Victoria A. Hudson's Blog, page 22

San Francisco Writers Conference 2013

Just a few more days and another San Francisco Writers Conference. Once again, Tanya Egan Gibson and I will present on Sunday talking about writers groups and critique, joined this year by Zoe FitzGerald Carter. This has been one of my favorite conferences for the last seven years. The organizers always do a splendid job creating a conference balancing craft and business of writing. There is something here for everyone in the literary community and for writers all along the spectrum from dreaming, emerging, and veteran author.  I hope to see you there.

Curious about what I’ll talk about? Find the outline on Scribd.

Tom Hobbs’ Trauma Junkie

[image error]Trauma Junkie by Tom Hobbs is a quick medical drama read. Brian is a no nonsense prior Air Force Special Ops medic turned New York City paramedic. The story revolves around him over a fast paced year during which he travels the darkness of one death too close and the consequence on his marriage while saving lives across the city. How do you save a life when you’ve lost your own?

A constant question of “what comes next” keeps the reader engaged. The characters are interesting and diverse. Immersion into Brian’s world is swift which makes the moments of poor editing all the more intrusive. There are some rough transitions, awkward sentence structure and over use of acronyms and abbreviations that only local New Yorkers would understand. There are long segments of dialogue which are realistic, though following who is saying what forces re-reading of a page at times. Each of these various occurrences bring the reader back into reality from a created suspension of belief.

Tom Hobbs’ medical dialogue and sequences seem real. Issues evoke emotion. A thread of mystery for a past event ties the journey together till the very end when the answer is revealed subtlety. Trauma Junkie is the kind of book to have on your E-reader. You won’t get lost in it but will be able to fall right back in when able to snatch a few moments on the commuter train, a waiting room or in between clients. An easy read. And when you’re done…you want more.

Valentines I Heart Books Blog Hop – Fear is Your Friend

Welcome to the Valentines I Heart Books Blog Hop!

Last year about this time is when No Red Pen: Writers, Writing Groups & Critique published. Inspired by my experiences in formal and informal writing workshops and writers’ groups, No Red Pen was a labor of love for other writers, especially those starting out. The book is a free download currently from most online Ebook retailers with print versions available online. No Red Pen is a toolbox for becoming a provider of effective, useful critique in a respectful manner of both the work and the writer. For this blog tour, I’ve posted below a chapter from the book. Enjoy.

Chapter 4 from No Red Pen: Writers, Writing Groups & Critique – FEAR

Fear is a huge reason why people don’t join a writer’s group or seek out criticism, yet we know that feedback is essential to the writing process. Fear keeps writers from ever moving a manuscript from the drawer to the mailbox. Fear gets in the way. A writer venturing into the world of critique groups or returning after a poor group experience has a valid emotion when experiencing fear. Let’s not belittle the power of fear.

Fear, however, can also be a friend. Fear is a little voice that taps you on the shoulder and says, “Psst, pay attention.” Fear in a critique group is fear of failure; fear no one will like the writer, the work will be rejected, the people will be mean, the feedback will hurt, the process will be too difficult…There are many, many reasons to fear the unknown in venturing into a group of people, usually strangers (at least in the beginning) to whom the writer will expose her product of imagination or experience and hard work. One of the biggest fears an emerging or new writer has is that no one will like the work that has been labored over and poured out with heartfelt dedication.

“This is my heart and soul,” the writer says, “Do you like it?” Meaning of course, do you like me?

For a writer that wants to improve, the first step is letting go of that fear. Recognize that the writing is not the writer’s identity. The writing is not the writer’s self. The writing is just words on a page that create an experience for the reader to share and immerse oneself within. The writing ( even when you are telling a story where you are the main character) is not about you, the writer.

Letting go, in any aspect of life, is just plain difficult. It is not like we have a little button to click in the brain, the Letting Go Button. Letting go is a huge psychological process. Like any skill developed over time, with practice, the skill of letting go becomes if not easier, then more streamlined, faster, unconscious in its effort.

