Pennsylvania administrator wins first big writing prize - Juanita Carter wins Ebony's Gertrude Johnson Williams Writing Contest

Ebony, Sept, 1997

Truth is often stranger than fiction, as Juanita Carter discovered when she won first prize in Ebony's annual Getrude Johnson Williams Writing Contest.

There was irony in this turn of events, for Ebony, unknown to the judges, had helped teach Carter to read.

"When my parents were finished with the magazine, I would take it and sit down and try to read as much as I could," she says. "The magazine has been with me all my life."

A Chambersburg, Pa., native, Carter grew up as the middle of five children in a large, loving household which included three brothers and one other sister: "I came from a family where every dollar was spent on things that were needed," she says. "But i do know that those times when my mother or dad had extra money they would always bring home the Ebony."

The magazine challenged her fledgling reading skills, she says, and she often sat down with the latest issue and dictionary.

"It was pretty challenging, because learning to read so young -- even the definitions had words that I had to look up!"

Carter obviously did well with her dictionary, and her love of words has continued. Today, she lives in Carlisle, Pa., and works for Appleton Papers as chemical raw material scheduler, a position that requires her to manage the raw materials inventory. That's her day job. In the evenings she puts her writing cap on, pulls out her trusty laptop computer and writes.

She has only been writing seriously for about seven years. "I had wanted to write earlier, but writing takes a lot of time and discipline." Not wanting to take quality time from her family, she wrote in her journal and took notes until she felt she could devote concentrated time to her writing. Her only daughter is now married and living with her husband and daughter in the Baltimore area.

Several years ago Carter began taking creative writing courses and entering short stories in contests. This is the first time she has won a writing contest. "This was the second or third time I entered Ebony's contest," she says.

Initially she started her writing schedule by writing very early in the morning before leaving for work. But her job required more travel and her schedule changed. Now, she writes in the evenings.

"I come home and try to get myself relaxed a little," she says. After dinner with Jeffrey, her husband of 21 years, sometimes the couple takes a walk in the early evening. "When I come back, then I feel creative, and I start my writing." She also writes a lot on weekends. "I use a good part of Saturday and Sunday writing."

Currently she is working on chapter eight of her first novel. Among her favorite writers are Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway.

Carter says she admires writers whose stories are not "flamboyant and pretentious."

Toni Morrison, she says, "can be a tough read, but she's worth it." She praises the storytelling skills of Hurston and Angelou. "Their stories just seemed to me that this is how most lives really are."

When Carter is writing, she aims for that realness in her own stories. Her central theme is that people and families are important.

"My main focus in life has always been being the best mother I can be," she says. "I take pride in being a good daughter to my parents, Walter and Dallas Boise, who are still with me, a good wife, sister and friend."

A second, but equally important point, is the importance of people getting along together, "in spite of race, religion, or any other obstacles."

In "Lymon and Lily," she wanted to express that getting along, and that love, "regardless of their ages."

Her novel continues her twin themes of family and getting along with a story about a woman and her relationship with her two daughters.

"Writers always tell you to try to write about what you know," she says. "That's what I'm doing."