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And she's published

Judy Candis' talent emerged early, but she waited for decades to fully express it. The novelist incorporates faith into her stories, and her own life.

By NANCY JOHNSON
Published July 1, 2005

VALRICO - Remember that old kindergarten yarn See Spot Run? Well, that wasn't good enough for Judy Candis. At age 5, she substituted her own dog's name, changed the story line and penned her first novel, See Rex Run.

Being a pacesetter is nothing new for Candis, the first African-American Christian mystery writer for Warner Books.

"I was so glad to get that contract, I couldn't believe it," said Candis, surrounded by books scattered throughout her Valrico home.

Her recently released novel, All Things Hidden, follows the life of Jael Reynolds, a black female police officer. It's the first of what will be a series of books about how Reynolds' faith is tested as she moves in the sinister world of drugs and murder.

It's hard to believe that such hard-core murder mysteries come from a woman who was the self-proclaimed class clown as a student at Hutchinson Junior High School in Detroit. One of her teachers, a Mr. Sanders, predicted Candis' success when he told her she'd be a famous writer one day.

"Mr. Sanders carried on so that I almost stopped writing," Candis said. "Writing was not something African-Americans did. I didn't have any role models. My friends didn't even know - I was doing everything in secret."

But it wasn't a secret for long. Candis was 13 when her father overheard her reading a chapter of a book she was writing. He asked her to read for him. When she finished, he gave her $5.

"I tell everybody that was my first royalty check," she said.

Her checks have a few more zeros behind them now. Candis can thank a bottomless pit of rolling pins and plastic kitchen containers for that. She was hosting a Tupperware party when a guest asked her if she was going to be "the Tupperware lady" forever or fulfill her dream of becoming a published author.

"I guess I thought one day someone was going to just knock on my door and ask if I was ready to write that "great American novel,' " she said.

It was the kick in the pants she needed. While the other ladies were fussing over resealable containers, Candis sat in the corner of the room writing an outline, a plan for her career as a novelist.

In spite of many rejections from the publishing world, the Florida A&M University graduate published her first book, Colorblind, in 1998. She released her second mystery novel, Still Rage, two years later. Shortly thereafter, Blood Offering was on bookshelves.

In 2003, Candis signed a three-book deal with Warner Books' Walk Worthy line. She entered the arena just as Christian fiction was becoming one of the fastest growing literary genres.

Christian fiction focuses on ordinary people who acknowledge the presence of and importance of God in their lives. It encompasses all genres, including romance, mystery, futuristic and historical stories. It has crossed over into the mainstream with books that often appear on the New York Times bestseller list as well as on the shelves of major booksellers.

Candis has become a respected author in the genre.

"She's a wonderful writer. She handles well the struggle of her character, Jael, doing a funky worldly job, then reconciling that with her belief in Christ," said Denise Stinson, founder and president of Walk Worthy Press.

"It's a struggle with balance - how you find peace and not become bitter," Stinson said.

Candis' life took its own dramatic twist last fall. Just one month before All Things Hidden came out, she held her father's hand in a doctor's office as he learned he'd have to have his leg amputated. Then she walked across the street to her own physician's office to get the results of her mammogram.

"My doctor walked over to me, put her arms around me and hugged me. I'm thinking that's not a good sign," Candis said.

She had breast cancer. Doctors removed the tumor, and Candis underwent chemotherapy. The worst part, she said, was scratching her head and noticing the clumps of hair in her hand.

"I started crying. Watching those patches was like looking at a Mohican," she said.

She's incorporating her health battle in her second novel in the three-book series. The main character, Jael, will fight more than crime. While working on a major case, she'll battle breast cancer.

"The purpose is to let women know you have to get your annual mammograms," she said.

Candis was cancer-free for months. But last month, she discovered that her cancer had returned and had spread to her throat and stomach. Still, she thinks her chances for survival are good because doctors caught it early and began treating her with chemotherapy in the beginning stages of the disease.

"I was so scared the first time. But now, I don't have any fear," she said. "The devil is trying to throw a few daggers at me, but God is still good."

While she'll resume regular chemotherapy treatments, Candis plans to continue teaching a class, "Writing the Popular Novel," at the University of South Florida. It's likely she'll tell her students the story she tells every class about her strange encounter one day in Publix.

A woman she didn't know followed her up the canned vegetable aisle and down the produce aisle. After the woman had trailed her for three or four aisles, Candis was scared.

She froze when the woman stood toe to toe with her and stared into her face.

"She said, "Are you Judy Candis? You wrote Colorblind. I just love that book!' "

That's when Candis knew she was a major novelist. But she says she hasn't "arrived" as a writer until she makes the New York Times bestseller list.

"Writing is everything to me," she said. "I like to make my sentences come off the page and walk around the room."

AGE: 53.

FAMILY: Daughters Mia, 24, and Tiffany, 17.

OTHER JOB: Owner of BBQ King, three locations.

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. "Even as a child, I read big books, classics."

FAVORITE DISH: Her own macaroni and cheese or chocolate cake.

OTHER TALENT: The Motown city girl was the lead singer for a group called the Montereys.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT: She's doing a two-day workshop for the Florida Writers Conference in Tampa in October.

[Last modified June 30, 2005, 09:09:07]