Successful letting go requires acknowledgement that there is something to let go of. In terms of joining a critique group, the writer must make the movement from not being in a group to joining and participating in a group. When fear is the obstacle in the way of the movement, and that fear is not acknowledged, all manner of other reasons will manifest: – no time, don’t know how, don’t know where to find one, don’t know what to do in one, the work isn’t ready… If you really want to join a group, none of these issues is a true obstacle. Let’s face it, “The work isn’t ready.” That is the whole point of the group, to help get the work ready! So, let’s go back to fear and letting it go.

Acknowledge that fear is the problem in the way. If you can focus specifically on what you are afraid of, that may be helpful though it’s not all that necessary at this stage. Notice how attached you are to that nice, comfortable fear? It’s what you know, it’s what you’ve been with for a while. Really, isn’t that fear a little like a buddy you’ve had with you a long time, sort of your teddy bear for not doing things? Think about letting that fear go be on its own now without you. Oh, there, did you feel that – that little twinge of guilt? That reflex of loyalty to what you’ve always known?

Fear is comfortable. Fear can be cozy. Fear can be a good friend or a frenemy. You get to choose. Once you are aware of your fear, you get to choose what to do with the fear. Let it lead the way, or let it move to the background and while present, fear is not in control. Sometimes we take our teddy bears with us long after we have outgrown them just because it makes venturing out into the unknown easier. Eventually, when we are ready, we put the teddy bear away, on its shelf. You can do the same thing with that fear that gets in the way of joining a critique group.

“I’m afraid to join a writers group.” Good acknowledgement.

“I can be afraid and still join a writers group.” Now you have moved forward and started to let go.

What does fear the friend whisper to you as you move forward?

“Pssst. Be safe. Take care of you.”

What is the worst that could happen?

Complete strangers who have no obligation to say nice things, won’t.

Mere acquaintances, who don’t know or care about little me, will slice and dice my heartfelt story.

These strangers, the competition, the perceived experts will tear me apart.

Oh wait, not me, the work.

So what enables a writer to put her work out there for critique?

Simply, have good boundaries. Like just about every other situation in life, good boundaries in a writing group keep us safe, promote civility and provide guidance for interaction. This is the work and this is the person who wrote the work. The feedback is about the work, not about the person. Not liking the work is not equal to not liking the person.

Boundaries make it safe for fear to not lead the way. A good sense of boundaries in terms of your writing means an understanding of where you, the individual is, and where the writing begins. The individual has many facets and aspects of identity. The writing is a product of the individual’s work, imagination and skill but is not the whole of the writer. Writers have a relationship with their writing and like other personal relationships, the lines can become blurred. Recognize that you, the writer, are not the product, the writing. Separate yourself from what is produced and it will be easier to hear criticism. You will not take the critique personally because you understand the critique is not about you.

Demonstrating a healthy relationship with your writing encourages healthy interaction with those who would offer critique. Have a sense of self that is greater than the writing. Now when you invite critique, you are not inviting criticism of self, merely feedback on the work. Your critique readers will appreciate that as it invites honest feedback that isn’t limited by concern for the writer’s feelings.

Freedom to give honest feedback is not license for abuse, disrespect or insult.

/End of Chapter 4/

Fear is your friend, in writing, and in life since it is telling you to pay attention. Just remember, you’re in charge, so you decide what to listen to when Fear peeks up.

Be sure to check out other participants in the Valentines I Heart Books Blog Tour.

Indie Author Stops on the Information Super Highway

Today’s post is about two very useful sites I visit often. Both have useful and interesting topics posted daily that provide insight and information for any emerging writer or indie author.

