Tracey Cramer-Kelly's Blog, page 27

Loving a Soldier with PTSD

The main character in my novel, True Surrender, is a military officer with PTSD. It is a story about his personal transformation after a horrendous experience as a POW. But the story has a heroine too – a woman who chooses to love a man with a lot of baggage, even as she herself is scared spitless.

These women (and men) are out there in real life. They carry the burden at home, raising children while trying not to choke on sometimes overwhelming fear for their loved one, praying their doorbell never rings. And when he returns wounded, broken in spirit as well as body… life can never be the same. Or, like the characters in True Surrender, they meet after the crisis is over and have to overcome extreme obstacles and make a conscious decision to keep loving no matter how hard it is.

To love a soldier with PTSD means…

She never knows what is going to trigger his PTSD; it could be a thought, a smell, a certain noise.  He won't talk about the things he went through.  She wants to understand, but just can't.  Why does he let pressure build up until he explodes like a crock pot with too much pressure in it?  Maybe he doesn't like to be touched anymore.  Maybe he wakes in the middle of the night screaming. He's mean some days; sad on others. What about the time he was so mad he jumped out of the car and started yelling at a lady because she took his parking spot?

To love a veteran with PTSD means letting go of dreams you might have had for your life.

These are the things that make me want to write their story. Disguised as fiction, perhaps… but still their story. The heroes who love the heroes.

Freedom to Write: The Censorship Debate

There's a storm brewin' … and it could affect every reader (and every writer). From the desk of Smashwords founder Mark Coker:

"PayPal contacted Smashwords and gave us a surprise ultimatum: Remove all titles containing bestiality, rape or incest, otherwise they threatened to deactivate our PayPal account. We engaged them in discussions and they gave us a temporary reprieve as we continue to work in good faith to find a suitable solution.

 

PayPal tells us that their crackdown is necessary so that they can remain in compliance with the requirements of the banks and credit card associations (likely Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, though they didn't mention them by name).

 

THE PROBLEM: PayPal is asking us to censor legal fiction. Regardless of how one views topics of rape, bestiality and incest, these topics are pervasive in mainstream fiction. We believe this crackdown is really targeting erotica writers. This is unfair, and it marks a slippery slope. We don't want credit card companies or financial institutions telling our authors what they can write and what readers can read. Fiction is fantasy. It's not real. It's legal."

My writing doesn't fall into these categories, but the potential precident concerns me. Undoubtedly there will be more on this subject…

Las Vegas Search-and-Rescue Video

I haven't written about search-and-rescue in some time, but I recently came across a really good video, and it happens to be from a SAR unit in the US: the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. It's a little "promo"-ish, but usually all you get in any SAR video is wind noise and jerky/un-focused camera work (not that I'm blaming the cameraperson for that, considering the conditions they're often operating in)!

Check it out here (it's about 4 minutes long).

My personal interest tends toward the helicopter pilots (seeing that I was trained as one myself), who do amazing things with that big machinery. But it really does come down to the people.

If I could write full-time, I would seriously consider writing a series based around the search-and-rescue team in my first novel, Last Chance Rescue. The characters are all there already, waiting for their stories to be told (see Last Chance Rescue)! I wouldn't consider the research to be a hardship at all! (When I wrote Last Chance Rescue, I rode along with a crew in Idaho.)

“Alternative” Therapies for Wounded Veterans with PTSD

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other war-related experiences are topics I explore quite a bit in my writing. Major Aaron Bricewick, wounded veteran and hero of my military romance novel (True Surrender) struggles with symptoms of PTSD throughout the book.

I recently posted links to a couple of articles on my Facebook page related to “non-traditional” ways that wounded veterans are finding healing of (or a better way to manage) PTSD symptoms like nightmares, anxiety and depression. They don’t make for very interesting fiction, but I pray that they are helping our REAL wounded warriors.

Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprogramming (EMDR) involves remembering a painful incident, but stripping it of its emotional content by asking the patient to follow the therapist’s fingers with his or her eyes. Then when the memory is stored away again, it’s in a less threatening form.

Is it effective?

Dr. Francine Shapiro, the founder of EMDR, found that three 90-minute sessions could alleviate symptoms of civilian PTSD in more than 77 percent of the patients she treated.

A related alternative is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves remembering a painful incident, but putting a positive spin on it through the use of acupressure points. A vet might say, “I had to shoot the kid who ran toward my Humvee wearing an explosive vest, but I completely and fully accept myself” and begin tapping his way through five acupressure points on his face and three on his torso.

Does it work? After six one-hour coaching sessions, the average PTSD score dropped to 35. (Read the entire article here.)

