and that hosts readings and other events that bring those perspectives together. A library wouldn’t have the flexibility to do that.
How do you name your characters? If you write nonfiction, do you ever change the names of your characters, and if so, how do you decide what names to change them to?
My characters name themselves. Shot is a dictionary with twenty-six fictional short stories, each about a character named for a letter of the alphabet. So A for Anna, B for Benjamin, C for Chester, etc.
The first letter of their name is determined by the book’s structure, but the characters themselves stepped forward to tell me their names. As I met them, I understood why they had that name. And why I had to tell their story about gun violence.
What is your favorite website that you use to promote your writing?
It’s Substack. I enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to write short pieces and to put them out there and to find a readership. I don’t necessarily view this as “promotion,” but in many ways it is a more natural and organic process than the publication of full-length books.
I also appreciate being able to engage in exchanges with readers and other writers on Substack.
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
If I were lucky enough to have Hollywood buy the rights to any of my books, I would happily let them decide whether a movie or series was better!
Who is your dream audiobook narrator?
I think I already have my dream audiobook narrator. Shiromi Arserio will be narrating The Vow.
Recently, I told a reader I met at the Bay Area Book Festival that she could preorder the audiobook, and when she saw that Shiromi was the narrator, she exclaimed, “Awesome! I would get any audiobook she narrated!” I would say that is any author’s dream come true.
Do you try to hit a certain page or word count with each writing session?
That would be way too mechanical. Sometimes I write hundreds or even thousands of words in a day. Many other days, it’s all and only about playing with and revising those words.
I think it is more important to keep writing and to write regularly than to measure your words.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Since I feel that freedom and fluidity are the essence of writing practice, I stay away from writing rituals.
If I suddenly found myself relying on rituals such as setting an intention or lighting a candle or listening to a playlist or doing pushups before I start writing, I’d know I’ve lost my creative spark. Perhaps I should consider myself fortunate that I don’t need rituals.
What are your passions/obsessions outside of writing?
Outside of writing, my passions include meditation, yoga, gardening, time with friends, volunteering for civic causes, hot chocolate, and being with the ocean.
Have you made any public appearances to promote your book?
My favorite format for promoting my book in public is the bookstore meet and greet. I like having one-on-one interactions with readers as they discover my book(s) for the first time. It is fascinating to see which one interests them most. I can often see the exact second when they make the connection, and their eyes light up as they decide to purchase the book.
I also love doing Q&As with book clubs, though I would not classify those as promotions. Unlike bookstore events, those conversations can be deeper because I’m talking with people who have already read the book.
Who would you most want to read your book, living or dead?
My father. He was a writer. He read some chapters of an early draft of my first book. I would give anything to be able to hand him a printed copy today.
I dedicated The Vow to him. One of the main characters is Wolfgang von Goethe. So, dedication says, “to the other Wolfgang.” It makes me cry to imagine my father reading that.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of greatest/inspirational authors?
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Hermann Hesse. Sue Monk Kidd. David Levithan. But there are so many more…
Have you ever mentored another writer with their writing?
I have mentored many writers over the past three-plus decades. It’s part of what I do as a freelance writing and editing professional. In earlier decades, I focused on developmental editing and the general development of their manuscripts. More recently, my mentoring has shifted to include helping writers find their publication pathways.
Sometimes, mentoring writers can look a lot like psychotherapy.
Is there an idea that a non-writer has pitched to you that you have written or considered writing?
In my capacity as freelance writer/editor, I have ghostwritten numerous books. A non-writer pitches their idea, and then they hire me to execute it.
What is the most unique way that an idea for a piece of writing has come to you?
The idea for Shot came to me in a unique way. The various characters started appearing to me while I was taking walks. One or another would seem to be sitting on my shoulder and saying, “Tell my story!” And they showed me parts of their stories.
I was listening. But I wasn’t taking it too seriously. I’m not an expert on gun violence prevention, and I didn’t necessarily think I was the right person to write that book, but on one particular walk, three characters were talking to me at the same time, their stories becoming entangled.
I had to literally stop walking and say, “Hold on! No more than one at a time please!” That was the point when I realized I had to write the book.
Are you a big reader? Do you own a large collection of books, or are you more of a borrower?
I grew up in a household with a large library, with thousands of books in many rooms. And I did begin to accumulate books myself as I got older. However, I shifted from print books to digital books about twenty years ago.
At first it was about being ecological and saving paper. Later it was because reading paper is harder for my eyes. As a result, I have not kept up a physical library. I do have a large digital collection, even if it’s essentially microscopic.
Have you ever gone away to work on a piece of writing? If not, where would you go if you could?
One of the great things about technology is that, as a writer and editor, I can work remotely at all times. I do take advantage of that as much as I can.
What is an annoying thing that a non-writer has assumed about writers or the act of writing?
While technology has empowered writers, it has also empowered non-writers to assume—and believe—that they can write well even when they actually can’t. I’m not anti-technology, but this problem has gotten worse with AI. Non-writers assume they can feed their ideas, no matter how lacking, into a computer and expect AI to churn out something that resembles a book.
Honestly, it’s not hyperbole to say the entire literary future of civilization is in jeopardy because of this.
How do you measure the success of your writing career?
Trying to measure the success of one’s writing career is a sure-fire way to create debilitating stress for most writers. I try not to do it.
Getting hung up on success can cause a writer to become discouraged and stop writing. So when I finish a book—though I do honor the process of promotion and marketing—I put all my energy into the next writing project. And then, hey, if success comes along, it’s just an added bonus.
Author Links
Links will open in a new tab.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
Pin it!