First is Joel Friedlander and The Book Designer blog where over 700 articles are available that guide and educate authors through the publishing process. Discussions covering diverse aspect of publishing a book are covered from fonts and using aspects of specific word processing programs to self publishing do it yourself issues. Blogging and book design, E-books and E-readers, Marketing and Reviews, Social Media and Webinars, Blog carnivals and guest posts – Joel Friedlander has created a clearinghouse of information for authors. The tag line for The Book Designer is “Practical advice to help build better books,” and that is exactly what the site visitor finds. Looking for more detailed, specific ways to improve your own author toolbox? Check out Tools and Resources, want to invest in some training, click on Training Courses for classes that Joel offers and Books and Guides for links to order his books. Joel Friedlander is a recognized authority in self publishing and book design. Just reading the free resources on this blog provides an informative apprenticeship in self publishing with exposure to many other perspectives via the blog carnival and guest posts that are also part of the site. This is a stop on the information super highway that belongs on every blog roll. Visit often. Follow Joel Friedlander on Twitter @Carnival_Indies and @JFBookman

Next up is Molly Greene who blogs her journey as an indie author with frequent guest posts that will help someone looking at the independent author route make more informed decisions and maybe prevent a few regretful ones made from lack of information. Molly blogs her personal experience, with occasional bits from her real life, resulting in an informal, chat around the kitchen table atmosphere. She talks about the challenges and opportunities for indie authors and brings in occasional experts with interesting perspectives. I’ve returned to Molly’s site numerous times for a refresher on Createspace verses Lightning Source for self-publishing – a vital bit of self-education for the indie author. Looking for helpful, effective tools for promotion and use of social media, Molly Greene has some insights to share. When scrolling down my twitter feed, Molly is one of the authors I most often retweet, her information is always timely to what I as an emerging indie author is interested in reading and need for improving my promotion and self marketing. Another stop on the information super highway worth visiting. Follow Molly Greene on Twitter @MollyGreene.

There are many resources on the web in the community of writers and independent authors. Actually, there are numerous circles (or tribes) of writers and there are many more helpful sites out there. These are two I visit on a recurring basis which makes them definitely worth sharing.

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

 Very Inspiring Blogger Award

HOLY CATS! I’ve been nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Thanks Joleene Naylor! The Rules of the Award are as follows:

Display the award logo on your blog.
Link back to the person who nominated you.
State 7 things about yourself.
Nominate 10 – 15 bloggers for this award and link to them. (Although I have only eight.)
Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Here you go – seven random facts about me -

1. I mud wrestled one summer in college, winning 79 bouts, no losses, one agreed upon draw. A good way to make $300 bucks a week with your clothes (or bathing suit) on.

2. One summer I rescued almost a dozen litters (3-4 kits in each) of feral kittens in time to get them adopted before their feralness was permanent. Another half dozen ferals were safely trapped, fixed and released forming a stable and non-reproducing colony. Three abandoned housecats were found new homes.

3. Vanilla is my favorite and I like both caramel and hot fudge on my ice cream.

4. My childhood nickname at camp was Beanie-Four-Eyes. I did not like that name. My college ROTC nickname was SGT Rock. I did like that nickname.

5. The first two dishes my mother taught me to cook were poached fish and rice pudding.

6. I have married the same woman three times.

7. I was born at the civilized and convenient time of ten am, on a Monday morning.

And now – Bloggers I nominate:

Ruben Quesada

Joan Gelfand

Brian Felsen

A.D. Joyce

Paul Dorset

Mary DeMurth

Andrea Cumbo

Susan Cushman

Cancer, Julie Forward DeMay and Cell War Notebooks

This past weekend, I walked with my wife and two young children around Disneyland. We’ve been there many times. Enjoying the moment as we walked back to the Disneyland Hotel I was very happy in the moment. Grateful for that moment. In that moment, I was happy that I was alive.

The day before, we’d met a man from Canada, Rob, who was on a bucket trip, bringing his grandson to Disneyland. We’d talked briefly, a conversation spurred by his comment and complement of our engaging three year old and quite vocal 6 month old baby. I heard him say to his grandson, “I didn’t ask for cancer. It just is.” I was struck by the tone of quiet acceptance and his attentiveness to the moment he was in. I asked him if he’d like to hold the baby and the light and joy that filled his face as he smiled and said yes was brilliant to behold.