The concept of Extreme Sports Therapy is to drop pleasant, high-adrenaline memories on top of ugly combat images, thereby decreasing the potency of the ‘bad’ memories. Organizations like X Sports 4 Vets (Missoula, Mont) offer riverboarding, rock climbing, sky diving, and other extreme sports. Last fall, I posted about an extreme bicycle adventure for wounded veterans; at the time, it was prominent in the news due to ex-president Bush’s involvement.

Does it work?

Experts point to evidence that has to do with cortisone levels (read the full article for details). But perhaps the best evaluation comes direct from a growing number of wounded veterans. “Every time I get out on the river, I come home with stories and big pleasant memories,” says one military amputee. “It does me a lot more good than the pills they’ve been throwing at me.”

"Alternative" Therapies for Wounded Veterans with PTSD

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other war-related experiences are topics I explore quite a bit in my writing. Major Aaron Bricewick, wounded veteran and hero of my military romance novel (True Surrender) struggles with symptoms of PTSD throughout the book.

I recently posted links to a couple of articles on my Facebook page related to "non-traditional" ways that wounded veterans are finding healing of (or a better way to manage) PTSD symptoms like nightmares, anxiety and depression. They don't make for very interesting fiction, but I pray that they are helping our REAL wounded warriors.

Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprogramming (EMDR) involves remembering a painful incident, but stripping it of its emotional content by asking the patient to follow the therapist's fingers with his or her eyes. Then when the memory is stored away again, it's in a less threatening form.

Is it effective?

Dr. Francine Shapiro, the founder of EMDR, found that three 90-minute sessions could alleviate symptoms of civilian PTSD in more than 77 percent of the patients she treated.

A related alternative is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves remembering a painful incident, but putting a positive spin on it through the use of acupressure points. A vet might say, "I had to shoot the kid who ran toward my Humvee wearing an explosive vest, but I completely and fully accept myself" and begin tapping his way through five acupressure points on his face and three on his torso.

Does it work? After six one-hour coaching sessions, the average PTSD score dropped to 35. (Read the entire article here.)

The concept of Extreme Sports Therapy is to drop pleasant, high-adrenaline memories on top of ugly combat images, thereby decreasing the potency of the 'bad' memories. Organizations like X Sports 4 Vets (Missoula, Mont) offer riverboarding, rock climbing, sky diving, and other extreme sports. Last fall, I posted about an extreme bicycle adventure for wounded veterans; at the time, it was prominent in the news due to ex-president Bush's involvement.

Does it work?

Experts point to evidence that has to do with cortisone levels (read the full article for details). But perhaps the best evaluation comes direct from a growing number of wounded veterans. "Every time I get out on the river, I come home with stories and big pleasant memories," says one military amputee. "It does me a lot more good than the pills they've been throwing at me."

What about those "Light Inspirational Aspects" of True Surrender?

Some readers have commented about the Christian "undertones" in True Surrender. (They are there in Last Chance Rescue as well, but less obvious, couched in a "higher power" terminology and especially strong in what I call the "healing hands" scenes.)

First, I should clarify that I don't write Christian/Inspirational fiction. For one thing, I don't feel qualified to do so. I'm still a learning Christian myself. I can't spout scripture, and I have a hard time sharing the gospel. Second, I don't want to "preach to the choir," reaching only readers interested in Christian/Inspirational fiction.

So why did I choose to include these "light inspirational aspects" in my novels?

First, I'm a Christian myself. Jesus Christ is my personal savior. If not for him, my marriage would have fallen apart long ago, and my beautiful daughter would not even exist. I enjoy incorporating a bit of that into my writing.

Second, I want to reach people where they are. I want them to read the book for more reasons than JUST the fact that it's "Christian/Inspirational" – read the book for the romance, or for the wounded veteran angle. I don't want to hit them over the head with God-speak; I want to give them a sense that God could fit into their imperfect life. (I also don't want to be bound to the 'rules' governing "Inspirational Fiction." After all, there is (gasp) "light sexual aspects" in my books!)

Who knows? Perhaps the fictional portrayal of a character who experiences the power of Christ will encourage a reader to look into this "God thing" for themselves…

Writing Sample: What does she see?

The past few weeks I've been working on a new storyline, and since I haven't posted any writing samples lately, I thought it would be fun to pull a 'sample' from it. What kind of questions does the scene below conjure up for YOU?

Gina let herself into Zac's hotel room and stood looking around in the dim light. It looked like a typical bachelor pad, with clothing randomly strewn about and papers littering the small desk. She reached for the light and hesitated; was it a good idea to turn it on?

She chided herself. Darkness was rapidly falling; what could she possibly hope to find if she couldn't see? She flipped a switch and headed for the desk.

It felt odd to be poking through Zac's things, especially when she wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for. The papers on the desk were almost all shooting scripts. She checked the drawers of the desk; nothing but his computer and a jumble of napkins and wet wipes.

