Juliette Godot
Welcome to the Home Page of Juliette Godot
After watching Alex Haley’s ROOTS as a child, Juliette Godot became interested in genealogy and over the years cataloged almost 40,000 ancestors. The quest to find her roots led her down the back roads of France to the unsung principality of Salm where superstitions were part of everyday life. There, where her ancient ancestors called home, she found her 12th-generation grandmother, Catherine Cathillon.
An asterisk beside Catherine’s name led Juliette to information that gave her the shock of her life. So many women of that era suffered the same fate, but realizing it happened to her “grandma” affected Juliette greatly.
Turning Adversity into Inspiration
During this time, Juliette made her living as a software engineer at Carnegie Mellon University. A series of car accidents disrupted her genealogical sleuthing hobby. Texting had just become a popular pastime and working at a college at the forefront of technology made sitting ducks of drivers who stopped for red lights. Her car was rear-ended five times in nine years. After suffering multiple whiplashes and concussions, she was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia (the suicide disease), CTE, and Vertigo, and she became unable to work. With nothing to do except feel sorry for herself, Juliette decided to write Catherine’s story.
Finding Purpose Through History and Resilience
The Renaissance Era, the unsung country of Salm with its myths and legends, and the grit of the people steadfast in faith as wars of religion surrounded them enveloped Juliette. A renewed sense of purpose helped her to realize, comparatively, that her problems were minuscule. The more she researched, the more she found that though time and issues change, people do not. With all her health problems, it took Juliette more than ten years to write Catherine’s story.
Home of Award-Winning Historical Fiction and Literary Success
In 2021, Juliette submitted Catherine’s story, From the Drop of Heaven to the Royal Palm Literary Awards, where she won the Gold Medal for unpublished historical fiction. With that award, she secured a contract with Brown Posey Press in 2022. Later that year, Juliette’s novel won the Sunbury Press Sunny Award, the Historical Fiction Company’s 5-Star Highly Recommended Award of Excellence, and the Honorable Mention in their Book of the Year awards. In 2023, her novel received the Reader’s Favorite 5-Star Review and was a Chanticleer Chaucer Award finalist. In 2024, her book was chosen for production by Beacon Audiobooks and was released in November of that year.
A Celebrated Author with Deep Roots and Diverse Passions
Juliette has been featured in magazines such as Grit & Goals (2024 Fall Issue, pages 31 & 32), Historical Times (April 2023 Edition), and Author’s Lounge. What started as a way to cope with disability has been a major achievement in her life.
Juliette and her husband of forty years make their home in beautiful Western Pennsylvania. She still works on her genealogy, likes to paint, babysit her grandchildren, and tend to her pollinator garden.