Thinking of Rob while the family walked that next day brought me to that grateful moment. And reminded me of all those I had known or know that have cancer.

A friend’s fiancée in college, brain cancer. He beat it. My paternal grandfather, stomach cancer when I was a kid, he survived. My maternal grandmother, breast cancer I think, she died when my mother was 15 years old or so. My mother’s best friend and my second mom Bev – her second husband, lost to cancer. Bev herself, years later to aggressive brain cancer in 2005. In 2004 she had walked me down the aisle at my wedding, my mom gone from an aneurysm in 1984. I was in Iraq and didn’t get home in time to say goodbye to Bev. My Uncle Fred in 2011, also from brain cancer, a vicious aggressive monster of a cancer. My friend Ace, years back when I was in my thirties – ovarian cancer. She beat it but we’ve lost contact and I don’t know if she still has. My friend and professional colleague from the Army, Charlie, battles cancer now in its final stages, she lives each moment with dignity and delight now months past the last month her doctors gave her. She does not retreat, but fights for equality for her family as a lesbian Soldier denied recognition of her wife and daughter as her family even now while in stage IV with a cancer that has spread across her body. Rajeshwari Ravenlight, whom I knew as Ravenlight, who long ago when I was just moved to the Bay Area was a touchstone from home and who was kind when I was in need. She ended her decades long battle with cancer just recently. Another friend, who has battled two different cancers, and continues on. A literary colleague who battles cancer now.

Eleven people in my life. Grateful as we walked together, my wife and children, I considered that cancer strikes 1 in 3 women. We are four and walking I prayed that it would miss each of us, conscious that I have missed its statistical assualt several times already.

There is another young women, Julie Forward DeMay that lost her battle with cervical cancer. I never knew Julie. She was among many things, a writer as well as daughter, sister, wife and mother.  Julie died two days after her 37th birthday, on August 10th, 2009. Before she died, she’d kept a blog journal of her journey and battle with cervical cancer. The book, Cell War Notebooks, collect the entries together and include many of her photos as she was also a photographer. Her mother published the book after Julie’s death.

Cell War Notebooks is a journey of courage and hope in a war that she did not win if winning is measured solely in the body living on. The book is her legacy to the world, and to others mired in the battle of cancer’s ravaging, and for their families. History is written by those who survive. Julie did not survive the war. Her words though, her photos, her art – go on and remain. Her spirit remains as a beacon of hope and courage, dignity and determination. She wrote her own history.

Julie is not here to blog or tweet or promote her own book. Today’s post is for her. Read her book. Share it with others. Julie’s words live.

The folks at Duolit have a blog-a-thon going today in honor of Julie. Please surf over to Indies Forward: Cell War Notebooks

Cell War Notebooks is available at:

Cell War Notebooks on Amazon
Cell War Notebooks on Facebook
National Cervical Cancer Coalition

I Heart Books Blog Hop

I Heart Books Blog Hop

Sign up ends February 5th.

What is a blog hop?  A blog hop is an event where a group of bloggers link their blogs to one another so that readers can “hop” their way from one blog post to the next. Thanks to the evolution of online link managers, we don’t have to physically link up all the blogs anymore, just paste in code that will automatically display the list of links (or for us wordpress.com users, we link to the list). Pretty Snazzy, huh? The idea of a blog hop is to promote your blog, help new readers find you and also find some great blogs you’d like to follow, too! Participating is simple.

Next Big Thing Blog Tour

Janet Hardy has tagged me on the author Next Big Thing Blog tour where I talk about a current book project. While I have several projects working, I’ll discuss my novel in process. When you get to the end, you’ll find several other authors I’ve tagged to carry on the tour as well as a link back to Janet.

My Next Big Thing -

1) What is the working title of your book? The Republic and the Patriot or The Republic – I am back and forth undecided.