What next? The drawers? It would really feel odd to go through his underwear…

She needed more light. She went around the bed and reached for the bedside lamp switch. The halo lit up the area, and she gawked at what she saw. "It can't be," she whispered.

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How long does it take to write 1,000 words?

Creative endeavors involve a LOT of time. Time that the 'end consumer' (aka enjoyer) never, ever sees. (And time that is often without compensation, but that's a post for a different day.)

The person watching a band or enjoying a song on the radio (or iPod) experiences only a few minutes or hours of polished music – NOT the hours of practice to get it that way. The play attendee or movie goer doesn't realize how many hours of memorization and rehearsals the actors put in.

And the book reader seldom gives thought to how much time was required to create that story and get it onto paper (or e-paper).

I've never stopped to figure out how many hundreds (thousands?) of hours my first two novels took. I'm also not one to get hung up on the number of words I've written per day or week. But I got curious, so for the past month I've been monitoring my writing time and comparing it to word count.

What I've found is that 1,000 words takes me about three hours to write. That includes visualization, character building, and actual BIC (butt-in-chair) writing time. It does NOT include research time. (Heck, for my first novel, I went all the way to Idaho and rode along with a medevac team for two days.) It does NOT include those unfortunate times when WRITERS BLOCK strikes. And it does NOT include editing time.

I have no idea if this is considered typical. As any writer will tell you, there are as many ways to write as there are writers. But it's an interesting window into the creative process. If you are a writer, I'd love to hear how long 1,000 words takes YOU to write!

Tokara Taiko Drum Performance Rated "The Best Show I've Ever Seen"

My nine-year-old son was my date last night.

We went to see Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara, a taiko drum performance group that originates from Japan (although, as we learned, their six members are from five different countries). The venue was a tiny arts stage in St. Paul (MN) about 50 minutes from our home – and we were front and center.

Taiko Drumming has taken many forms, from traditional Japanese taiko to more "Westernized" taiko, which is often fused with other musical instruments and even dance choreography and martial arts movements. Tokara tends to do a lot with changing rhythms and fast, hard playing, often in physically demanding body positions. They also do their fair share of dramatic arm and body movements (which happens to be one of my favorite aspects). Their lead player was one of the Taiko Grand Champions in 2005, and they just produced their very first CD/album.

It was over all too quickly (80 minutes or so) but who could blame them? Theirs is a seriously HIGH ENERGY type of taiko playing! I couldn't keep that kind of energy even that long! On the way home, the show was rated "The best show I've EVER seen" … by my son! (Guess that means MY taiko recitals don't rate…)

If you'd like to see some cool taiko drum playing – without leaving your home – I recently posted some of my favorite taiko drumming videos on my Taiko Drum page.

Another Book Review for True Surrender: 4.5 Star Book Review!

A man tormented by nightmares and the after affects of a capture, and a woman who has lost so much, but still feels blessed. These two amazing people have met and loved each other before, but now are brought face to face again. True Surrender is Aaron and Holly's story, and along the way are some powerful scenarios and deep, emotional conflict that needs resolving.

Aaron Bricewick wakes up in a strange place after being imprisoned by terrorists. His memories are of bad, disturbing things and he can't shake those feelings away. But Aaron is now home in America, free, and he's in for a long ride ahead because he has to adapt to his new life.

A major in the Army, a man like Aaron is used to being independent, strong, and capable. Now he's not so sure, and his desire to not allow anyone in to help deal with his pain is slowly eating away at him. My heart went out to this man, and though he's only a character in a book, there are many men like him out in the real world that could be and possibly are going through the same thing that Aaron did. That's what makes him such a character to relate to, and his strong emotions pulled me into this book and never let go.

Holly Rossiter is a widowed mother of a wonderful little boy. What Holly doesn't expect when she goes into work one day is to come face to face with a man from her past, and have to deliver some startling news to him. She loved Aaron long ago, but their different paths in life caused the pair to drifted apart. What matters now is Holly is here for Aaron, and wants to see him through this difficult time. Not many could go through such a traumatic experience only to meet up again with someone they never thought he'd see again. This is a new beginning for Holly and Aaron, along with Holly's young son, Nick.

True Surrender has an outstanding plot that holds on tightly to the readers emotions, strong characters that you won't be able to forget, and intense situations that will either make or break it for this couple. It's a contemporary romance with light inspirational aspects. Aaron must come to terms with life and God and accept what has become of him even thought he fails to understand why. And Holly, despite the things she's lost, embraces life as a blessing. As light and dark join forces, it's only a matter of time before love finds its way into their lives once again.

I enjoyed this book and was glad to be able to read it. The author takes a story that could be part of someone's real life and keeps the reader engaged the whole while. Readers, if you're looking for a sensual contemporary story to captivate you, then rush on out and get a copy of True Surrender, and in no time, you'll surrender your heart to these inspiring characters.

Read more reviews!