McCoy-Miller, Judith

(Judith Miller)

PERSONAL: Born in Pittsburgh, PA; married; husband's name Jim; children: Steve, Michelle (deceased), Justin, Jenna. Religion: Christian.

ADDRESSES: Home—Topeka, KS. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Bethany House Publishers, 11400 Hampshire Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55438. E-mail—judy@judithmccoymiller.com.

CAREER: Kansas Insurance Department, Topeka, KS, compliance analyst; writer.

WRITINGS:

Sleigh Bells (short stories), Heartsong Press (Uhrichsville, OH), 2000.

The Journey of Yung Lee: From China to America, Cook Press (Colorado Springs, CO), 2000.

First Dawn (first novel in "Freedom's Path" series), Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including China Tapestry, Storytellers' Collection Volume 2, Spring's Memory, and American Dream.

UNDER NAME JUDITH MILLER; "LOWELL" SERIES

(With Tracie Peterson) Daughter of the Loom, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

(With Tracie Peterson) A Fragile Design, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

(With Tracie Peterson) These Tangled Threads, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

(With Tracie Peterson) A Tapestry of Hope, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2004.

(With Tracie Peterson) The Pattern of Her Heart, Bethany House Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Judith McCoy-Miller's writing, which is animated by her deep Christian faith, has found popularity in the Christian fiction market. "God's design on the lives of His people never ceases to amaze me!" she wrote on her home page. McCoy-Miller left her native Pittsburgh as a seventeen year old and moved to Kansas, where she has since worked full time and raised a family while creating her works of fiction. Her novels, both alone and in partnership with Tracie Peterson, combine historical elements with romance, action, and faith-based solutions to problems.

Writing under the name Judith Miller, McCoy-Miller is well known for the series of novels she and Peterson coauthored. Set in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the late 1800s, the "Lowell" novels chart the changes in the small farming town as it becomes the location for large textile mills employing—and exploiting—female laborers. In the debut title, Daughter of the Loom, a former farm girl named Lilly Armbruster finds herself compelled to work in the mill, where she nurtures her grievances against the owners and plots revenge against them for buying her parents' land. A Publishers Weekly critic cited the book for the way it "explores interesting social issues" amidst a traditional plot involving romance and self-fulfillment. In Library Journal, Shawna Saavedra Thorup similarly praised the novel's "vivid period atmosphere" and ultimately deemed the story "winning." The series has continued in further installments, each involving different heroines at different points in the history of the Lowell mills.

McCoy-Miller has also started a new solo series, "Freedom's Path," with the title First Dawn. In First Dawn two struggling communities try to take root on the Kansas plains. One, Hill City, is populated by whites; the other, Nicodemus, consists of African Americans. The story revolves around Dr. Samuel Boyle, who learns the humanity of his non-white neighbors by treating their illnesses and getting to know them as families. All of the characters are "sustained by a strong work ethic and a firm faith in God," to quote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In Booklist, John Mort maintained that the quality of McCoy-Miller's research "points to a superior series."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2005, John Mort, review of First Dawn, p. 24.

Library Journal, February 1, 2003, Shawna Saavedra Thorup, review of Daughter of the Loom, p. 70; September 1, 2003, Tamara Butler, review of A Fragile Design, p. 150.

Publishers Weekly, December 16, 2002, review of Daughter of the Loom, p. 45; June 13, 2005, review of First Dawn, p. 34.

ONLINE

Judith McCoy-Miller Home Page, http://www.judithmccoymiller.com (October 31, 2005).