2)Where did the idea for the book come from? A couple of presidential elections ago I considered what might happen if the peaceful transfer of power that is the United States presidential election was perverted via terrorism and what if that terrorism was home-grown?

3) What genre does it fall under? Fiction, thriller

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Jodie Foster for Lieutenant Colonel Rockabye, the kick ass hero, Bruce Greenwood as the domestic terrorist foil, and Karl Urban as Captain Rockabye’s son who responds to a dare that has unimaginable consequences.

5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? Military officers swear to uphold the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic – foreign is easy, domestic not so much.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Undecided at this point in the process.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft? I’m mid way through the first draft now. I expect to finish by midsummer.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Hard question at the moment – but some movies that come to mind include U.S. Marshals, and The General’s Daughter where something is different from what it seems.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? The beginning concept came from a briefing I received during training as an Information Operations Officer in the Army that raised the question how does a serving officer respond to domestic constitutional threats? The book grew from a homework assignment from author Rosemary Graham when in her novel craft class while a MFA student. I revised a short story I was working and expanded it as the characters didn’t want to remain a short story.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Parts of the story reflect the experiences of Army reserve soldiers recalled to active duty, highlighting the integral and largely misunderstood part they play in the national defense. The overall theme is duty, honor, country; family, and sacrifice for blood or treasure. Read the first chapter here.

Check out these other authors on the blog tour -

Joleen Naylor, author of the Amaranthine Series

also mentioned Janet Hardy author of Girlfag and Rosemary Graham, author of Stalker Girl

Author + Community

Coming up in the next few months I’ll introduce several new features here on the site intended for the writer community at large that will highlight emerging and indie authors. I’ll pull over some book reviews I’ve posted on my blog Home and Hearth and write some new ones for a book review page titled Book + Review. Another feature will be Three by Five, where I’ll post interviews with authors that will include five questions and will post monthly on either the 5th, 15th, or 25th of the month. Eventually, I’ll put up three different authors a month but at the start, I’ll stick with one each month.

A new feature I began this week is Author First Look. Indie authors and emerging writers send a bio and information about a current work in progress which I post on the Author First Look page along with a link to the author’s web site where the first chapter was posted. There are two very different writers on Author First Look currently, as well as the first chapter of my novel in progress.

The intent is cast a wider net for those authors and emerging writers I include in these features, and for myself via the generated link backs, that will introduce readers to writers they might not otherwise find. This is an outgrowth of the discovery I’ve enjoyed on Twitter, where following a link in a tweet that someone I follow has retweeted that I never would have seen on my own, leads to an author or journal I otherwise would not have found.

Writing is a solitary journey, but that doesn’t mean any of us has to go it alone.

Richard Blanco – 2013 Inaugural Poet

One Today by Poet Richard Blanco

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,

peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth

across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies. One light, waking up rooftops, under

each one, a story told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,

each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:

pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,

fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows begging our praise. Silver trucks

heavy with oil or paper— bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,

on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives— to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as

my mother did for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,

the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day: equations to solve, history to question, or

atoms imagined, the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,

or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain

the empty desks of twenty children marked absent today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light

breathing color into stained glass windows,

life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth

onto the steps of our museums and park benches 2 as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat

and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm,

hands digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands

as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane

so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it

through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs, buses launching down avenues, the symphony

of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways, the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,

or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open

for each other all day, saying: hello| shalom, buon giorno |howdy |namaste |or buenos días

in the language my mother taught me—in every language spoken into one wind carrying our lives

without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado

worked their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands: weaving steel into bridges, finishing one

more report

for the boss on time, stitching another wound 3 or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,

or the last floor on the Freedom Tower

jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes tired from work: some days guessing at the weather

of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love

that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother who knew how to give, or forgiving a father

who couldn’t give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight

of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home, always under one sky, our sky. And always one

moon like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop

and every window, of one country—all of us—

facing the stars

hope—a new constellation waiting for us to map it,

waiting for us to name it—together